SHERWOOD — The Bryant White Lady Hornets seventh grade team of Bryant Middle School rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to stun the Sylvan Hills Lady Bears seventh grade, 22-20, on Monday night.
“The second half the girls came out blazing and we pressed immediately,” said Lady Hornets coach Ben Perry. “They swarmed the ball and caused the other team to never get into their groove. We were able to score 16 points and hold the other team to only 4 points in the 20-minute second half.”
Regan Dillon scored 14 points to lead the way including a pair of 3’s. She was 6 of 8 from the free-throw line. Daria Greer finished with 5 points including a free throw. Z Witcher had 2 points and Savannah Lucas hit a free throw.
“We were 8 of 17 from line total,” Perry noted.
The Lady Hornets trailed 16-6 at the intermission.
“The first half, we were not able to get into a groove and turned the ball over too much,” Perry said. “Luckily, Regan Dillon made a 3 and both of her free throws and Savannah made 1 of 2 of her free throws to give us 6 points.
“We did not press much at all and we were just not able to get into a rhythm,” he continued. “They were more physical than us and the officials were not consistent. We got into foul trouble early so we had to utilize the bench more in the first half. The first half of basketball was the worst I had seen them play and I expressed this at halftime.
“(Sylvan Hills) out rebounded us the first half and we flipped the tables on them,” the coach related. “As bad as our first half was, our second half was the exact opposite. It was an electrifying second half. The three other teams we brought from Bryant to play were all into the game, cheering and stomping their feet. The parents were behind us the whole way. It was amazing support for our team and it helped us rally to a well-deserved win.”
The Lady Hornets won despite missing a starter.
“And one of our best shooters,” Perry noted. “She was out with an injury to her ankle.
“Sylvan Hills decided to run 20-minute halves, which I later discovered was so they didn’t have to worry about quarters in the eighth grade game with players from the seventh grade game,” he added.
Players are limited to five quarters a night.
Bryant White is set to play again tonight at the Bryant High School gym against Cabot North before taking off for the holidays and returing on Jan. 3 with a game at Sheridan.
