For more photos of this event by Rick Nation, go here
While the Fort Smith Northside Lady Bears were hitting their first nine shots from the field, the Bryant Lady Hornets were missing their first 15 on Tuesday night in the 6A-Central Conference opener for both teams at Hornet Arena.
The result was a 24-0 start for the top-ranked Lady Bears, who cruised to a 70-33 victory.
It was not the best night for the young Lady Hornets to be less than their best.
Former two-time State tournament MVP and future Arkansas Razorback Jersey Wolfenbarger, a 6’5” point guard/post/whatever’s needed who has haunted Central teams for four years now, scored 10 points in that first quarter. Tracy Bershers, another experienced senior who’s been a part of two State titles, hit her first five shots on the way to 18.
Bryant finally got on the board with :22.8 left in the first quarter when junior Parris Atkins came through with a three-point play. Haitiana Releford beat the buzzer ending the period, with a driving layup and Northside held a 26-3 lead going into the second quarter.
Reserves were in for the Lady Bears at that point, but they extended the margin to 33-3 before Bryant’s freshman point guard Brilynn Findley hit a 3.
The starters for Northside returned with about three and a half minutes left in the half. They closed out strong and led 43-11 at the intermission.
Reserves played most of the second half for the Lady Bears, who led 61-27 going into the fourth quarter.
Bryant head coach Brad Matthews turned to reserves in the fourth.
Atkins finished with 11 points for Bryant. Emileigh Muse added 6.
The loss dropped Bryant to 7-3 overall this season going into a game at Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock on Friday.
The Lady Hornets are 0-1 in league play but it’s a loss most if not all the teams in the Central will suffer.
LADY BEARS 70, LADY HORNETS 33
Score by quarters
FS Northside 26 17 18 9 — 70
BRYANT 3 8 16 6 — 33
LADY BEARS (11-1, 1-0) 70
Wolfenbarger 5-6 1-2 13, Harris 0-3 0-0 0, Ford 1-3 0-0 2, Bershers 6-8 4-4 18, Releford 4-11 0-0 10, Massey 1-2 0-0 2, Ks.Warr 4-5 0-0 8, Hartgraves 0-4 0-0 0, Washington 1-2 5-6 8, B.Taylor 1-1 0-0 2, Km.Warr 3-3 1-2 7, La.Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Reese 0-1 0-0 0, Dotson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-50 (52%) 11-14 (79%) 70.
LADY HORNETS (7-3, 0-1) 33
Lain 0-3 2-4 2, Atkins 4-15 3-6 11, Edmonson 2-6 0-0 5, Findley 2-7 0-0 5, Muse 2-10 0-0 6, Jordan 0-1 0-0 0, L.Taylor 1-5 0-0 2, Winston 0-0 0-0 0, Knight 0-3 0-2 0, Welch 1-1 0-0 2, Ly.Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Horton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-52 (23%) 5-12 (42%) 33.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 4-15 (Muse 2-9, Findley 1-5, Edmonson 1-4, Atkins 0-4, Jordan 0-1, Knight 0-1), FS Northside 7-17 (Releford 2-5, Wolfenbarger 2-2, Bershers 2-2, Washington 1-1, Hartgrave 0-4, Harris 0-1, Massey 0-1, Reese 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 12, FS Northside 14. Rebounds: Bryant 11-11 22 (Atkins 3-2 5, Lain 3-1 4, L.Taylor 3-1 4, Findley 0-3 3, Muse 0-2 2, Johnson 1-0 1, Knight 0-1 1, Welch 1-0 1, team 0-1 1), FS Northside 12-32 44 (Wolfenbarger 2-6 8, Harris 1-5 6, Bershers 2-3 5, Releford 1-4 5, Km.Warr 0-4 4, Washington 0-3 3, Massey 1-1 2, Hartgraves 0-2 2, Reese 1-1 2, Ford 0-1 1, Ks.Warr 1-0 1, B.Taylor 1-0 1, La.Johnson 0-1 1, team 2-1 3). Team fouls: Bryant 11, FS Northside 7.
