This time it counts.[more]
Tonight, the Bryant-Benton rivalry will be renewed once again when the freshman basketball teams from both schools tangle at the Bryant Middle School gym. The evening will start with an eighth grade game between the Bryant Blue team of Bethel Middle School and the Benton eighth grade boys at 5 p.m.
The freshman boys teams will be playing for the second time and the girls teams will be meeting for the fourth time this season but the difference is that tonight's contests will count in the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference standings. For the boys, Bryant, which defeated Benton 32-16 on Nov. 21, will be trying to improve to 2-0 in league play after a 32-12 thumping of Cabot North on Monday. Benton, already 0-2 in the league after gut-wrenching losses to Little Rock Catholic (32-30) and Conway Blue (37-36), desparately needs a league win.
As for the freshman girls game, Benton is one of just two teams still unbeaten in league play after dismissing Mount St. Mary and a tough Conway Blue team in overtime. Bryant, which has struggled this season, has shown improvement in recent weeks and hopes to bounce back from a closer-than-that 27-14 loss at Cabot North. Benton has won all three previous meetings between the two teams including, most recently, at the Kameron Hale Invitational Tournament at Lake Hamilton over the holiday break.
