HOT SPRINGS -- Greenwood held Pulaski Academy scoreless for more than five minutes during the second quarter and went on to claim a 52-45 victory over the Bruins in the opening round of the Spa City Shootout at the Bank of the Ozarks Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
Senior point guard Jordan Sheppard scored eight points in the final 3:27 of the first half in helping the Bulldogs (5-6) turn a one-point deficit into a 23-12 halftime advantage.
Greenwood was without regular starting point guard Peyton Holt, who is out with a thumb injury, but Sheppard filled in nicely with a team-high 16 points and six rebounds.
"Jordan plays big for us every game," Greenwood Coach Greg Nichols said. "We moved him to point this game, and he hasn't played there the last six or seven games when we added the players from our football team. He might have felt he played worse today, but he did a good job and I'm proud of him."
Pulaski Academy (4-2) suffered through a dismal shooting performance. The Bruins were 19 of 57 from the floor, including 2 of 23 from three-point range.
"I thought we were horrible," Pulaski Academy Coach Roger Franks said. "You couldn't tell by watching us but we really did practice during the holidays."
Pulaski Academy freshman Griffin Newby -- who came off the bench to finish with 10 points and seven rebounds -- hit a point-blank shot with 7:33 left in the second quarter to give the Bruins a 10-9 lead. Greenwood scored 14 of the next 16 points.
"I thought we got our heads down because we were not making any shots," Franks said. "That's when you've got to step up defensively and keep playing at a high level. It's a lot easier when you make shots."
Senior guard Tra Johnson scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, but the Bruins managed to get only as close as six points in the fourth quarter. Johnson's layup with 50 seconds showing pulled Pulaski Academy to within 49-43, but the Bulldogs were 7 of 9 from the free-throw line in the final 1:35 to keep the Bruins from drawing any closer.
Greenwood, which was 17 of 40 from the floor, hit 6 of 7 field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs held as much as a 13-point lead (43-30) with 4:41 to play.
"We threw the ball away and got into too big of a hurry four or five times in the fourth quarter," Nichols said. "That just comes from having to play so many games that haven't been that tight.
"But we pulled it through. We hit our free throws late, and I was proud of the way we played."
Seniors Neil Rice and Zane Harmon each added nine points for the Bulldogs.
Sports on 12/28/2017