Photos by Kevin Nagle
Sam Chumley (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
BENTON — The Bryant Hornets freshman team has had more than its share of adversity this season. There have been injuries and defections and a rugged 0-10 start. They managed just 10 points in their final non-conference game on Monday in a discouraging loss to Conway White.
So, on Thursday, when they started Central Arkansas Junior High Conference play at Benton, against a 12-3 Panthers team, there was some reason to be concerned.
But the Hornets played the Panthers off their feet much of the way, leading as late as the 4:10 mark of the third quarter. But a surge sparked by Jai Peters, who started for the Benton freshman team last year as an eighth grade, allowed the Panthers to gain a lead of as much as 9 in the final period.
A clutch basket by Brandon Hill and a pair of free throws by Brooks Ellis gave the Hornets a chance to come back and win, trimming the margin to 5 going into the final 45 seconds. But Dylan Robbins got behind Bryant’s press for a pair of layups after that as Benton escaped with a 33-24 win at Panthers Arena.
“We played really hard,” noted Bryant coach Tyler Posey. “I told them (before the game) just give me what you’ve got, give it everything you have. And we were fighting there at the end. They did. They went hard. They gave great effort.
“We had a chance there at the end,” he acknowledged. “We just didn’t make it happen. But we fought really hard.”
Luke Curtis looks for room to shoot. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
The Panthers were determined not to let the Hornets’ Tristan Calhoun have a big night like the 23-point performance he had in his team’s last win against Cabot South on Jan. 8. They assigned Jacob Jackson to face-guard Calhoun wherever he went on the offensive end. Though Jackson nearly fouled out, he held Calhoun to 7 points, all in the first half.
“I figured they might do that against Tristan,” Posey said. “They’d done it on another play with another team earlier this year. I was really looking for him to back-cut a little bit more than he did. We set a couple of screens and, for the most part, he did all right against it.”
Sam Chumley helped pick up the slack with 7 points including a 3-pointer to snap a 12-12 tie early in the second half. Hill and Luke Curtis finished with 4 points each and Ellis had 2.
Peters wound up with a game-high 12 after behind held to just 1 in the first half. Clayton Maertens added 11 and Robbins 8.
Benton led 5-4 at the end of the first quarter and seemed frustrated having shot just 2 of 10 from the floor. It didn’t get much better for the Panthers in the second quarter when they went 1 of 9 from the floor.
That one was a 3 from Maertens to start the period. Benton didn’t score again until Maertens hit two free throws with 1:26 left in the half. By then, Bryant had pushed into the lead.
A free throw by Curtis and a three-point play by Calhoun tied it at 8. Calhoun added a pull-up jumper to give the Hornets the lead. Hill dished to Curtis for a basket and it was 12-8 going into the final two minutes of the half.
Tristan Calhoun (20) gets around Jacob Jackson on a drive to the basket. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
But the Hornets were unable to build on that margin and Maertens’ free throws made it 12-10 at the break.
Peters tied it with a pair of free throws in the opening minute of the third quarter but Chumley’s high-arching triple had the Hornets back on top. Robbins hit a jump hook to cut into the margin and the Panthers forced a Bryant turnover that Maertens cashed in with a 3.
Hill scored off an inbounds play to tie it at 17 and the Hornets had a couple of chances to regain the upper hand. But the second opportunity ended when Peters made a steal and drove for a layup which started an 8-1 spree to end the period. It was 25-18 going into the final six minutes.
Chumley canned a baseline jumper off a kick-out pass from Ellis and the Hornets were within 5. A stickback by Robbins and a drive to the hoop by Peters after a pair of Bryant misses, pushed it to 29-20. That’s when the Hornets made their final push, though they were unable to get closer than 5.
Bryant returns to league action in a week, hosting Cabot North on Thursday, Jan. 22.
PANTHERS 33, HORNETS 24
Score by quarters
BRYANT 4 8 6 6 — 24
Benton 5 5 15 8 — 33
HORNETS 24
Chumley 3-8 0-0 7, Calhoun 2-8 3-3 7, Hill 2-5 0-0 4, Curtis 1-3 2-4 4, Ellis 0-0 2-2 2, Forst 0-1 0-0 0, Sandidge 0-1 0-0 0, Moody 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 8-27 7-9 24.
PANTHERS 33
Peters 4-11 4-6 12, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Robbins 4-11 0-0 8, Blalock 1-6 0-0 2, Maertens 3-7 3-4 11, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Croft 0-0 0-0 0, Morrow 0-0 0-0 0, Sims 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-35 7-10 33.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 1-8 (Chumley 1-5, Calhoun 0-2, Hill 0-1), Benton 2-5 (Maertens 2-4, Peters 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 12, Benton 6. Rebounds: Bryant 2-17 19 (Curtis 0-7 7, Ellis 0-5 5, Calhoun 0-2 2, Sandidge 2-0 2, Moody 0-1 1, team 0-2 2), Benton 8-19 27 (Maertens 2-5 7, Peters 0-6 6, Robbins 3-2 5, Blalock 0-2 2, Jackson 1-0 1, Croft 0-1 1, Sims 0-1 1, team 2-2 4). Team fouls: Bryant 11, Benton 11.
Bryant coach Tyler Posey instructs his team during a timeout. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
