The Bryant White Lady Hornets eighth grade team forced 28 turnovers and, despite being out-rebounded 38-21 by the Bryant Blue Lady Hornets eighth grade team, extracted a 30-12 victory at the Bethel Middle School gym on Tuesday night.
Brilynn Findley scored 17 points to lead all scorers for Bryant White. Jayden Miller scored 7 for Bryant Blue.
Bryant White improved to 9-5 with the win heading into a game at Lake Hamilton on Thursday. Bryant Blue travels to White Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 21, for its next game.
“You know when we play Bryant Blue this year, it is just a different kind of game,” said White coach Ben Perry. “This year, especially because we are in the same building (Bryant Junior High), same classes — I teach some of the players on the other team.
“However, the girls do their best to treat it as a game and not just playing their friends,” he added. “We are all Bryant no matter if we are Blue or White. I have tremendous respect for Coach (Kate) Lampo and her girls.”
Saffy Purdom had 2 points and Aly White 3 for Blue. Emiril Jones scored 6 for White with A’Niyah Livingston adding 3. Nia Swann and Arion Pegram each pitched in with a free throw.
“Blue out-rebounded us with great play from Aly White,” said Perry. “She is a dominant force down low and does not give up or back down from anyone.
“We won the turnover margin with only committing 11 turnovers,” he added. “Their turnovers were where most of our points came from.
“I was able to utilize the whole bench and watch many girls play their hearts out,” Perry noted. “It was good to see all the Bryant girls cheering each other on. We won the points in the end, but Bryant Blue has improved so much.
“We have lots of clean up, however, as we go into Lake Hamilton again,” he said. “We lost by 2 last time we were down there and do not want a repeat. If we are going to be victorious, we have to work on our rebounding, turnovers and strict team defense fundamentals.”
