For more photos from this event by Rick Nation, go here; photos also by Andrew Schroeder
Nine was better than two for the Bryant Hornets on Friday night.
A few days after losing 58-50 at North Little Rock in a game in which they were 2 for 20 from 3-point range, the Hornets were 9 of 24 at home including three in the second quarter when they surged to a double-digit lead. Seven different players hit a 3.
Junior Gabe George, senior Aidan Adams and freshman Drake Fowler, who made his first varsity start, each connected while, defensively, the Hornets held the Conway Wampus Cats to just 9 points.
The result was a 33-20 halftime advantage on the way to a 65-43 victory.
“It’s nice to have those guys step up,” said Hornets head coach Mike Abrahamson, whose team improved to 13-3 overall and 5-3 in the 6A-Central Conference, along in third place behind Little Rock Central and North Little Rock.
Conway came in even with the Hornets in the standings.
Camren Hunter scored 18 for the Hornets to go with nine rebounds and six assists. Will Diggins added 10 points and eight caroms plus one of those nine triples. Fowler and Kade Ruffner finished with 9 each. In all, 10 different players added to the scoring.
“It’s definitely something we talk about,” Abrahamson said of the improved 3-point shooting. “I can’t really say that it’s anything that we did differently. It’s just kind of things that we preach all the time and tonight looked better. Just kind of try to stick to what we believe in, sharing the ball, ‘one-more’ passes, and guys were able to make some shots. Nine is definitely better than the two we had the other night.”
D.J. Lockhart led Conway with 11 points. The Hornets held 6’5” Jayden Williams, the team’s lone returning starter from a co-state championship team, to 8 points.
“Conway’s real physical defensively,” Abrahamson said. “You try to prepare for that and, of course, we try to be too but, I think at the beginning of the game, it’s like every other game, you try to prepare them for what’s coming and then they kind of have to see it for themselves. So, we didn’t get off to a super-fast start but adjusted as the game went on. Guys were freed up and stepped up and made shots. They were definitely keying on Cam.”
The teams traded the lead back and forth throughout the first quarter. When Hunter hit a 3 to beat the buzzer, it put Bryant ahead 12-11. Cory Nichols and Ruffner each hit a 3 in the period.
In the second quarter, Adams hit his 3 off a dish from Hunter to push the lead to 17-13. After Lockhart missed twice at the free-throw line, Fowler drove and fed Diggins to push the lead to 6.
After a turnover, the Wampus Cats called timeout. When play resumed, they force a Bryant turnover but Fowler, at 6’2” blocked a shot by Williams in the paint and, at the other end, Diggins scored again.
Williams got free for a three-point play for Conway. In turn, Nichols assisted on a bucket by Gavin Brunson. But Lockhart hit two free throws. But when Nichols drove and kicked to George for a 3 and Hunter followed with a dish to Brunson, it was 28-18.
Lockhart hit a short jumper, but Hunter fed Fowler for a 3 and, in the final minute, Brunson converted a pair of free throws to set the halftime advantage.
“Second quarter, we made a few shots, which is nice,” Abrhamson said. “Defensively, we know they want to get it to Williams. We know that’s their bread and butter. We just tried to make it difficult for them to get it to him then we limited them to one shot a lot of times in that second quarter. We blocked out well and rebounded well.
For the game, 12 of Bryant’s 34 rebounds came at the offensive end.
Ruffner started the second half with a trey, pushing the lead to 16. Traland McClure countered for Conway then Williams scored off the offensive glass to pinch the lead to 11.
But Hunter fed Fowler who hit another triple.
“Drake’s a competitor and he has earned that opportunity,” Abrahamson said of the freshman’s first start. “He is somebody with a lot of potential and a lot of upside. He practices hard and he’s come a long way since we got him about seven weeks ago.
“I thought he did well,” he added. “He was a little shaky at the start as you might expect of a freshman in his first start. But then the rest of the game that he was in there I thought he looked really good and confident.
“He looked like who he is,” the coach stated. “He stepped up and made some shots, made some plays. He’s got to learn how to pass in traffic around the basket. He had two turnovers doing that tonight, but we addressed that, and we’ll try to move forward.
After a free throw by Rome Fields for Conway, the Cats had a chance to cut more off the lead only to have Hunter make a steal and layup. Later, he fed Diggins for another deuce and the lead was 43-25.
The advantage was 47-28 going into the fourth quarter.
Hunter beat the Conway press for a layup to start the final eight minutes. Austin Schroeder followed up with a steal and layup as the lead ballooned to 23, forcing a Conway timeout.
The largest lead was 26, initially at the 5:04 mark of the fourth, just after Diggins canned his 3-pointer.
HORNETS 65, WAMPUS CATS 43
Score by quarters
Conway 11 9 8 15 — 43
BRYANT 12 21 14 18 — 65
WAMPUS CATS (5-8, 4-4) 43
Lockhart 3-11 4-7 11, Wiseman 1-3 0-0 2, McClure 3-4 2-2 8, Swindle 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 3-8 1-1 7, Duncan 2-5 0-0 4, Carr 1-3 0-0 2, Fields 2-2 2-7 6, Canady 0-0 0-0 0, Scroggin 0-1 3-5 3, Holmes 0-0 0-0 0, Hampton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-40 (38%) 12-22 (55%) 43.
HORNETS (13-3, 5-3) 65
Fowler 2-7 3-5 9, Ruffner 3-5 1-2 9, Hunter 8-14 1-1 18, Brunson 2-4 0-0 4, Diggins 4-8 1-2 10, Nichols 1-7 0-0 3, Schroeder 1-3 0-0 2, Adams 1-4 0-0 3, George 1-2 2-2 5, Newburn 0-0 0-0 0, Wallace 1-1 0-0 2, Lindsey 0-3 0-0 0, Billingsley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-58 (41%) 8-12 (67%) 65.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 9-24 (Fowler 2-5, Ruffner 2-4, Hunter 1-4, Adams 1-4, Nichols 1-3, George 1-2, Diggins 1-1, Schroeder 0-2), Conway 1-7 (Lockhart 1-3, Swindle 0-2, Wiseman 0-1, Scroggin 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 11, Conway 19. Rebounds: Bryant 12-22 34 (Hunter 2-7 9, Diggins 3-5 8, Nichols 3-3 6, Fowler 1-3 4, Brunson 2-0 2, Adams 0-2 2, Ruffner 0-1 1, Schroeder 1-0 1, team 0-1 1), Conway 8-23 31 (Williams 2-4 6, McClure 2-3 5, Fields 1-4 5, Wiseman 0-4 4, Carr 0-3 3, Scroggin 2-0 2, Lockhart 0-1 1, Duncan 0-1 1, Holmes 0-1 1, team 1-2 3). Team fouls: Bryant 16, Conway 18.
