The Bryant Lady Hornets freshman basketball team will[more] be the No. 4 seed at the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference post-season tournament in Benton. That spot was set after they battled second-seeded Lake Hamilton to the hilt in their final regular-season game on Tuesday only to fall, 34-29.
The game was a make-up date from a game that was snowed out on Jan. 20. It was the second night in a row for the two teams to play.
The Lady Hornets were coming off a disheartening loss at Conway Blue.The Lady Hornets include Aubree Allen, Jessica Alliston, Andrea Buford, Ashlee Caton, Caylin Choate, Dezarea Duckworth, Kaitlyn Greer, Keedy Harrison, Taylor Matthews, Dee-Dee Mosby, Melinda Murdock, Amber Newman, Destiny Nichols, Brittany Privett, Erica Smith, Rori Whittaker and Alex Wright.
Bryant finishes the regular season 13-11 overall and 4-4 in the league, tied for fourth with North Little Rock and Benton. The Lady Hornets gained the fourth seed on points and will play the fifth-seeded North Little Rock team in the first round of the tournament Saturday with the tipoff tentatively set for 4 p.m. It’ll be the third meeting of the season between the two teams. Bryant won the first game 37-32 in overtime then the second 34-25 on Monday, Jan. 31.
“I was proud of the way we played,” stated Bryant coach Nathan Castaldi of Tuesday’s game. “Lake Hamilton had to work extremely hard for every basket they got. We executed our offense all night. We just had a hard time making shots.”
The game was tied 6-6 after a quarter then the Lady Hornets forged a 16-13 edge by halftime. The Lady Wolves pulled ahead by the end of the third quarter, 25-23, then held on.
Allen and Duckworth each finished with 9 points for Bryant. Whittaker and Nichols added 4 apiece and Smith had 3.
