Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Greenwood braces for tough run
The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs play their toughest stretch of games of the 5A-West schedule over the next eight days, including two long road trips.
Greenwood (22-2, 9-0) travels to Harrison today, hosts Siloam Springs on Tuesday and hit the road again to Mountain Home, which is battling for a state tournament berth, next Friday.
Tuesday’s game against Siloam Springs (15-8, 8-1) will likely decide the top two seeds from the conference for the Class 5A state tournament in Pine Bluff.
Anna Trusty scored off an offensive rebound at the buzzer to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a 60-58 win at Siloam Springs three weeks ago. It’s the only conference game in which Greenwood has not imposed the Arkansas Activities Association’s Sportsmanship Rule.
Greenwood has won 39-straight conference games, dating back to a 62-60 loss to Vilonia on Valentine’s Day of 2020.
HENRY READY FOR VAN BUREN
Van Buren squandered a 17-point third-quarter lead on Tuesday, and Greenwood took the lead late before Malachi Henry’s gamewinning 3-pointer from the corner.
Down, 55-54, savvy guard Drew Brasuell drove the baseline and skipped a pass to the right corner to Henry, who swished the shot with exactly three seconds left for the 57-55 win.
“I wasn’t really expecting it, it really wasn’t what we drew up, but I was in the corner and Drew made a great decision and kicked it out to me,” Henry said. “It went in.”
Henry hasn’t been a big scorer for the Pointers this season because he hasn’t had to be. The gamewinning shot was just his fourth attempt of the game. He scored on a layup in the first quarter and buried a 3-pointer in the second quarter.
“I’ve talked to Chi about his shooting,” Autry said. “As long as his feet are in good motion, he’s typically money. Drew made an excellent read on the drift, Chi was in a perfect spot, stepped in and had full confidence to knock it down. I’m incredibly happy for him.”
Van Buren (14-11, 5-4) hosts Mountain Home (13-12, 4-5) today and will celebrate Homecoming festivities before traveling to Alma on Tuesday.
AIREDALES GAIN CONFIDENCE
Matthew Schlegel is the lone senior on an Alma team loaded with young, promising talent, and he’s taken on the role with enthusiasm.
“It’s a big role to step into this year,” Schlegel said. “You just have to take it on your shoulders and be a leader.”
Schlegel, who starts with four underclassmen, played a big role on the court for the Airedales on Wednesday during a 16-0 run to end the game that rallied Alma past rival Greenwood, 56-43.
Alma trailed 19-4 seven minutes into the game but methodically whittled away at the deficit and gained confidence as that deficit slowly decreased.
“That definitely helped the confidence, those shots going in,” Schlegel said. “We’ve been in his position a lot of time, pretty much every game we’ve played. The game plan didn’t change. We just executed it a lot better.”
Schlegel drove the baseline and scored on a reverse layup with 4:07 left that tied the game at 43-43. He finished with six points and six rebounds.
“We showed a lot of grit tonight,” Alma coach Dominic Lincoln said. “Credit to the kids for playing hard. With us, we’re going to have to play that way. We’re going to have to get extra possessions. We’re going to have to do the dirty work. Things aren’t going to be pretty sometimes.”
Alma (5-18, 2-7) travels to Russellville today and hosts Crawford County rival Van Buren on Tuesday.