Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Greenwood in good hands with Trusty
There was no such rebuilding project for Greenwood this past season. Instead, Coach Clay Reeves merely did what ever other dominant program around the country does year in and year out.
He reloaded – sort of. The Lady Bulldogs lost four starters to graduation last season, including allstaters Kinley Fisher and Ally Sockey. But the cupboard is never quite empty at Greenwood.
Anna Trusty is proof. “She’s got great basketball instincts as far as offense, defense and rebounding,” Reeves said of his sophomore, who was chosen the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Girls Underclassman of the Year. “Anna always finds the basketball, whether it’s steals, loose balls, offensive sets, deflections, whatever. She just always has a knack for being able to find the ball, which is great.
“You watch her play, she doesn’t really say much, she’s quiet, you don’t really notice much in her expressions. But she just goes out there and gets the job done in all phases of the game.”
Trusty averaged 16.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3 steals for the Lady Bulldogs, who ran their way to a state championship by taking out a Jonesboro ballclub that had ended their season the previous year in the second round.
But the 6- 0 guard mentioned she had a feeling things would sway differently for Greenwood in what she called a redemption year.
“We lost some really great players off last year’s team, but I thought we’d still be pretty good,” said Trusty, who played as a freshman. “We had some players back, and I thought we all played well together as a team. We also got knocked out of the state tournament early last year, earlier than we thought we would. So we had some extra motivation coming in.”
For a team that’s won as much as Greenwood has, any added incentive generally spells trouble for its foes. The Lady Bulldogs had to earn their keep, particularly with 80% of their starting lineup gone because of graduation.
Greenwood also faced a tough schedule, which Reeves knew would test their mettle.
“We had a lot of talented players, and the thing we try to always ask our players to do is play to their strengths and let others play to theirs,” Reeves explained. “Be unselfish, share the ball. … some rebound more, some handle the ball more, some play defense more, some drive more. It’s getting everyone in spots where they’re the best at.
“But the chemistry and identity of this team really took off once we got to conference. They all started understanding what each other was gonna do better.”
Trusty’s willingness to do just about anything to help make the team better was her primary objective going in. Although she scored at a high clip, she affected outcomes by contributing in a multitude of ways.
A prime example was in the final against Jonesboro where she turned in a gamehigh 24 points, but she also knocked down 9 of 10 freethrow attempts, grabbed 5 rebounds and came up with 5 of the Lady Bulldogs’ 8 steals.
Trusty indicated that it was Reeves’ guidance that was the basis for how she went about her business on the floor.
“It all starts off with coaching, and Coach Reeves is a great one,” she said. “He teaches us stuff every day, and we just had to go out execute the things he taught. We all had to go out and play our roles. Everyone was unselfish with the ball, and we played hard, and that’s something he always stresses to us.”
What Trusty will be stressing before her junior season is basic improvement. She said she’d like to sharpen her perimeter shooting, which she thinks will keep defenses second-guessing whenever she has the ball. More importantly, she’d like the team to continue building on what they achieved during their latest title run.
“We’ve got a lot really good girls coming up,” she said. “So we know that we’ve got to play together and gel like we did this past year. Staying focused all season will be a big thing for us, too, so that we’ll be ready once we get into the tournament.
“Winning another championship is what we want, and we’ve got to put in the work in order to accomplish that.”