CONWAY - Greenwood missed several chances to pull away, but it still managed to hold off Conway 59-55 on Friday.
Greenwood (16-3, 6-1 7A/6A-Central) led by as many as eight points in the first half, only to see Conway (4-3, 16-5) get within 26-25 going into halftime. The Lady Bulldogs went up by 11 in the third quarter, but Conway fought back again to get within two before Greenwood made enough free throws in the final minutes to put away the victory.
“When you can make a lot of mistakes and still win, that’s the best time to learn,” Greenwood Coach Clay Reeves said. “We fought through it and found a way to win. We do have a really good team, but we’re striving for perfection.”
Conway trailed 52-49 after Alexis Tolefree’s free throws with 2:22 left. The Lady Wampus Cats then forced tough three-point attempts on consecutive possessions, and followed that up with a turnover. Tolefree’s three-pointer with 19 seconds left made it 58-55, but Lundon Williams’ free throw sealed the victory.
It was Tolefree who was largely responsible for getting Conway back in the game. Haileigh Henson made a three-pointer to giveGreenwood a 43-32 lead midway through the third. Hailey Estes answered with a three-pointer for Conway, and Tolefree capped a 9-0 run with three consecutive baskets on slicing drives to the basket.
Greenwood worked at times to match Conway’s fast pace, which produced some turnovers but also led to easy baskets for the Lady Wampus Cats. Greenwood also showed patience, using crisp ball movement to get open looks.
“We tried to change the tempo at different times, sometimes slow and sometimes fast,” Reeves said. “We moved the ball pretty well and had different players step up and hit some shots.”
Conway took a 9-2 lead before Greenwood got hot, closing the first quarter with a 17-2 run to lead 19-11.Greenwood had an eightpoint lead with 2:30 left in the first half.
Conway’s Savannah Lowe drove the length of the floor for a basket, and Asia Willard added a free throw. Estes then drove and scored on a scoop shot to make it 26-23. She missed the chance for a threepoint play, but Christin Rogers grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back to make it a one-point game at the half.
Henson led all scorers with 21 points, while Williams added 16 and Megan Hartness had 14.
Tolefree led Conway with 20 points, and Estes chipped in 12 and Rogers 11.
Sports, Pages 21 on 02/01/2014