by Rob on May 1, 2009 at 9:38 AM CABOT — The Bryant freshman track team finished fifth among the boys and sixth among the girls at the 2009 Central Arkansas Junior High Conference, South Division, championship meet on Tuesday, April 28. Individually, Caleb Thomas scored 35 of the boys’ 80 points while also helping on relay teams that scored.North Little Rock won the boys competition with 118 points to 103.5 for Conway Blue. The Lady Hornets scored 59 points highlighted by second place finishes in three events. Lake Hamilton dominated the meet with 236 points. Sheridan was a distant second with 73.
by Rob on Feb 14, 2009 at 6:19 PM By Rob Patrick GREENBRIER — In a post-season tournament, the main thing is survival. If you win, you play on; if you lose, the season's over. So, even though the Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team wasn't at its best, particularly in the first half, the fact that they made the plays they needed to win down the stretch kept them from a first-round upset at the hands of an active, hustling Conway White Lady Kittens team. The Lady Hornets, seeded third from the South Division of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference, improved to 18-6 with the 33-24 victory, and advances to play the host Greenbrier Junior Lady Panthers or the Sheridan Lady Stingers on Monday, Feb. 16, at 4 p.m., in the Panther Pavilion. Conway White, the sixth seed from the North Division of the conference, started the game like a team that had a second chance and gave the Lady Hornets a battle. In fact, they led 11-10 at the half, much to the frustration of Bryant head coach Eric Andrews. "You know, whenever you get to a tournament and records don't matter, everybody gets one more shot," he said after the game. "(Conway White) was fired up and ready to play. They came at us with a lot of intensity. Their little point guard (Madison Foster) does a great job. She's hard to handle. It took us a little while to adjust to her speed and they way she penetrated. Finally, we did that and we were able to contain her a little bit better. But because of what she does, we got into a little foul trouble and had to overcome that." Foster finished with a game-high 11 points but did not score in the fourth quarter when the Lady Hornets were trying to protect a lead.
by Rob on Feb 14, 2009 at 5:21 PM
By Rob Patrick
GREENBRIER — Bryant Hornets freshman basketball coach Steve Wilson had a plan for his team's Central Arkansas Junior High Conference post-season tournament debut on Saturday, Feb. 14. Part of it had to do with the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition, Conway White. The other part concerned the starting time of the game.
"In a morning game, a lot of times the shots aren't falling," Wilson related, regarding the 10 a.m. tipoff at the Panther Pavilion at Greenbrier High School. "We were aware of that or I told (the players) that, but the only thing that kept us from taking it to the basket was ourselves. We should've taken it to the basket and got easier shots until we got into the flow. We didn't take advantage of that as much as we could've, I didn't think."
Not that the Junior Hornets didn't survive to play another day. They did, 49-39. But they just couldn't shake the Junior Wampus Cats until pulling away late.
The win improved Bryant to 15-8 on the season, going into a second-round game on Monday night at 7:45 against the winner of the first-round game between Searcy and Sheridan. It was the Hornets' seventh win in their last eight games.
by Rob on Feb 9, 2009 at 10:56 PM
By Rob Patrick
After back-to-back losses to the two teams ahead of them in the South Division standings in the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference, the Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team finished off the regular-season on a winning note. Bryant surged in the second half to dismiss the rival Benton Lady Panthers, 45-23, to head into the league's post-season tournament at Greenbrier on a winning note.
The Lady Hornets will take a 17-6 overall record into the tourney which begins Saturday, Feb. 14. They finish 10-4 in the South Division.
Bryant outscored the Lady Panthers 24-7 in the second half, shutting them out in the final period.
Benton had opened the game with a 10-2 run, led by Brooke Million and Mallory Carver. But when Breanna Blundell grabbed the carom off a teammate's miss and scored with :04 left in the period for the Lady Hornets, it sparked a 15-3 blitz that put them ahead to stay
"Once again, it was those nerves at the start of a game," noted Bryant coach Eric Andrews. "We got some open shots, we just couldn't make anything even from point-blank range. But the girls settled in and we got our press going a little bit, got them to turn the ball over some. We were able to get some easy baskets and once we got those, the other baskets started coming."
by Rob on Feb 9, 2009 at 10:14 PM
By Rob Patrick
One would think that, if a basketball team converted 80 percent of its field goal attempts, it would be nearly impossible to beat. In fact, it would be difficult for the team's opponent to even be close.
But there were the Bryant Junior Hornets, having hit 16 of their 20 field goal attempts, tied with the rival Benton Junior Panthers, 37-37,  with :12.5 left in the final regular-season game for both teams on Monday, Feb. 9.
It was fitting in a way because it was the third meeting between the two and each had beaten the other once.
But how was Benton tied with the Hornets under those circumstances?
Credit the 3. Nine of the Panthers' 13 made field goals in the game were 3-pointers, 27 of the 37 points. The last of those, a bomb by point guard Nathan Griffin had evened the contest with 1:20 to go. Bryant spread the floor and worked the clock down to :12.5 and head coach Steve Wilson took a timeout to set up what he hoped would be either a game-winning shot or overtime.
