Coach points to defense in freshman team’s win at Cabot South

Photos by Kevin Nagle

Marvin Moody takes a shot inside in front of teammate Kyle Sahr and Cabot's Jarrod Barnes (12). (Photo by Kevin Nagle)

Marvin Moody takes a shot inside in front of teammate Kyle Sahr and Cabot’s Jarrod Barnes (12). (Photo by Kevin Nagle)

CABOT — The Bryant Hornets freshman team set up a first-place showdown with the North Little Rock Charging Wildcats freshmen this Thursday, with a convincing 51-28 win at Cabot South on Monday night. Point guard Calvin Allen came through with 18 points but, during the game-breaking 20-5 burst to open the second half, seven different Bryant players contributed to the scoring.

But it wasn’t the offense that head coach Tyler Posey wanted to talk about.

“We had a couple of good practices and worked very hard on our defense,” he mentioned. “The first half wasn’t what we liked but we got with them at halftime and kind of refocused them, especially on the defensive end and I really think it showed. I think we played some really good defense, probably one of our best defensive games of the year.”

The Hornets used an 11-0 run to turn a 4-4 game into a 15-4 lead in the opening quarter. Spurred by Jarrod Barnes, the Panthers rallied in the second quarter. When Barnes drilled a 3 in the final minute of the half, the margin was just 22-18.

Knowing Barnes was the key to the Cabot South team, Posey kept fresh players on him, using Caylin Allen, Brandon Harris, Hunter Handly, Landon Abernathy, Garrett Cowart and Kaleb Turner on him as well as Calvin Allen and Jonathan Allen.

Caylin Allen releases a 3-point attempt. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)

Caylin Allen releases a 3-point attempt. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)

“We had a couple of guys step up to the challenge, mainly Calvin and Jonathan,” the coach noted. “They really got after it and did some good things, kind of set the tone for us.”

Barnes managed to score 13 of his team’s 18 points in the first half but was frustrated in the second half, getting only 4 more. Bryant forced 19 turnovers, which helped them shoot 57 percent from the field (20 of 35).

The Hornets’ opening salvo came after Barnes had scored on a pair of drives while Bryant countered with a free throw by Calvin Allen and a 3 by Caylin Allen off an assist from his twin brother.

Marvin Moody scored inside to snap the 4-4 tie. Calvin Allen scored off a drive then Turner buried a triple. When Kyle Sahr hit a short jumper in the post area, the lead was 13-4 and Cabot South had to call its second timeout of the game already.

When play resumed, Calvin Allen made a steal and a layup to extend the margin.

But Cabot South’s rally started before the end of the opening quarter. Matt Walters connected from long range to make it 15-7 going into the second period. And when Barnes scored the first two hoops after that, it was 15-11 and Posey was taking a timeout.

The teams traded baskets until Barnes finished the half with 5 points.

Jonathan Allen started the second-half scoring with a floater off a drive into the lane. Barnes hit a layup in response but Moody canned a trey, Calvin and Caylin Allen combined to force a turnover and Calvin cashed in with a three-point play.

Calvin Allen goes to the hole on his way to 2 of his 18 points in the game. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)

Calvin Allen goes to the hole on his way to 2 of his 18 points in the game. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)

Moody took a charge on defense as Cabot South’s Tyler Jones tried to drive through the teeth of the Bryant defense. In turn, Caylin Allen fed Trey Ashmore for an easy deuce. Caylin Allen followed up another turnover with a three-point play off a nice feed from his brother.

That made it 35-20 and the Panthers interrupted the run with a basket inside by Seth Hankerson off a dish from Barnes. Calvin Allen countered with a drive that resulted in a three-point play and another surge.

Cabot South’s Michael Shepard hit a free throw with :43 left in the third quarter but Cowart dished to Harris for a bucket to make it 40-23 going into the final six minutes.

Turner capped the outburst with a layup off an assist from Landon Kays, extending the lead to 19 points with four minutes left.

Both coaches started going deep into their respective benches soon after. In the final 2:30, Christian McIntosh, Abernathy and Chris Adams added to the scoring for Bryant. Adams provided the finishing touches with a 3-pointer.

The win improved the Hornets to 14-6 overall and 4-1 in league play.

 

 

 

HORNETS 51, PANTHERS 28

Bryant's Landon Kays is tied up by Cabot South's Seth Hankerson. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)

Bryant’s Landon Kays is tied up by Cabot South’s Seth Hankerson. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)

Score by quarters

BRYANT          15       7          18       11 — 51

Cabot South   7          11       5          5 — 28

HORNETS 51

Cal.Allen 6-7 6-7 18, Cay.Allen 2-5 1-1 6, Moody 2-3 0-0 5, J.Allen 1-5 0-0 2, Sahr 1-2 0-0 2, Harris 2-2 0-2 4, Turner 2-5 0-1 5, Handly 0-0 0-0 0, Cowart 0-0 0-0 0, Abernathy 1-1 0-0 2, Ashmore 1-2 0-0 2, Kays 0-0 0-0 0, McIntosh 0-0 0-1 0, Blake 0-0 0-0 0, Kelly 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 20-35 7-12 51.

PANTHERS 28

Barnes 8-19 0-1 17, Childress 0-2 0-0 0, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Gartman 1-1 0-0 2, Cheatam 0-2 1-2 1, Hankerson 1-2 0-2 2, Walters 1-1 2-2 5, Shepard 0-0 1-2 1, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Hayes 0-0 0-0 0, Gibson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-28 4-9 28.

Three-point field goals: Bryant 4-9 (Cay.Allen 1-3, Moody 1-2, Turner 1-2, Adams 1-1, J.Allen 0-1), Cabot South 2-11 (Barnes 1-9, Walters 1-1, Childress 0-1). Rebounds: Bryant 22 (Cal.Allen 4, Handly 3), Cabot South 14 (Cheatam 4). Turnovers: Bryant 17, Cabot South 19. Team fouls: Bryant 13, Cabot South 14.

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