PEARCY — The Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team will play for the championship of the annual Kameron Hale Invitational Tournament today at 4 p.m., against the host Lake Hamilton Lady Wolves.
Bryant advanced with a 38-27 win over the Mena Junior Ladycats on Friday after an early struggle.
Lauren Lain was named player of the game, leading the Lady Hornets with 12 points. Emeleigh Muse had 11, Jayla Knight 6, Haya Winfield 5. Jaelyn Allen pitched in with 2 points with Natalie Edmonson and Lyniyae Johnson scoring 1 apiece.
“I think this was the first game of the year that we started a little slow,” said Lady Hornets coach Nathan Castaldi. “Mena plays very aggressive hard-nosed defense and it took us a little time to adjust to that.”
The game was tied 6-6 at the end of the first quarter.
“Mena also did a very good job of handling our pressure and slowing the game down,” Castaldi added. “It was mo re of a half-court game than we want to play but our girls did a great job adjusting.
“Our post players (Lauren, Haya and Jaelyn) did a great job of limiting Mena to one shot most times down the floor and, as the game wore on, our guards (Emeleigh, Jayla and Lyniyae) did a bettr job of handling Mena’s pressure.”
The Lady Hornets managed to lead 13-9 at the half then led 25-19 going into the fourth quarter.
“The second half, we were able to execute a little better and get the shots we wanted,” said the Bryant coach. “Mena was a very good team and I think they play a similar style to Lake Hamilton.”
The win improved Bryant to 9-1 on the season.
