Greenwood knocks down key 3s

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

— Greenwood wouldn’t mind forgetting the first half of Tuesday night’s game against Fort Smith Southside.

The second half was one to remember.

Greenwood struggled to keep pace with Southside in the opening half, but all that changed in the second half as Greenwood stormed back from a six-point deficit to take a 65-50 victory at H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena.

Haleigh Henson hit two three-pointers and Allie Barnes hit another early in the third quarter and the Lady Bulldogs never looked back.

“We felt fortunate to be down by just six at halftime,” Greenwood Coach Clay Reeves said. “We were shooting just 18 percent. You think everything is broke when you’re missing shots, but it wasn’t.”

The three-point baskets helped spark a 16-3 run to start the second half as Greenwood built its lead to 47-38 after trailing 31-26 at halftime.

“We’ve got some great and smart kids,” Reeves said. “Players make plays, and they did that tonight. We just made shots in the second half.

Lundon Williams finished with a game-high 24 points, Henson added 18 and Megan Hartness had 12 for Greenwood (14-2, 1-1 7A/6A-Central).

Southside’s Drew Jones finished with 14 points, Calli White added 13 and Payton Hamilton scored 10.

Boys GREENWOOD 57, FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 39

Evan Lensing made seven three-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Bulldogs (8-7, 1-1) past the Rebels (5-11, 0-2) in a 7A/6A-Central game.

Lensing didn’t miss often and had 11 points before halftime as Greenwood took a 26-19 lead into halftime.

“We shot the ball well and we found Lensing for some good looks,” Greenwood Coach Brian Martin said. “We needed a win tonight, so it was nice to open with one at home.”

Lensing hit a three-pointer to make it 46-29 at the end of the third quarter and extended the lead with another to take a 53-33 lead in the fourth quarter.

Southside was led by Clayton Pankey, who finished with a team-high 12 points. Greenwood’s Colton McEvoy added 12 and Ethan Clark finished with seven.

Sports, Pages 17 on 01/09/2013