By Rob Patrick
With their two most important games of the season to date looming and a team they had vanquished with relative ease on two previous occasions on hand, it’s understandable that the intensity level of the Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team wasn’t at its peak on Thursday, Jan. 29.
But they got the job done.
Bryant held Lake Hamilton to 4 points in the first half and 13 for the game in the 31-13 victory. The Lady Hornets improved to 16-4 overall and 9-2 in the South Division of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference. They were set to take on North Little Rock, the unbeaten leader of the division on Monday, Feb. 2, then Cabot South, the team they are tied with for second place, on Thursday, Feb. 5.
If the Lady Hornets can win those two games and finish the regular season on Monday, Feb. 9, with a win over Benton, they can capture a share of first place if Cabot South hands North Little Rock a second loss when they meet on that final night.
The league’s post-season tournament begins in Greenbrier on Saturday, Feb. 14.[more]
Against Lake Hamilton, once Kayla Sory hit a baseline jumper and Casey Lee added a pair of free throws to overtake the first basket of the night, the Lady Hornets were ahead to stay.But they struggled to score as well and only held a 6-2 lead going into the second period.
Lake Hamilton’s Kelsey Williams opened the second-quarter scoring but Bryant answered with 10 unanswered points. Breanna Blundell hit a free throw, London Abernathy knocked down an 18-foot jumper and Lee scored inside to make it 11-4.
Abernathy, following her own miss, added a bucket and Callie Hogancamp drained a 3-pointer to make it 16-4.
Lake Hamilton whittled the margin to 19-11 in the third quarter before Raegan Barker’s 3-pointer and a three-point play by Jessie Taylor bumped the lead back to double figures. Cassidy Wilson made a steal and Barker scored again before the end of the period to make it 27-11.
The Lady Wolves managed just one basket in the fourth quarter with Sory and Barker adding to the Bryant advantage.
