Bryant girls return to action with romp over McClellan
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
BEEBE — After watching video of the Little Rock McClellan Lady Crimson Lions play a very good Mountain Home team and lead the game the entire first half, Bryant head coach Brad Matthews admits, he was nervous about his Lady Hornets’ opening contest in the annual Beebe Holiday Tournament on Friday.
“On tape, they looked really good,” he asserted. “I was really concerned coming over here that they would just get a lot of open 3’s, rhythm 3’s. They’re very talented.”
But the Lady Lions scored just 9 points in the first half, just 2 in the second quarter and the Lady Hornets went on to earn a 56-29 victory in which the mercy-rule went into effect in the fourth quarter.
The win improved the Lady Hornets to 6-3 this season going into a 7 p.m., semifinal game at Beebe, against either the host team or the rival Benton Lady Panthers.
“I thought our defense kept them out of rhythm,” Matthews acknowledged. “They never really got comfortable, just getting their feet set and letting it go. Our kids, in the half-court, are getting better every game. We’ve got to continue to work on that.”
Often, the Bryant defense is most effective when turning the other team over, but McClellan finished with just 14 turnovers. The Lady Lions shot just 26 percent (11 of 43) from the floor, however, including just a trio of 3’s.
Meanwhile, Bryant knocked down 10 3-pointers including four by Lexie Taylor, who led all scorers with 18 points, and three by Tierra Trotter, who finished with 12 points.
The Lady Hornets also out-rebounded McClellan, 41-23, led by McKenzie Muse’s 10 boards. Muse also had 4 points and five blocked shots.
“After a break, you never know,” Matthews said. “The day after Christmas, 10 in the morning, we had a really good two-hour practice and it showed today.
“When it’s 10 o’clock in the morning and there’s not a lot of fans here — we talk about creating our own energy and we did that,” he added. “We shot it really well coming off a break and, obviously, your defense and rebounding are going to be better when shots are going in.
“Lexie shot it well. We need that from Lexie going forward. As we get into conference play and we play those really tough teams, we’re going to need Lexie. We’re going to need all hands on deck. Tierra shot it better than she has all year. Hopefully, that’s a sign of things to come.”
A 9-0 run in the first quarter allowed the Lady Hornets to gain the upper hand. It was 5-5 when Celena Martin knocked down a 3 and, off a McClellan turnover, Trotter buried her first triple. India Atkins added a free throw then, later, hit a layup off a steal by Muse to make it 14-5.
McClellan’s Takyra Milers scored in the final seconds of the opening quarter to make it a 7-point game.
But Bryant started the second period with a similar run. This time it was 10-0. Trotter started it with a 3 then Atkins drove for a bucket. Another 3 from Trotter made it 22-7. Atkins made a steal and Trotter hustled back to rebound her contested layup. The follow shot went down and it was 24-7 with the Lady Lions taking another timeout with 4:06 left in the half.
The lone basket for McClellan in that second stanza was by Raven Brown with 2:35 left. Taylor trumped that with a 3 in the final minute to make the halftime score 27-9.
Both teams loosened up in the third quarter. McClellan scored 12 but the Lady Hornets pumped in 22, led by Taylor, who had 12 of her 18 in the quarter including a pair of 3’s.
Atkins knocked down a trey to start the half. Muse blocked a shot by McClellan’s Jykiara Brown and that led to a triple by Taylor. Moments later, Taylor added two free throws as McClellan was cited for just its second team foul of the game with 5:47 left in the third quarter. Trotter fed Muse for a basket and it was 37-9.
To go with Taylor’s scoring barrage, McKeycia Baker and Ivory Russ scored late in the quarter and, in the fourth, Matthews turned to his reserves. When Baker hit two free throws with 7:33 left, it became a 30-point lead. The mercy-rule was in effect the rest of the way. Kaitlyn Weng would add a 3 down the stretch and Lauryn Taylor converted a pair of free throws in the final minute to set the final score.
LADY HORNETS 56, LADY LIONS 29
Score by quarters
LR McClellan 7 2 12 8 — 29
BRYANT 14 13 22 7 — 56
LADY LIONS (3-4) 29
Miles 3-13 0-0 8, J.Brown 1-5 0-2 2, Bridgewater 3-13 0-0 6, R.Brown 4-8 2-4 11, Green 0-3 2-2 2, Elamin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 11-43 (26%) 4-8 (50%) 29.
LADY HORNETS (6-3) 56
Trotter 4-8 1-2 12, Le.Taylor 6-11 2-2 18, Atkins 3-10 1-2 8, Martin 1-4 0-0 3, Muse 2-4 0-0 4, Russ 1-3 0-0 2, Baker 1-5 2-2 4, Scifres 0-0 0-0 0, Ka.Weng 1-1 0-0 3, La.Taylor 0-1 2-2 2, Jordan 0-1 0-0 0, Kr.Weng 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 (38%) 8-10 (80%) 56.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 10-23 (Le.Taylor 4-8, Trotter 3-6, Atkins 1-2, Martin 1-2, Ka.Weng 1-1, Muse 0-2, Kr.Weng 0-2), LR McClellan 3-13 (Miles 2-9, R.Brown 1-1, Bridgewater 0-2, Elamin 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 12, LR McClellan 14. Rebounds: Bryant 17-24 41 (Muse 3-7 10, Martin 2-4 6, Baker 4-2 6, Trotter 1-2 3, Le.Taylor 1-2 3, Atkins 1-2 3, La.Taylor 2-0 2, Kr.Weng 1-1 2, Ka.Weng 0-1 1, team 2-1 3), LR McClellan 9-14 23 (R.Brown 3-5 8, Bridgewater 3-2 5, Miles 0-2 2, J.Brown 1-1 2, Green 1-1 2, team 1-3 4). Team fouls: Bryant 9, LR McClellan 7.
