Photos by Kevin Nagle
Jalen Sparks drives to the basket. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
BENTON — The Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team may have turned a corner Thursday night, even in defeat.
On Monday, the Lady Hornets could only muster 5 points, all in the second half including 4 in the closing minutes, against Conway White. But, on Thursday, with the fresh beginning provided by the start of Central Arkansas Junior High Conference play at Benton, they gave the Lady Panthers all they wanted.
With 2:35 left in the game, Bryant trailed by just 25-20. It was a scramble the rest of the game with neither team scoring until Benton’s Lauren Hopper converted two free throws with :56.3 to go. A basket at the buzzer by Bryant’s Raven Loveless made the final score 27-22.
“We talked before the game that tonight was about us as much as it was about them and what they were doing,” related Bryant coach Nathan Castaldi. “After Monday night’s game, we didn’t think we had a lot of energy. We didn’t think we competed very well. We were disappointed in ourselves.
“But the girls came back and had a good week of practice and it showed tonight,” he added. “It was a complete turnaround. We competed from the start. We battled them, made them earn lots of stuff that they got. And that’s what we asked them to do.”
Though 0-1 in league play, the Lady Hornets will now have a week to build on that turnaround before hosting Cabot North in a conference game on Jan. 22.
Daniele Singleton (15) tries to get a shot over a Benton defender. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
Guard Paige Adams paced the Lady Hornets with 10 points. She also took her turn trying to slow down Benton’s star point guard Italei Gray who managed 13 points. Daniele Singleton and Raven Loveless each had 4 points for Bryant.
Benton took a 3-0 lead before Adams got the Lady Hornets on the board. A 7-0 surge by the Lady Panthers had visions of Monday’s frustrations popping up. But Maddie Miller scored and was fouled to get Bryant back on track. And when Jalen Sparks beat the buzzer with a drive to the rack, the lead was just 10-6.
It was 15-6 midway through the second period but Adams fed Loveless for a basket in the final seconds of the half to make it a 7-point game at the break.
Singleton then canned a 15-footer to start the third quarter. Benton pushed it back out to 18-10 but a three-point play by Adams cut it back to 5. And when she scored with 2:15 left, the margin was just 18-15.
It stayed that score going into the fourth quarter as the two teams scrambled for every loose ball. The Lady Panthers opened the final period with another 7-0 spurt but when Adams drained a 3 and Singleton knocked down a 10-footer, a 10-point lead had been cut in half.
The Lady Hornets just couldn’t get any closer as Benton escaped with the victory. The Lady Panthers finished with 16 free-throw attempts, though they made just five. Bryant, however, went to the line for just four tries, making one.
LADY PANTHERS 27, LADY HORNETS 22
Score by quarters
BRYANT 6 2 7 7 — 22
Benton 10 5 3 9 — 27
LADY HORNETS 22
Singleton 2-7 0-2 4, Rowton 0-0 0-0 0, Sparks 1-3 0-0 2, Adams 4-7 1-1 10, Cullen 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 1-3 0-1 2, Loveless 2-5 0-0 4, Williams 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 10-29 1-4 22.
LADY PANTHERS 27
Morrow 0-1 2-6 2, Davidson 0-2 0-0 0, Hopper 1-1 2-4 4, Gray 6-11 1-4 13, K.Bryant 2-5 0-0 6, Winters 0-0 0-0 0, G.Bryant 1-2 0-0 2, Burks 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-2 0, Halk 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-22 5-16 27.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 1-4 (Adams 1-3, Williams 0-1), Benton 2-5 (K.Bryant 2-4, Gray 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 14, Benton 9. Rebounds: Bryant 6-13 19 (Loveless 2-3 5, Singleton 1-2 3, Rowton 0-2 2, Adams 1-1 2, Cullen 0-2 2, Sparks 0-1 1, Miller 0-1 1, team 2-1 3), Benton 5-13 18 (Morrow 1-2 3, Davidson 2-1 3, K.Bryant 1-2 3, Gray 0-2 2, Davis 1-1 2, Hopper 0-1 1). Team fouls: Bryant 13, Benton 9.
Raven Loveless looks for room to make a move to score. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
