Due to a scheduling snafu, the Van Buren Lady Pointers had some time off last week but they didn’t rest.
“Coming out of the Tournament of Champions, we’re definitely a better basketball team than we were going into it,” Van Buren head coach Chris Bryant said. “Enduring three games of playing quality teams, you’re going to identify some things you need to improve on. We’ve been able to pinpoint those areas and zero in on that the last week of practice. Hopefully, the two games this week will show that.”
After playing three tough games in the Tournament of Champions at Northside, Van Buren was off last week. The Lady Pointers had a home game planned against Pine Bluff, which decided to host Russellville instead.
That left Van Buren looking for games, and Bryant scheduled a game at Jacksonville on Tuesday and at Harrison on Thursday.
Tuesday, Van Buren rallied to a 49-38 win at Jacksonville with a 17-7 advantage in the fourth quarter.
Jamilyn Kinney scored 13 points, and Ryan Rylee added 11 points.
Next week, Van Buren will again play in the Neosho Holiday Tournament, which the Lady Pointers have won the last two seasons.
“That tournament has taken a twist for us,” Bryant said. “It began as a 16-team tournament, and it’s paired down to two eight-team brackets; a small school and large school.”
Bentonville has been playing in the tournament recently and now Springdale Har-Ber has joined the tournament, meaning three of the eight teams in the large-school tournament will be from the 7A-West.
Van Buren opens play in the tournament on Dec. 28 against St. Joseph, Mo., Central at noon. If Van Buren and Bentonville win, they will meet in the second round. Har-Ber is in the other half of the bracket, so a 7A-West final is possible.
“It will be impossible to stay away from each other,” Bryant said. “I think with the break, the kids will just be excited to play regardless of who they’re playing. We’ve been going on that trip 12 or 13 years. It’s a trip the kids enjoy. Obviously, with three teams in our league in it we will evaluate going next year.”
The second 7A-West game of the season is against Bentonville at Clair Bates Arena.
Bulldogs
The Greenwood Bulldogs didn’t panic on Tuesday night when Rogers made a run at them in the third quarter or again in the fourth quarter in a 61-47 win.
“We’re getting better at it,” Greenwood head coach Greg Nichols said. “Used to when we got behind, we’d panic and want to shoot threes. We’re getting more patient and we’re starting to get where we’re going to chip away at it if we get behind, just take what they’re giving us. I think it’s a little more of the maturity from last year.”
Greenwood missed its first six shots of the third quarter and saw its 34-24 halftime lead whittled down to 38-36 with 1:23 left in the third quarter.
Jordan Sheppard drove and scored to answer for Greenwood.
In the fourth quarter, Rogers trimmed Greenwood’s lead down to 46-42 with 5:52 left.
Again, the Bulldogs answered with Peyton Holt hitting a free throw and then drilling a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions.
“That’s what we’re supposed to do,” Nichols said. “Last year, we would have panicked. This year, we’re not. We’re taking our time and just trying to get the best shot we can possibly get.”
Greenwood forced Rogers into 17 turnovers.
“That’s our game plan,” Nichols said. “Last year we ran zone because we couldn’t run man to man. All spring, all summer we worked man to man. That’s why we’re behind offensively because we worked all spring and all summer on man to man defense.”
Greenwood travels to Rogers Heritage on Thursday before playing in the Spa City Classic at the Hot Springs Convention Center on December 27 at 2:30 p.m. against Pulaski Academy.
Lady Bulldogs
After starting 0-4, the Lady Bulldogs evened their record at 5-5 with Tuesday’s 61-44 win against Rogers.
For the Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday night, it was about shots on goal with 65 field-goal attempts to just 37 for Rogers.
“Our kids can all shoot,” Greenwood head coach Clay Reeves said. “I feel confident with all of them shooting.”
Kyiah Julian and Haven Clements each scored 11 points to lead Greenwood. Five different players have led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring this year in their 10 games.
“We’ve got one player averaging double-figures and that’s 10 points per game,” Reeves said. “Other than that, it’s a lot of players scoring six or seven points. Like I tell them, if we play 10 kids and each one of them average six points that’s 60 points, which is enough to win most games. We talked about the same thing the other day in practice, about leading scorers. If you called and said who’s the leading scorer, they’d give you a different name. That’s great for our team. That’s what we want to keep doing.”
In addition to Julian and Clements on Tuesday, Kaila Cartwright, Ally Sockey, and Shea Goodwin have all led the team in scoring in a game this season.
Next week, the Lady Bulldogs will hit the bus to Oklahoma to play in the Sapulpa Chieftains Holiday Classic. Greenwood open on Dec. 27 against Edmond Santa Fe at 3:30 p.m. Sapulpa, which beat Greenwood two weeks ago, and Northside, which beat Greenwood early in the season, will both be in the tournament as well.
Pointers
The Pointers lost a pair of pair of fourth-quarter leads and a pair of ballgames last weekend in Conway in the Bank of the Ozarks John Stanton Tournament against quality competition.
The Pointers lost to Conway, 52-48, last Friday on a 3-pointer with eight seconds left and a late free throw. On Saturday, Van Buren fell to Bryant, 59-53, after leading 47-34 late in the third quarter.
The Pointers will be off until they also hit the road to Neosho.
Van Buren opens the tournament on Dec. 27 against Memphis Mitchell at 3:30 p.m.
West Memphis, Bentonville West, North Little Rock, Maumelle and Morrilton are Arkansas teams competing in the four-day tournament.
Alma
Alma traveled to Tennessee last weekend and split a pair of varsity games before dropping a varsity doubleheader at Southside on Tuesday.
The Airedales and Airedalettes return home on Dec. 27 when they host their own Citizens Bank Classic.
There will be eight games each game with all eight teams in both boys and girls play playing each day, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
The Airedalettes will open against Johnson County Westside at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 27 with the Airedales also playing Johnson County Westside immediately following.
On Saturday, Alma traveled to Tennessee with the Airedalettes defeating host Bartlett, 55-38. Alma led 21-17 at the half.
The Airedales dropped a 57-50 double-overtime decision to Memphis Christian Brothers. The game was tied at 40-40 after regulation and 45-45 after one overtime.