Defense, hot shooting help Hornets notch first league win, 46-29, over Russellville
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
By Rob Patrick
Nothing beats dribbling out the last few seconds of your basketball game. It means you’ve won and you’re far enough ahead that the other team has decided there’s not way to catch up even if they foul you and you miss your free throws.
It’s something to savor, especially when your team has lost three in a row and six of its last seven, almost all the losses heartbreakers; winnable games, all but one of which by less than 10 points.
That being the case, it was no small thing that the Hornets were in just that situation, dribbling out the final seconds of their first 7A-Central Conference triumph, a 46-29 win over the Russellville Cylcones at the Hornets Nest.
With the win, Bryant improved to 8-9 overall and 1-2 in league play going into a trip to play league-leading Conway, among the top-ranked teams in the state, on Tuesday and a home battle with Cabot on Friday.
“We shot the ball better,” noted Hornets coach Ron Marvel. “It didn’t look like we shot the ball better because there were so many fouls and it was such a physical game. They were holding onto us pretty tight, and we were holding onto them pretty tight.[more]
“I thought the key to the game was definitely our defense,” he stated. “That’s what won the ballgame. I was proud of the kids. They played real hard. I was a little disappointed in our free-throw shooting late though because we could’ve made it a lot easier on ourselves if we’d made those free throws.
“But it was a good win,” Marvel concluded. “One conference win and we just play them one at a time. We’ve got to get about four or five more to get in that State Tournament.”
With the Cyclones trying to play catch-up and the Hornets spreading the floor much of the fourth quarter, they converted 12 of 19 from the line. They were 17 of 27 for the game, all after halftime.
Brandon Parish scored a season-high 18 points to lead Bryant. K-Ron Lairy added 13, Kendall Butzlaff 6, Dontay Renuard 5 and L.J. McLaughlin 4 for the Hornets.Russellville, which dropped to 3-11 and 0-3, was paced by Eric Turner’s 10 points.
The game was interrupted in the second quarter for almost 30 minutes when a member of the Bryant High School band, senior Michael Pace, fell down the bleacher steps and hit hard at the bottom near the baseline. As a precaution, he was kept still by Bryant athletic trainer Christa Finney and paramedics were called in. After having his neck braced and his body immobilized, Pace was placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. Fortunately, at last word, it was determined that he had not broken any bones.
While he was being tended to, both teams were sent to the locker rooms. The game was halted at the 5:27 mark of the second quarter.
At that point, the Hornets had built a 12-5 lead. They got off to a fast start when Parish buried a pair of 3-pointers, the second from NBA range and, after a Russellville timeout, Butzlaff banked in a short jumper off a nice drive-and-dish by Connor Rayburn, making it 8-0.
The Hornets led 10-5 at the first break. Lairy beat the buzzer with a driving scoop shot then opened the second-quarter scoring with a jumper off another assist from Rayburn, just moments before the accident.
The Hornets never trailed in the game. When play resumed, Parnell Webb broke a drought of almost seven game minutes with a follow shot but Renuard trumped that with a 3.
Both teams were diligent and deliberate on offense and defense so the baskets were coming few and far between in the second quarter. Jordan Barrett hit a 3 for Russellville with 2:41 left then no one scored until McLaughlin followed his own miss in the final seconds to give Bryant a 17-10 lead at the break.
The Cyclones were within 5 early in the second half before the Hornets gradually starting pulling away. Over a six-minute span, Russellville was only able to add one field goal. Meanwhile, Renuard hit a free throw then Lairy cashed in on a Cyclone turnover with a driving jumper. He followed with a steal that led to a trip to the line for Parish who converted twice to make it 23-14.
After Terence Daniels interrupted with a layup off an inbounds play for Russellville, the Cyclones got a chance to get closer only to have Butzlaff take the first of two charges. Moments later, he was rewarded with a layup off a nice feed by Parish.
Another Russellville turnover led to a jumper from the corner by Parish and, yet another, provided a free-throw chance for Lairy who sank one of two shots to make it 28-16 with 1:58 left in the third quarter.
Free throws by Daniels and Turner in the final 40 seconds allowed the Cyclones to trim the margin to 28-19 going into the fourth quarter.
And Russellville jumped into a half-court trap to start the final period. But Bryant burned it for a layup by Lairy off an assist from Butzlaff. After Turner hit a 15-footer, Lairy returned the favor to make it 32-21.
Daniels knocked down a 3 to get the Cyclones within 32-24 at the 6:12 mark but that proved to be the last Russellville field goal until the final minute of the game. After a timeout, Renuard was fouled. Though he missed both shots, McLaughlin, who led the team with six rebounds, battled for the rebound and Lairy was fouled at the 5:38 mark. He converted both shots.
Webb answered with a pair from the line and the Cyclones jumped into a fullcourt press but the Hornets beat it. Parish hit a free throw then, after Daniels missed a 3, he drove for a layup that make it 37-26.
The lead was never less than 10 after that. At the other end of the floor, Butzlaff took another charge on a drive by Russellville guard Chris Washington. And when Washington protested too demonstrably at picking up his fifth foul, he was hit with a technical. Lairy hit both free throws and, on the subsequent possession, McLaughlin went to the line and sank two as the lead ballooned to 15.
As the Hornets worked the clock, Parish was fouled repeatedly. Though he missed four free throws in a row at one point, he found the range at the end, knocking down five in a row to help expand the lead to as much as 18.
HORNETS 46, CYCLONES 29
Score by quarters
Russellville 5 5 9 10 — 29
BRYANT 10 7 11 18 — 46
CYCLONES (3-11, 0-3) 29
Player fg-fta ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Washington 0-1 1-2 1-1 2 5 1
Webb 1-9 2-2 4-1 5 5 4
Robinson 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 5 0
Turner 3-6 2-2 1-6 7 1 10
Lopez 1-2 0-1 1-0 1 3 2
Daniels 2-9 1-2 1-1 2 0 6
Barrett 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 5
George 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 0
Woerner 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Neal 0-1 1-2 0-1 1 1 1
Jones 0-0 0-2 0-0 0 1 0
Team 3-1 4
Totals 9-32 7-13 11-12 23 23 29
HORNETS (8-9, 1-2) 46
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Lairy 4-8 5-6 0-1 1 3 13
Parish 4-6 8-13 1-2 3 0 18
Rayburn 0-2 0-0 0-2 2 3 0
Renuard 1-5 2-6 1-2 3 3 5
Butzlaff 3-3 0-0 0-2 2 5 6
McLaughlin 1-3 2-2 3-3 6 0 4
Prescott 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Hampton 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Team 1-2 3
Totals 13-27 17-27 6-14 20 16 46
Three-point field goals: Russellville 4-14 (Turner 2-3, Daniels 1-5, Barrett 1-1, Webb 0-3, Robinson 0-2), Bryant 3-12 (Parish 2-3, Renuard 1-4, Lairy 0-3, Rayburn 0-2). Turnovers: Russellville 14, Bryant 10. Technical foul: Russellville, Washington.