When play resumed, Bryant point guard Brantley Cozart got a step on Griffin just beyond the 3-point arc, drove into the lane, pulled up as the defense converged and knocked down a 10-foot jumper with :06 to play. Benton rushed the ball up the floor but Jordan Griffin's long 3 was just short and the Hornets had a hard-earned 39-37 victory.
by Rob on Feb 5, 2009 at 11:52 PM By Rob Patrick CABOT — Derek Johnson, who was having his best game of the season (10 points, 10 rebounds), hit a 15-foot jumper with 1:25 left to play, bringing his team, the Bryant Hornets freshmen, into a tie with the Cabot South Panthers in their Central Arkansas Junior High Conference battle on Thursday, Feb. 5. With :50.7 showing, Cabot called a timeout. When play resumed, the Panthers worked the ball to Mason Haley who was fouled with :37.8 to go. Haley made the first shot but missed the second. But, instead of the Hornets collecting the rebound and taking a shot at gaining the lead, Cabot's J.D. Melby snuck in and grabbed the carom. And he too was fouled. Melby however missed the front end and again the Hornets had a chance at hauling down the board and working for a go-ahead look. Except that, this time, Haley grabbed the carom and, with :30.1 to go, Adam Rock was fouled. The Hornets still had a chance, though, when Rock converted just once and, finally, Jonathan Parks snatched down the rebound. At the other end, however, the Hornets, apparently thinking that more than two of all of those free throws had gone in, started pumping 3's. And they got three pretty good looks. Brantley Cozart's shot from the corner rimmed out but Parks rebounded and got the ball to Johnson in the other corner. He too misfired. Parks rebounded again and, instead of attempting a follow shot, kicked it out to L.J. McLaughlin who proceeded to launch another trey. The ball ended up out of bounds with :02.7 to go, Cabot's ball. A long inbounds pass subsequently used up the last of the time and Cabot held on for a 41-39 victory, avenging a 52-50 loss at Bryant. The loss snapped Bryant's five-game winning streak. They were set to try to get back on track in their final regular-season game at home against the rival Benton Junior Panthers on Monday, Feb. 9. The CAJHC post-season tournament was set to begin Saturday, Feb. 14, in Greenbrier.
by Rob on Jan 26, 2009 at 1:50 PM By Rob Patrick LITTLE ROCK — In a game as closely contested as the one played by the Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team and the Mount St. Mary’s Mounties were engaged in at McAuley Center on Monday, Jan. 26, the slightest surge figured to be the difference. But it was a rare thing for one of the teams to even score back-to-back baskets, let alone put a string of them together to gain any security. The largest lead through three quarters was 3 points as both played active, stingy defense.But, to start the fourth, it finally happened. The Lady Hornets sparked by a three-point play by Raegan Barker put together a 9-1 stretch that put them on their way to a well-earned 26-21 road win. At 15-4 overall and 8-2 in the South Division of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference, the Lady Hornets thus headed into the final two weeks of the regular season, tied for second place with Cabot South, two games behind North Little Rock.Both remain on Bryant’s schedule. A few blocks away, the Junior Hornets also picked up a crucial victory at Little Rock Catholic, 40-35.
by Rob on Jan 22, 2009 at 4:26 PM
By Rob Patrick
London Abernathy knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter to help the Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team off to a fast start as they cruised to a 41-13 win over the Sheridan Lady Stingers on Thursday, Jan. 22.
Abernathy wound up with 15 points to lead all scorers in the game as the Lady Hornets improved to 14-4 overall and 7-2 in the South Division of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference, keeping the heat on leaders Cabot South (tied with Bryant at 7-2) and North Little Rock (9-0).
Bryant, which lost its only two league games to the leaders, get another shot at them the first week of February. In the meantime, they were set to try to get past Mount St. Mary’s on the road on Monday, Jan. 26, and Lake Hamilton at home on Thursday, Jan. 29.
Sheridan came into Thursday’s game without Karson Henry, who has done the bulk of the team’s scoring this season. The Lady Stingers struggled mightily against the Bryant press, turning the ball over 17 times in the first half while attempting just four shots from the floor and six free throws. They hit three of the free throws and none of the field goals and trailed 20-3 at the half.
by Rob on Jan 22, 2009 at 4:12 PM By Rob Patrick The Bryant Hornets freshman basketball team is starting to develop a knack for winning close games. It may serve them well as they head down the stretch drive of their schedule leading into the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference post-season tournament. For the third time in four games, the Hornets earned victories in the South Division of the CAJHC and, in each, their opponent had a chance to win or tie with a shot at the buzzer that failed to fall. On Thursday, Jan. 15, the Hornets stunned Conway Blue, which had been one of the top teams in the division, 38-35. In a tight game, Bryant took a 1-point lead in the final minute on a stickback by Cody McPherson. Conway, in turn, missed a free throw then had to start fouling. The Cats had just two team fouls at that point. They had to foul four times in the last 20 seconds to get the Hornets to the free-throw line. But before they could commit the seventh foul that would’ve done the trick, Brantley Cozart broke free behind the defense for a layup to make it a 3-point game. Conway got a shot to tie it at the end but couldn’t get it to go and the Hornets held on. Prior to that, Cabot South had a chance to tie it with two free throws in the final seconds. After the first try failed, the Panthers’ J.D. Melby bounced the second shot off the rim and the backboard, beat everybody to the carom but missed the last-second shot that would’ve sent it into overtime. On Thursday, Jan. 22, there they were again. Cozart had snapped a 21-21 tie with a drive up the baseline for a scoop shot that rolled in with 1:09 to go.
by Rob on Jan 12, 2009 at 2:29 PM By Rob Patrick BENTON — No matter what the competition, whenever teams from Bryant and Benton engage each other it’s going to be intense. In fact, it’s easy for a team to get overly stoked. Intense turns into tense.So, more often than not, it’s the team that keeps cool and relaxed that performs best and wins. And, on Monday, Jan. 12, that proved to be the Benton Junior Panthers despite the manic intensity and histrionics of their head coach David Torres. The Panthers calmly put together a 17-2 run that included four 3-pointers and an old-fashioned three-point play over a five-minute span in the first quarter to take control of the game on the way to a 51-39 victory, avenging a 41-37 loss at Bryant earlier in the season. The two teams will meet again in Bryant to wrap up the regular season on Feb. 9.
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