HOT SPRINGS -- Greenwood earned its second state title in as many years in a most bizarre fashion.
Senior Megan Hartness scored 20 points as the Lady Bulldogs defeated Siloam Springs 39-31 in the Class 6A girls state championship game at the Bank of the Ozarks Arena on Friday night.
Greenwood (29-2) came up with 22 steals while Siloam Springs had one. The Lady Bulldogs also scored 20 consecutive points during the first half and held a 27-7 lead a minute before halftime.
Siloam Springs (18-12) outrebounded Greenwood 45-22 and held Greenwood to 10 second-half points.
"I thought our team played extremely hard the whole game," Greenwood Coach Clay Reeves said. "The first half went really well. We shot well. We rebounded well. We played hard on defense. In the second half, we played hard. Things just didn't go our way."
Junior forward Madison Goodner added 10 points and made nine steals, which tied a state record for a state championship game. She shares the record with India Lewis of Siloam Springs, who had nine in the 1999 championship game and Carone Harris of Bradley who had nine in 2000.
Siloam Springs cut the lead to 36-31 with 2:49 to play on Haley Stewart's tip in, but Siloam Springs took one more field-goal attempt and committed the final four of its 31 turnovers.
Eighteen of those turnovers came in the first half.
The Lady Panthers led 7-4 when senior guard Rachel Jones hit a three-pointer with 4:03 left in the first quarter, but Siloam Springs did not score again until there was 49.5 seconds left in the half when Stewart hit two free throws.
The Lady Bulldogs led 27-7 at that point. Siloam Springs missed five shots and committed 16 turnovers during its scoring drought.
Greenwood committed five turnovers the entire game.
"Their defense puts a lot of pressure on every pass," Siloam Springs Coach Tim Rippy said of Greenwood. "They have a very good trapping defense and that led to our turnovers. That was probably the difference in the game."
As much as Greenwood dominated the turnover battle, the Lady Bulldogs were no match for Siloam Springs in rebounding.
Senior Baily Cameron had 11 rebounds, and the Lady Panthers outrebounded the Lady Bulldogs 35-13 on the defensive boards. Bailee Owens finished with nine rebounds and Mayse Pippin grabbed eight.
Greenwood was 15 of 52 from the floor, including a 3-of-23 effort in the second half. The Lady Bulldogs also struggled from the free-throw line.
They were 4 of 6 in the first half, but 4 of 15 in the final two quarters.
"Our kids kept fighting," Reeves said. "And when they cut it to just a few points, we never let up. Our kids have been in this situation before during the regular season. A win is a win. That's what we came for and that's what we got."
Sports on 03/14/2015