The Greenwood Bulldogs have faced every emotion and every situation in the 2023-2024 season, Friday Night they got to add Overtime game to their portfolio. Greenwood falls short to Mountain Home 56-58.
In the last meeting of the Bombers and Bulldogs, Greenwood had to travel to Mountain Home after playing the night before. The result was a 61-31 loss for the Bulldogs. They were prepared to play the spoiler on Friday Night.
The first quarter played eerily like the girl’s game. Mountain Home would score first, with Braden Bollman answering right back with a 3-point basket. The one-point edge held through the first quarter with the Bulldogs leading 13-12. Bollman had 8 points, classmate L.J. Robins had four points, and Peyton Presson adding a free throw.
In the second quarter Mountain Home found slight breathing room with a five-point advantage going into the half. Three-point baskets from Jayden Garnes and Brendan Chick kept the Bulldogs close. Bollman added another two-points to his total.
In the past two weeks, teams have come out of the half with an advantage and used it to jump ahead of the Bulldogs quickly. The Greenwood defense kept the Bombers in check and kept Mountain Home from going on a run. The score at the end of three quarters 36-39. The Bulldogs were now knocking on the door heading into the final quarter in regulation.
While Mountain Home would open the quarter with a three-point basket, Greenwood’s nine-point run saw the Bulldogs tie the game and then push to a three-point lead with 4:25 left in regulation. The Bombers added six-points before the end of regulation to Greenwood’s three to leave the game at 48-48.
Greenwood would strike first in Overtime with a Peyton Presson two-point basket. Mountain Home answered with a three-point basket of their own. Brendan Chick would add two more points giving Greenwood the lead back. A trip to the foul line and a two-point basket would put the Bombers up by two. L.J. Robins gets a three-point basket to pull the ‘Dogs ahead by one-point. Trips to the foul-line for both teams almost had the game facing a second overtime. Braden Bollman missed his second free-throw that the Bulldogs rebounded. Timeout at 3.6 seconds is called by Greenwood. As the ball is brought back into play, L.J. Robins gets the chance to win the game with a three-point basket. It hits near the back of the rim and bounces down. Mountain Home won 58-56.
“It was a great game, I mean it was,” Head Coach B.J. Ross said after the game. “If you were a fan, it’s a great game.”
“We had great fight, we had our chances. We gave a couple of them away.” Coach Ross said, “There’s fight, that guy right there *pointing at L.J. Robins* there’s fight in that guy. He had a great game tonight.”
“Peyton Presson, [Brenden] Chick, Lane Philpot come in and gave us great minutes. Bollman had one of his best defensive outings of the year.” said Coach Ross, “Jayden plays great, Jayden handles the ball 95% of the time.”
The Bulldogs now have two games left in the season. Tuesday they travel to Alma and then on Friday they finish with Greenbrier. “The support, the way the towns coming out, the way the students are coming out. Good things are happening.” Coach Ross said finishing the interview.
