by Rob on May 6, 2009 at 10:54 AM CABOT — The Bryant Lady Hornets track team put themselves in position to challenge the Conway Lady Wampus Cats for the 7A-Central Conference championship after the first day of competition at the league meet on Tuesday, May 5.Conway finished the day with 34 points to Bryant’s 30 through four events. Cabot was third with 20 points. The meet concludes on Thursday with the finals in the running events scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. “I was pleasantly surprised with our performances today,” stated Lady Hornets coach Danny Westbrook. “We scored more points than I expected for the first day. Conway has a lot of points out there they will gain in the finals, and right now they look really hard to beat. However, If they slip up at all, we play to be right there to take advantage.”
by Rob on May 2, 2009 at 4:18 PM 
CABOT — For about three-quarters of the contest, the Bryant Lady Hornets appeared to have taken the measure of the Fort Smith Southside Lady Rebels in the first round of the Class 7A State soccer tournament on Friday. Bryant had taken more shots, gotten one by Haley Montgomery into the net and were on track to record their 10th shutout of the season. But Southside tied the game with about 20 minutes left on a goal by Ashley Cochran, took the lead in the 72nd minute on a goal by Emilee Cole and held on for the win that ended the season for the Lady Hornets. The Lady Rebels (10-9-2) advanced to play Central champion Conway on Saturday. Bryant's season ends with a 12-9 overall mark.
by Rob on May 1, 2009 at 2:03 PM NORTH LITTLE ROCK — The Bryant Lady Hornet track team scored 102 points to finish third at the North Little Rock Relays Thursday night. The Lady Hornets finished behind 7A-Central Conference foes Conway, which won the meet, and host North Little Rock, which finished runner-up. First place finishers for Bryant were Dylan Vail in the 1600 meter run (6:00.2), Jordan Chadwick in the 100 meter hurdles (16.2), and Catherine Fletcher in the pole vault, clearing 9 feet.
by Rob on Apr 17, 2009 at 12:10 PM  NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Bryant Lady Hornets locked down the No. 5 seed from the 7A-Central Conference to the Class 7A State Tournament in Cabot with a 1-0 win over the North Little Rock Lady Cats on Thursday.
It was the Lady Hornets' fifth consecutive shutout and eighth of the year as they improved to 11-6 overall and 5-6 in league play going into the final week of the regular season. Bryant visits Little Rock Central, one of three teams vying for the conference championship (along with Conway and Mount St. Mary's), on Monday, April 20, then host the Lady Tigers on Senior Night on Tuesday before finishing up at Cabot on Thursday, April 23. Katie Moore accounted for the long goal of the evening, scoring off the ricochet from a shot by teammate Amber Moskow midway through the second half.
by Rob on Apr 3, 2009 at 1:33 PM VAN BUREN — Though they managed an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Haley Montgomery, it wasn't until a two-minute flurry late in the first half that the Bryant Lady Hornets found their footing on Thursday, April 2. The result was a 5-0 win over the Van Buren Pointerettes that improved the Lady Hornets to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the 7A-Central Conference heading into a week when they take on Russellville and Conway at home. The Lady Hornets are tied with Russellville for fourth in the league behind unbeaten Conway, second-place Mount St. Mary's and third-place Little Rock Central. Bryant lost to Conway in a closer-than-it-looks contest, 6-2, and fell at Russellville 2-0 earlier in the season. They have yet to play Central. And the Lady Hornets were just coming off a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss in double overtime to Mount, their first home loss of the season. Something that, along with the long trip to Van Buren, had head coach Doug Maxwell concerned going into Thursday's game.
by Rob on Mar 11, 2009 at 10:58 AM CONWAY — When Maggie Hart got a long kick from the left sideline into the net 12 minutes into the second half of the Tuesday's 7A-Central Conference soccer match, the Bryant Lady Hornets had pulled even with the Conway Lady Wampus Cats, 2-2. A perennial State tournament entry, the Lady Wampus Cats, who made it to the quarterfinals at State last spring, took over  the match at that point, scoring four times down the stretch for a 6-2 win. Bryant was without starting forward and leading scorer Lindsai Arceneaux due to an injury suffered in the previous match at Russellville, and starting defender Serenity Gomez, who received a red card at Russellville. The Lady Hornets' starting forward Amber Moskow was at about 70 percent, according to head coach Doug Maxwell, due to an ankle injury suffered at Russellville. And, during Tuesday's contest, they lost defender Grace Oxley to an ankle. "Unfortunately, several defensive breakdowns in coverage and communication cost us," Maxwell said. "Our youth on the field showed several times when we didn't maintain our composure on the field. There were a couple of times when we had five or six freshmen on the field together, which bodes well for the future." Amber Moskow scored Bryant's first-half goal off an assist from Haley Montgomery. "Unfortunately, though, we were out-shot 12-1 in the first half and went into halftime down 2-1," Maxwell mentioned. "We really struggled to find our touch on the ball. It didn't matter how hard we pushed, we were just not able to settle the ball to our feet and find the open player. "The first half, we battled back and forth on our defensive end and with two starters out on defense we struggled on the back line," continued the coach. "We were only able to make one strong offensive push and we took advantage of it. "During the second half, our control of the ball didn't improve even though we were able to tie it on Maggie Hart's goal." The Lady Hornets, 4-3 overall and 1-2 in conference, were set to play at Cabot on Thursday, March 12, before finally getting their second match at home on Tuesday, March 17, against North Little Rock. "We're hoping to get our first conference road win when we travel to Cabot to play a talented and well-coached Lady Panther team," Maxwell said.
