Coming off a tough loss at Lake Hamilton on Monday, the Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team put together a second-half push to edge the Little Rock Central Lady Tigers freshmen, 32-31, at the Bryant Junior High gym on Thursday.
It was Bryant’s first win of the season and a bit of a breakthrough.
Jadyn Miller led the way with 13 points. A’Niyah Livingston had 9 and Arion Pegram 5. Camille Calhoun pitched in with 3 and Saffy Purdom had 2.
“After the disappointing game on Monday, we had a couple of good practices and it showed,” said Lady Hornets head coach Nathan Castaldi. “The biggest issue we have had this year has been taking care of the basketball. Too many turnovers have led to easy baskets for our opponents. (Against Central), we did a much better job of valuing the basketball and we got good shots from that.”
The game was tied 7-7 after a quarter. Central led 15-10 at the half. But Bryant surged in the third quarter, taking a 25-24 lead into the fourth.
“Jadyn was much more aggressive than she had been, which resulted in some easy baskets and free throws,” Castaldi noted. “A’Niyah, who is one of our primary ball handlers, did a better job of getting us into our offense and scored all 9 of her points in the third quarter when we took the lead. We also rebounded much better as a team. Keyonna Hunt, Nyla Diggins and Locklan Berry all did a better job of helping us win the rebounding battle.”
The Lady Hornets will take the week off for Thanksgiving then return to action at Cabot North on Monday, Nov. 30.
