NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Progress.
The Bryant White Lady Hornets eighth grade team of Bryant Middle School suffered 22 turnovers in their first game of the season, a 30-18 loss to the Searcy. But they cut that way down on Tuesday when they took North Little Rock Blue to the hilt before absorbing a 28-21 loss in the first round of a tournament in North Little Rock.
The Lady Hornets will return to North Little Rock on Thursday at 5 p.m., when they’ll take on EStem.
“Even though we lost, I was impressed by the intensity and focus the girls played with,” said Lady Hornets coach Ben Perry. “They were 67 percent from the free throw line and had less than 13 turnovers. Most turnovers that came are correctable.
“The girls played hard and bought into what we were trying to accomplish,” he noted. “If we can put four quarters together than we are unstoppable. It is just getting to the part where we play four quarters.”
Regan Dillon led the Lady Hornets with 7 points. Caitlin Lacerra had 5.
“We did much better against the press, especially with a new point guard leading the way for the first time,” Perry related. “Daria Greer played a very important role by keeping a calm head and listening to our game plan. Against North Little Rock, we managed their press much better and had many open shots down low. The only problem was we missed almost every open shot we took down low.”
Still, the Lady Horneets led 12-10 at the half.
“Regan Dillon hit a 3 and we just kept rolling,” Perry said. “Right before the half the score was tied 10-10 and I called a timeout with less than 20 seconds left in order to draw up a play that would help us take the lead. The girls were all attentive and ran the play perfectly to go up by 2 at the half.
“Unfortunately the third quarter was our downfall,” he said. ““However, I challenged my girls to be competitive, focused and keep the game close.
North Little Rock pushed the lead to 11 in the second half.
“We were able to get within 5 but they won by 7,” Perry noted.