by Rob on Mar 4, 2009 at 9:15 PM  By Rob Patrick
FORT SMITH — Yes, the Bryant Lady Hornets had the higher seed and a much better record but the Springdale Har-Ber Lady Wildcats had something valuable that the Lady Hornets did not: State tournament experience. The Lady Wildcats were making their third consecutive trip to State, meaning all four of their seniors and all eight of their juniors had been there and done that. It was a first for every Lady Hornet. And, as most coaches will tell you, it's one thing to get there, another to stay there. Har-Ber, using a zone defense to frustrate Bryant's leading scorer Alana Morris then a box-and-one in the second half to shut down hot-handed Hannah Goshien, brought a bittersweet and premature end to the Lady Hornets' turnabout season, 61-52. The first round game was played Wednesday, March 4, at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith's Stubblefield Center.
by Rob on Mar 3, 2009 at 1:31 PM   By Rob Patrick
When asked what they thought it was going to be like to run out onto the floor at the Class 7A State Tournament at the Stubblefield Center at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith this Wednesday afternoon, the reaction was the same. Both Taylor Hughes and Anna Simpson grinned. You see, it’s been a long time coming for the duo, the only seniors on the Lady Hornets team this year. It’s something they’ve never done before. “It’s going to be kind of cool,” Hughes said. “I think it’s going to be a little scary,” Simpson replied. “It’s going to be so exciting. We have no idea. The last time I even went to a State game, I was like in eighth grade and my sister (Sydney) was a sophomore. I don’t know, just the whole atmosphere’s going to be — it’s going to be great just to know that you’re in there with the best. You’re not one of the teams stuck at home. You made it.” And, indeed, this year they have made it. The Lady Hornets, 19-6, will play the Springdale Har-Ber Lady Wildcats in Fort Smith at 4 p.m., on Wedesday, March 4. They are not only the No. 3 seed from the 7A-Central Conference, but they were in contention for a league championship all year and, actually finished in a tie for second. All that after the team didn’t win a single conference game a season ago and, two years ago, when Hughes and Simpson were sophomores, winning just three league contest. All of which makes this trip even sweeter.
by Rob on Mar 3, 2009 at 12:20 PM  By Kirk Stewart
The third through sixth grade basketball tournament was slated to end on Saturday, but double-elimination tournaments are never easy to predict. The tournament spilled over into Monday resulting in some down-to-the-wire action and some quality basketball. Monday night’s early game was a 3rd/4th grade girls’ division matchup that pitted Team Rowland against Team Hill. Team Rowland wrapped up their season defeating Team Hill. Team Rowland had previously upset Team Hill's bid for an undefeated season on Saturday sending them on to the final elimination game on Monday night, and then handed Team Hill their second loss to take the tournament title.  Monday night’s second final was a rematch of the 5th/6th grade boys division Team Price and Team Hurt. The two squared off on Saturday where Team Price suffered its first defeat of the season losing to Team Hurt by a score of 51-50. Team Price switched strategy away from offense to a more defensive scheme playing mostly man-to-man against Team Hurt's high scoring offense. And that adjustment proved to be the winning move. Team Price won the game 40-33 and took the tournament championship. Team Price ended the season with a record of 15 wins versus 1 loss.
by Rob on Feb 17, 2009 at 11:42 AM   GREENBRIER — Jonathan Parks hit a tip-in at the buzzer and the Bryant Hornets freshman basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference Tournament with a 39-37 edge-of-your-seat victory over the rival Sheridan Stingers on Monday, Feb. 16.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as well for the Lady Hornets who fell victim to a late charge by the hosting Greenbrier Junior Lady Panthers. The 47-37 loss ended Bryant’s 18-7 season. For details, see below. The boys, meanwhile, advance to play Conway Blue on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 7:45 p.m., with a bid to the tournament championship on the line. The two teams, both from the South Division of the league, split their regular-season games, each winning on the other’s court. Blue won at Bryant back on Dec. 1, 2008, 53-44. Bryant won at Conway on Jan. 15, 38-35. The game against Sheridan, another South Division team, came down to the last seconds just as their Jan. 22 meeting at Bryant had, when the Hornets survived 23-21.
|