For most folks, the holidays are a time for family gatherings and that certainly holds true for the Pennington family. But there will be an additional twist[more] to the usual home-and-hearth-Christmas-dinner type of get-together.
On Tuesday, Jim Pennington, assistant basketball coach at Bryant High School, will be on hand with head coach Mike Abrahamson and the Hornets at the annual Summit Bank Spa City Shootout at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs. Among those who will also be on hand will be Pennington’s coaching sons, Chris and Scott.
The former is the head coach for the Texarkana, Texas, Tigers, the tourney-opening opponent for the Hornets Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. The latter is head coach at Hot Springs High School (Jim’s former head coaching position), a team that the Hornets could meet in the second round of the tourney (if both win or both lose). Or the brothers could be meeting in the second round.
The Hornets won two of three in their previous tournament appearance at Russellville.
In addition, the unbeaten Bryant Lady Hornets will be competing in the girls bracket of the tournament, seeking their third tourney title of the season. They’ll open against the Hot Springs Lady Trojans at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
A potential match-up with the highly-regarded Central Arkansas Christian Lady Mustangs looms in the second round. CAC could provide the Lady Hornets with their sternest test of the season so far.
The annual holiday tournament will prep the Bryant teams for the open of 7A-Central Conference play, which commences on Friday, Jan. 7, when the boys visit Little Rock Catholic and the girls play at Mount St. Mary Academy of Little Rock.
Bryant’s freshman teams are also playing in a tournament this week, Lake Hamilton’s second Kameron Hale Invitational, named after the former Wolves’ player who died tragically in a 4-wheeler accident at the age of 16. Bryant’s freshman boys open play in the event against Arkadelphia on Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. The girls follow at 12:30 p.m., against Malvern.
Here are the brackets for this week’s tournaments:
SUMMIT BANK SPA CITY SHOOTOUT
At Summit Arena, Hot Springs
Tuesday, Dec. 28
Game 1 — Benton vs. Central Arkansas Christian (girls), 10 a.m.
Game 2 — Bryant vs. Texarkana Texas (boys), 11:30 a.m.
Game 3 — Bryant vs. Hot Springs (girls), 1 p.m.
Game 4 — Hot Springs vs. Pulaski Oak Grove (boys), 2:30 p.m.
Game 5 — Lake Hamilton vs. Mount St. Mary (girls), 4 p.m.
Game 6 — Lake Hamilton vs. Central Arkansas Christian (boys), 5:30 p.m.
Game 7 — Hot Springs Lakeside vs. Malvern (girls), 7 p.m.
Game 8 — Hot Springs Lakeside vs. Malvern (boys), 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 29
Game 9 — Game 1 loser vs. game 3 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 10 — Game 2 loser vs. game 4 loser, 11:30 a.m.
Game 11 — Game 5 loser vs. game 7 loser, 1 p.m.
Game 12 — Game 6 loser vs. game 8 loser, 2:30 p.m.
Game 13 — Game 1 winner vs. game 3 winner, 4 p.m.
Game 14 — Game 2 winner vs. game 4 winner, 5:30 p.m.
Game 15 — Game 5 winner vs. game 7 winner, 7 p.m.
Game 16 — Game 6 winner vs. game 8 winner, 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 30
Game 17 — Game 9 loser vs. game 11 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 18 — Game 10 loser vs. game 12 loser, 11:30 a.m.
Game 19 — Game 9 winner vs. game 11 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 20 — Game 10 winner vs. game 12 winner, 2:30 p.m.
Game 21 — Game 13 loser vs. game 15 loser, 4 p.m. (girls third-place game)
Game 22 — Game 14 loser vs. game 16 loser, 5:30 p.m. (boys third-place game)
Game 23 — Game 13 winner vs. game 15 winner, 7 p.m. (girls championship)
Game 24 — Game 14 winner vs. game 16 winner, 8:30 p.m. (boys championship)
KAMERON HALE INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
At Lake Hamilton High School
Wednesday, Dec. 29
Game 1 — Central Arkansas Christian vs. White Hall, 10 a.m. (girls)
Game 2 — Bryant vs. Arkadelphia, 11:15 a.m. (boys)
Game 3 — Bryant vs. Malvern, 12:30 p.m. (girls)
Game 4 — Hot Springs vs. Central Arkansas Christian, 1:45 p.m. (boys)
Game 5 — Hot Springs vs. Benton, 3 p.m. (girls)
Game 6 — Hot Springs Lakeside vs. White Hall, 4:15 p.m. (boys)
Game 7 — Lake Hamilton vs. Arkadelphia, 5:30 p.m. (girls)
Game 8 — Malvern vs. Lake Hamilton, 6:45 p.m. (boys)
Thursday, Dec. 30
Game 9 — Game 1 loser vs. game 3 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 10 — Game 2 loser vs. game 4 loser, 11:15 a.m.
Game 11 — Game 5 loser vs. game 7 loser, 12:30 p.m.
Game 12 — Game 6 loser vs. game 8 loser, 1:45 p.m.
Game 13 — Game 1 winner vs. game 3 winner, 3 p.m.
Game 14 — Game 2 winner vs. game 4 winner, 4:15 p.m.
Game 15 — Game 5 winner vs. game 7 winner, 5:30 p.m.
Game 16 — Game 6 winner vs. game 8 winner, 6:45 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 31
Game 17 — Game 9 loser vs. game 11 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 18 — Game 10 loser vs. game 12 loser, 11:15 a.m.
Game 19 — Game 9 winner vs. game 11 winner, 12:30 p.m. (girls consolation bracket champion)
Game 20 — Game 10 winner vs. game 12 winner, 1:45 p.m. (boys consolation bracket champion)
Game 21 — Game 13 loser vs. game 15 loser, 3 p.m. (girls third-place game)
Game 22 — Game 14 loser vs. game 16 loser, 4:15 p.m. (boys third-place game)
Game 23 — Game 13 winner vs. game 15 winner, 5:30 p.m. (girls championship)
Game 24 — Game 14 winner vs. game 16 winner, 6:45 p.m. (boys championship)
