Buckle Up
Bottoms, Lady Airedales set for tough 5A-West hoops schedule
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
The Alma Lady Airedales haven't had many winning seasons since their coach was the team's point guard. For those keeping score, that was 19 years ago.
Through sixteen games, the upstart Lady Airedales open 5A-West play this week with a 12-4 record — the fourth-best mark in a crowded league with stars galore.
Alma’s last winning record was in 2013-14 (15-12).
“We’re going in 12-and-4, but again, I’m not worried about the wins right now, I’m worried about the conference and how can we get the third or fourth seed going into the state tournament,” second-year coach Chanlee Bottoms said. “I don’t care about the wins, I care about how we can get there. Right now I think we’re competing at a high enough level.”
The Airedales are paced by senior Jordan Gramlich, who is inching her way up the school's all-time scorers list. Gramlich is averaging 17 points per game and currently ranks third on the all-time scoring list with 1,248 points — 252 points shy of Babette Dotson’s high-water mark of 1,500 points.
Freshman Olivia Hughes is second in scoring (9.5), followed by Daimya Parker *8.1) and Jaden Gramlich (6.4).
Alma and Russellville have met 24 times, including 20 since the Cyclones joined the 5A-West in 2015. Russellville is 20-4 against the Airedales, with 17 wins since 2015.
Russellville (4-11) is like anyone else in the 5A-West, Bottoms said.
“They’re going to be another team that might be a bubble team They may not have a great record, but they’re going to fight,” she said. “Everybody is extremely tough in our conference. You’ve got Farmington, who is No. 1 in the state of Arkansas, and you’ve got Mountain Home, Greenwood, Van Buren, and you’ve got us, and all of us will be fighting to get into the state tournament.”
First-year Van Buren girls coach Kendall Ruff has some talent of his own. Senior Aspen Cone and junior J.J. Avery pace the Lady Pointers (12-3).
Van Buren opened the season by winning 9 of 10 games. The team’s three losses have come against Little Rock Christian (11-2), Har-Ber (12-2), and Springdale (10-2).
Alma and Van Buren won’t have it easy in the 5A-West, with Farmington (12-1) and Mountain Home (13-2) expected to finish first or second.
Harrison (8-7) is the only other team currently over .500, but don’t count out Greenwood. The Lady Bulldogs also have two top players in the league — Kylah Pearcy and Izabella Smith.
The defending state champion Bulldogs (4-8) have dropped six games to 6A foes Conway (17-1), Har-Ber (12-2), Fayetteville (9-4), Central (10-3), and North Little Rock (11-6).
First-year Greenwood coach Ryan Casalman’s squad opens league play against Van Buren.
Defending 5A-West champion Alma (10-6) opens league play against 14-3 Russellville. Alma surprised the Cyclones in last season’s league opener.
Alma won’t be overlooked this season. Coach Dominic Lincoln returns all five starters from last season’s 21-10 squad.
The Airedales finished nonconference by beating Harding Academy (64-39) in the finals of the Beebe Tournament. Senior Miles Kendrick leads Alma in scoring with 14.8 points per game.
But balance is the real key for Lincoln’s club, with Easton Boggs (10.9), Camden Curd (9.3), Tyree McGill (7.7), Israel Towns-Robinson (7.0), and Eddie Tate (6.4) being viable scorers as well.
Both Harrison and Farmington enter league play with 13-3 records, with Alma and Mountain Home both at 10-6.
Greenwood and Siloam Springs finished nonconference play on the plus side of the .500 mark.
The only team not currently .500 is Van Buren (7-8), though the Pointers have played a tough schedule that includes losses to Nettleton (13-1), Rogers (11-2), Forrest City (11-2) Subiaco (10-3), and Fort Smith Northside (8-3).