For more photos of this event by Kevin Nagle, go here
With four minutes left to play, the Bryant Blue Lady Hornets eighth grade team of Bethel Middle School held a 10-point lead over the Cabot North Lady Panthers. But the Lady Panthers made a furious run and had chances to tie the game late. But the Lady Hornets escaped with a 34-31 win on Thursday night at the Bryant Middle School gym.
Natalie Edmonson hit a free throw with 2:08 left to play to put the Lady Hornets ahead 34-27 but that proved to be the last of Bryant Blue’s scoring.
Cabot scored then forced a turnover. A foul led to a pair of free throws, but the Lady Panthers converted just one shot. Another turnover led to another free throw and another miss to make it 34-31 with :35.7 showing. On the missed second attempt, Cabot North tracked down the carom and the coach called timeout just as one of her players hit what would’ve been a game-tying 3.
When play resumed, the Lady Panthers got another look from 3-point range, but the shot missed, and Bryant’s Simone Dinstbier rebounded with :28.7 showing.
With a one-and-one opportunity, however, Dinstbier’s first free throw rimmed out and Cabot North had another chance to get closer or tie. But Edmonson and Emileigh Muse combined to force a turnover.
In turn, though, Cabot North came up with a turnover. Bethel head coach Joe Cook called timeout with :13.4 left to set up his defense.
When play resumed, Cabot North worked for another look from 3-point range only to miss. Though the rebound went out of bounds to the Lady Panthers, time ran out.
Muse finished with 14 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Abby Gentry and Dinstbier each had 7 points and Edmonson added 6 to go with six boards.
After the game was tied 2-2 early, the Lady Hornets built a 7-2 advantage by the end of the first quarter. Gentry hit a jumper from the wing then Edmonson added a free throw and with :00.3 on the clock, Dinstbier knocked down a pair after getting fouled while grabbing an offensive rebound.
Muse scored the first 4 points of the second quarter and, off a steal, Edmonson drove for a layup that made it 13-2.
Cabot North cut it to 13-6 before Muse hit two free throws and Gentry followed up with a 3-pointer to expand the margin to 18-6.
It was 18-8 at the half.
It was a still a 10-point margin going into the final 2:30 of the third quarter. Gentry converted a pair of free throws then Dinstbier banked in a shot inside to extend the margin to 14, the largest of the game
It was 29-19 going into the fourth quarter. And it was 33-23 with just under four minutes left. That’s when the Lady Hornets went dry and Cabot North fueled its comeback with turnovers, going to a diamond-and-two defense covering Muse and Edmonson man-to-man with the others playing zone.
Coach Cook used five timeouts trying to stem the tide down the stretch.
The win improved Bryant Blue to 6-4 on the season going into a game at Bethel against a North Little Rock team on Tuesday, Jan. 22.
LADY HORNETS 34, LADY PANTHERS 31
Eighth grade
Score by quarters
Cabot North 2 6 11 12 — 31
BRYANT BLUE 7 11 11 5 — 34
LADY PANTHERS 31
Brent 0-0 0-0 0, Hock 0-2 0-0 0, Shelton 1-10 6-10 8, Shock 5-12 6-9 16, Loe 0-3 0-1 0, Hayes 2-7 2-5 6, Petty 0-0 1-2 1, Doyle 0-1 0-0 0, Phillip 0-0 0-0 0, Gordon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals8-35 (23%) 15-27 (56%) 31.
LADY HORNETS 34
Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Gentry 2-8 2-2 7, Edmonson 2-4 2-4 7, Dinstbier2-4 2-5 6, Muse 6-12 2-2 14, Baker 0-3 0-0 0, Womack 0-2 0-0 0, Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals12-34 (35%) 8-13 (62%) 34
Three-point field goals:Bryant Blue 2-5 (Gentry 1-3, Edmsonson 1-2), Cabot North 0-3 (Hock 0-1, Shelton 0-1, Shock 0-1). Turnovers:Bryant Blue 22, Cabot North 20. Rebounds:Bryant Blue 11-19 30 (Dinstbier 4-2 6, Muse 2-4 6, Gentry 2-3 5, Baker 1-4 5, Edmonson 1-3 4, Brown 0-1 0, Womack 1-0 1, Miller 0-1 1, team 0-1 1), Cabot North 15-13 28 (Shock 4-6 10, Shelton 4-0 4, Hock 1-1 2, Hayes 1-1 2, Loe 0-1 1, Petty 1-0 1, Doyle 1-0 1, Phillip 1-0 1, Gordon 0-1 1, team 2-3 5). Team fouls:Bryant Blue 20, Cabot North 11.
