LITTLE ROCK — The Bryant Blue Hornets seventh grade team of Bethel Middle School suffered a tough loss to Arkansas Baptist in the first round of a tournament hosted by The Anthony School of Little Rock Tuesday.
After leading by 4 late, the Hornets were unable to hang on as Arkansas Baptist’s Eagles rallied for a 43-41 win.
Bethel will play in the consolation game against Episcopal Collegiate of Little Rock tonight at 6:30.
The Hornets forged that 4 point lead after trailing 21-10 at the end of the first quarter. They whittled the lead to 25-21 by halftime and had pulled even by the end of the third quarter, 31-31.
Randy Thomas led Bethel with 18 points. Henry Terry had 10, Tyler O’Neil 9. Will McEntire and Alex Blair added 2 apiece.
“We played much better than our last game,” stated Hornets coach Derek McGrew referring to a 36-32 setback in overtime against EStem. “We struggled with turnovers and missed free throws again, but that is common for early season and especially with seventh graders in general.
“I loved our effort and ability to come back from a deficit,” he noted. “We need to drastically improve our defense and that will come with more practice. We have lost two very close games so far and hopefully tonight we can get our first win.”
