Greenwood senior not finished just yet
GREENWOOD — Anna Trusty and her Greenwood Lady Bulldogs teammates have unfinished business.
Despite winning the past two Class 5A state championships, winning two of the past three scoring titles in the 5A-West Conference and scoring the most points in Greenwood history, Trusty said she is not satisfied.
“Obviously, we’re super happy that we won our three games at the state tournament and we’re going back to the championship, but the job’s not finished,” Trusty said. “We’re ready. We know we have one more game to take care of.”
Greenwood will play Vilonia at noon today at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs for the Class 5A girls state championship.
Trusty has been a valued contributor for the Lady Bulldogs for four seasons now, even as a freshman, and has been a vital cog in state championships each of the last two seasons.
“She’s been an unbelievable player and person for our program for four years,” Greenwood Coach Clay Reeves said. “Anna’s been in high school for four years now, and she’s helped lead our team. She’s a senior now, and it’s the seniors’ team now.”
Trusty played 31 of the 32 minutes in last year’s 5835 win against Vilonia in the championship game and had 17 points, 5 steals and 4 rebounds. Two years ago in a 60-49 win over Jonesboro for the championship, Trusty had 24 points, 5 steals and 5 rebounds.
Trusty won the 5A-West scoring title as a sophomore with 265 points in 14 conference games, just ahead of teammate Mady Cartwright (259). Last year, Cartwright edged Trusty for the league scoring title, 260-246. This year, Trusty capped her second scoring title in the conference with 31 points in the final game of the regular season against Greenbrier to put her at 312 points in 14 conference games, 22.3 points per game.
“Over the past years that we’ve been successful, we’ve always had a senior that helped lead our team, and she’s been a big part of our team even as freshman,” Reeves said. “She’s done a great job of that.”
Trusty is Greenwood’s all-time leading scorer with 1,935 points. At the Class 6A or 5A level, only Chloe Clardy of Conway from 2019-23 and Kendall Mago of Mount Saint Mary from 1986-1988 scored more in their careers.
Trusty has seen about every gimmick defense possible this season, but fellow seniors Brooklyn Woolsey and Carley Sexton along with junior Izzy Smith and sophomore Kylah Pearcy have helped alleviate some of the defensive attention away from her.
“They’re all very unselfish. They share the ball, they pass the ball,” Reeves said. “They all know they have the green light to shoot the ball when they’re open. It makes it easier as a coach when there’s five players out there that can score and play well as a team. A lot of that takes time throughout the year to develop that chemistry.”
The Lady Bulldogs averaged 80.2 points per game over the past 10 conference games and walloped Sheridan 85-24 in the first round of the state tournament. They then beat host Searcy 61-47 and Lake Hamilton 64-57 after pulling away late in both games.
“They weren’t easy games for us,” Trusty said. “I think that will help us in this last game. We have to play hard the whole time.”
Greenwood’s opponent today is a familiar one. In addition to playing the Lady Eagles in last season’s championship game, Vilonia beat Greenwood 68-63,in November, defeated the Lady Bulldogs in a tournament two years ago and won in conference play three years ago.
“We’re ready for this game,” Trusty said. “We’ve been ready for it since November when they beat us.”