The first Bryant-Benton showdown of the basketball season will be tonight when the freshman teams from each school meet at the Bryant High School gym in the semifinals of the annual Bryant Invitational Tournament.
Bryant’s Hornets advanced with a 33-27 win over Lake Hamilton on Monday night just after Benton escaped with a 37-34 win over Conway White. Tip off tonight will be around 6:40.
In other first-round action at the Bryant Middle School gym on Monday, Pulaski Academy advanced past Maumelle, 29-20, and North Little Rock downed Hot Springs 53-37.
That sets up a winner’s bracket meeting between P.A. and North Little Rock at 7:45 tonight. In the consolation bracket, Hot Springs and Maumelle will meet at 4:30 this afternoon followed at 5:35 by Lake Hamilton and Conway White.
Against Lake Hamilton, the Hornets never trailed. And the Wolves were never able to get even after Kaleb Turner hit a driving jumper with 2:48 left in the first quarter to snap a 4-4 tie. Bryant led 8-6 at the end of the opening period then held Lake Hamilton to just 2 points in the second quarter on the way to building a 17-8 halftime edge.
And the Hornets led by as much as 17 in the second half. Lake Hamilton gamely rallied but could only get the margin under 10 in the final minute. The Wolves were never closer than the final score after the half.
Marvin Moody led Bryant with 9 points. Calvin Allen had 6 as 10 different players scored. Larenz Nero had 11 and Andrew Bennett 10 for Lake Hamilton.
Calvin Allen made a steal that led to a layup by Jonathan Allen to start the second quarter. Calvin Allen would added a pair of free throws moments later.
Bennett drove for a bucket to provide the Wolves’ lone points of the period at the 2:24 mark.
Christian McIntosh made a steal for the Hornets and it led to a free throw for Jack Reynolds. And when Reynolds followed up with a drive the hoop, it was 15-8. An offensive rebound bucket for Hunter Handly extended the margin to 9 at the break.
To start the third quarter, Bennett canned a short jumper but Moody banked in a 3-pointer then followed with a drive to the rack. A three-point play by Tyler Kelly and stickback by Moody pushed the lead to 27-10.
Free throws by Bennett and an offensive rebound basket from Noah Rengstorf off a miss from the line helped Lake Hamilton cut the margin to 29-14 going into the fourth quarter. Caylin Allen’s basket contributed to the Hornets scoring before the final period.
And when McIntosh hit a baseline jumper with 5:00 left, the lead was back to 17. But that’s when Lake Hamilton started to rally by getting to the free throw line. Going 6 of 8 at the line during a 13-2 stretch whittled it down to the final margin.
It was 31-21 when Calvin Allen drained a 12-footer to stem the tide a bit. But Nero countered with deuce off a teammate’s miss and, later, drilled a 3-pointer.
It was, however, too little too late.
BENTON 37, CONWAY WHITE 34
The Panthers rolled to a 13-0 lead to start the game and held a 17-5 edge going into the second quarter. It was 24-12 at the half. But Conway White came all the way back to tie it with 14 seconds left in the third quarter. And with 4:21 left, the Wampus Cats took a 32-30 lead.
Fred Harris gave Benton a 34-32 lead only to have Conway tie it. But, with :08.6 showing and the game knotted a 34, Jai Peters hit a runner jumper in the lane to put the Panthers ahead to stay.
Westin Riddick led Benton with 11 points. Tristan Harrison had 9, all on 3-pointers. Peters and Braylon Alcorn finished with 5 apiece.
Marquese Pleasant scored 11 off the bench for Conway White. Jalen Graham had 8.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 53, HOT SPRINGS 37
Jarvis Ricks knocked down 11 points, B.J. Walker 10 and Larry Hatchett 9 to lead the Junior Charging Wildcats to victory.
The game was 25-23 at the half before North Little Rock gradually pulled away. It was 40-29 going into the fourth quarter.
Xavion Christon paced the Trojans with 16 points. Tamarcus Guinn pitched in with 9.
PULASKI ACADEMY 29, MAUMELLE 20
A tight game that the Bruins nailed down late, holding the Hornets to 2 points in the fourth quarter.
It was 8-6 after one period, 15-13 at the half with Pulaski Academy holding the edge. It was still just 22-18 going into the fourth quarter.
Isaiah Woods paced the Bruins with 10 points. Tra Johnson had 9 and Connor Parr 6.
For Maumelle, Reggin Dunn scored 8 and K.J. O’Neil 4.
JUNIOR HORNETS 33, JUNIOR WOLVES 27
Score by quarters
Lake Hamilton 6 2 6 13 — 27
BRYANT 8 9 10 4 — 33
JUNIOR WOLVES 27
Nero 4-7 2-4 11, Rengstorf 1-4 0-0 2, Easter 0-1 0-0 0, Bennett 3-10 4-8 10, Clayton Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0, Morton 0-1 0-0 0, Spradlin 0-1 2-4 2, Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Harper 0-1 0-0 0, Aitkin 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 9-27 8-16 27.
JUNIOR HORNETS 33
Kelly 1-1 1-1 3, Cal.Allen 2-6 2-2 6, Cowart 0-3 0-0 0, Moody 4-5 0-1 9, Sahr 0-0 0-0 0, Kays 0-0 0-0 0, Turner 1-6 0-0 2, Winston 1-3 0-0 2, J.Allen 1-1 0-0 2, Harris 0-0 0-3 0, Handly 1-1 0-0 2, Reynolds 1-2 1-2 3, McIntosh 1-3 0-0 2, Cay.Allen 1-2 0-0 2, Abernathy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-33 4-9 33
Three-point field goals: Bryant 1-8 (Moody 1-1, Turner 0-3, Cowart 0-2, McIntosh 0-1, Cay.Allen 0-1), Lake Hamilton 1-6 (Nero 1-2, Bennett 0-3, Rengstorf 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 16, Lake Hamilton 19. Rebounds: Bryant 24 (Winston 4, Cal.Allen, Sahr, Turner, Reynolds 3), Lake Hamilton 19 (Nero 7). Team fouls: Bryant 14, Lake Hamilton 14.
