Bryant wins defensive battle at Sheridan behind Adams
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).
By Rob Patrick
Photos by Kevin Nagle
SHERIDAN — Such was the defense played by the Bryant Lady Hornets on Tuesday night that the Sheridan Lady Yellowjackets shot just 24 percent from the field on their home court.
And such was the defense of the Lady Jackets that the Lady Hornets shot[more] just 28 percent from the field. And, actually, if you take away one player, the Lady Hornets connected on just 18 percent of their shots.
Both teams had 15 turnovers as they scrapped and hustled on both ends of the court.
But then, there was that one player.
Sophomore McKenzie Adams scored the nets for 24 points and the Bryant Lady Hornets escaped Sheridan with a 38-31 win in their official 2010-11 season opener.
“We knew it was going to be that way,” said Bryant head coach Blake Condley of the defensive battle. “Sheridan’s got good senior guards. They play hard, they play physical. It’s a tough place to come and play.
“It’s a quality win as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to play anybody that runs better sets offensively than what Sheridan was to try to get open. The girls listened to the scouting report, listened to the game plan and they guarded things the way we wanted to. I was just really proud of their effort.
“We talked after the game and we know we didn’t play perfect,” the coach noted. “We still have things to work on but, as far as sticking to the game plan, doing what we wanted to do, I couldn’t be more proud of the girls and their effort.”
Undersized with their leading scorer, post player Karson Henry, unavailable due to an ankle injury, the Lady Jackets got into position to take six charges against the rack-attacking Lady Hornets. Foul trouble developed but Condley kept rotating foul-plagued players out with Logan Davis, Whitney Meyer and Callie Hogancamp coming off the bench and contributing solid minutes.
“We talked long and hard this afternoon about, there’s only one thing we can really control and that’s our intensity and how we play,” Condley related. “We can’t control the other team. We can’t control the referees. We can’t control the fans. We can’t control anything other than what we do when we step across that line and are ready to play. I thought the girls stayed focused and, at times when I thought we could’ve gotten rattled, we maintained our composure and played well.”
Meyer had a couple of key baskets off the offensive glass along the way and wound up the team’s second leading scorer in the game with 4 points. Bryant’s stellar senior Abbi Stearns was held to 2 points but she owned the boards, collecting 15 rebounds in the contest.
Sheridan’s perimeter trio of three-year starters Mycah Love (3 points), Lauren Sweeten (5 points) and Brittney Wreyford (6 points) was held to 14 points combined. Sophomore Josey Love led the Lady Jackets with 8 points and eight rebounds.
Senior Mycah Love, covering Adams most of the night when the Lady Jackets were playing man defense, wound up fouling out of the game. Her last two fouls were holds against the Bryant guard away from the ball as she tried to deny possession with the Lady Hornets working the clock late, clinging to a 33-29 lead.
Adams hit a pair of free throws with 1:31 left to make it 35-29 and, after Sweeten hit a driving jumper with 1:13 to go, Adams added three more free throws in the final minute to ice it away.
The game was tight throughout. There were five lead-changes in just the first quarter but Sheridan managed a 10-8 edge on free throws by Wreyford and Hannah Hicks in the final minute of the period.
Adams tied it at 10 early in the second quarter but two free throws by Hicks put Sheridan back up. After a Bryant turnover, Adams made a steal and canned a driving jumper, pulling up to avoid the charge. Another turnover set up a play in which Meyer dished out to Adams in the corner for a bucket that gave the Lady Hornets a brief lead, 14-12.
But Brandi Pruitt answered with a 3 for Sheridan to give her team the lead again with 2:40 left in the half.
Both teams had multiple opportunities to change that score before Hogancamp was fouled grabbing an offensive rebound with 1:05 left. She converted both free throws. And when Kiara Moore followed up with a steal and layup with :19 showing, Bryant had an 18-15 halftime lead.
Sheridan put together a 7-2 run to start the third quarter, punctuated by Sweeten’s 3-pointer. But Adams answered in kind at the other end and the Lady Hornets were never behind again.
Free throws by Adams and another pull-up pop had the Lady Hornets up 27-22. After Sheridan missed a pair at the line, Meyer, at the other end, snatched an offensive rebound and scored to push the lead to 7. Stearns blocked a shot at the other end and the Lady Hornets took the 29-22 lead into the final period.
Sheridan, however, wouldn’t go away. Wreyford hit two free throws and, after a Bryant miss, Mycah Love converted once. Her second shot fell but a lane violation wiped out the point, leaving it 29-25.
And the Lady Hornets wouldn’t let the Lady Jackets get any closer than 4, answering each point the home team produced. Meyer got another stickback to make it 31-25 then after Josey Love posted up for a bucket, Stearns grabbed an offensive rebound at the other end, stepped back and sank a 10-foot jumper.
After Josey Love posted up for another bucket with 3:15 left, neither team could get a shot to go. Mycah Love picked up her fourth foul with 2:25 left but, at the other end, Adams picked up her fourth on a charge taken by Josey Love. But Pruitt misfired on a 3-point try and, at the other end, the Lady Hornets started working the clock. Trying to deny Adams the ball, Mycah Love fouled out with 1:56 to go.
Sweeten’s basket at 1:13 provided Sheridan’s only points over the final three minutes of the game.
Bryant will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 23, with the home opener against the rival Benton Lady Panthers.
LADY HORNETS 38, LADY JACKETS 31
Score by quarters
BRYANT 8 10 11 9 — 38
Sheridan 10 5 7 9 — 31
LADY HORNETS (1-0) 38
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Moore 1-6 0-0 3-2 5 4 2
Adams 7-13 9-12 3-2 5 4 24
Abernathy 0-5 0-0 2-2 4 3 0
Blundell 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 4 2
Stearns 1-9 0-1 3-12 15 2 2
Davis 1-6 0-1 1-0 1 0 2
Meyer 2-3 0-0 3-0 3 2 4
Hogancamp 0-0 2-2 1-0 1 0 2
Team 0-4 4
Totals 13-46 11-16 16-22 38 19 38
LADY JACKETS (2-2) 31
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
M.Love 1-4 1-1 1-2 3 5 3
Sweeten 2-12 0-0 2-4 6 3 5
Wreyford 1-5 4-6 1-2 3 2 6
Weigand 1-5 1-2 3-0 3 0 3
J.Love 4-10 0-0 3-5 8 4 8
Hicks 0-1 3-4 1-4 5 3 3
Pruitt 1-5 0-0 0-0 0 0 3
Team 2-5 7
Totals 10-42 9-13 13-22 35 17 31
Three-point field goals: Bryant 1-10 (Adams 1-4, Abernathy 0-4, Blundell 0-1, Stearns 0-1), Sheridan 2-19 (Sweeten 1-8, Pruitt 1-5, Wreyford 0-2, Weigand 0-2, J.Love 0-1, Hicks 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 15, Sheridan 15.
