GREENWOOD - It wasn’t easy, but the Conway girls basketball team got what it wanted Friday night as it prepares to host next week’s Class 7A state tournament - a big road victory.
Alexis Tolefree and Jordan Danberry scored 20 points each, and Conway beat Greenwood 77-72 at H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena.
“We’ve said all week we wanted this one for momentum,” Conway Coach Ashley Nance said. “We need this huge win to go into the state tournament. We are exactly where we want to be now.”
Conway (23-5, 11-3 7A/6A-Central) outscored Greenwood 17-0 during a span of 6:02 at the end the first quarter and into the second quarter to take a 31-14 lead.
But Greenwood (19-6, 10-4) outscored Conway 10-2 to close the half, cutting the Lady Wampus Cats’ halftime lead to 35-26.
Greenwood used a 29-point fourth quarter to get back in the game.
The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Wampus Cats 15-7 to make it 69-67 after a three-point play by Megan Hartness with 59 seconds left, but that was as close as they got.
“Conway played unbelievable,” Greenwood Coach Clay Reeves said. “We took off a little bit in the first quarter and the second quarter and let them get ahead. But we didn’t give up and kept fighting. That’s what I wanted to see tonight before the state tournament, win or lose.”
Hartness led the way for Greenwood with 21 points, including 12 points in the final quarter. Lundon Williams added 16 points while Haleigh Henson finished with 13.
“What a great game,” Nance said. “We did a really good job battling back from their runs and it could’ve went either way. We just needed to keep our head in it, and we shot the ball so well.”
Sports, Pages 25 on 03/01/2014