PEARCY — The Lake Hamilton Lady Wolves freshman team attempted a whopping 34 free throws in a 28-minute game and extracted a 35-30 win over the Bryant Lady Hornets freshmen on Monday night.
It was the second narrow defeat for the Lady Hornets, who opened the season with a 36-32 heartbreaker at Vilonia last week. Bryant will play its first home game this Thursday against the Mount St. Mary Academy Mounties at Bryant Middle School gym.
The game on Monday was tied 23-23 going into the fourth quarter. Lake Hamilton held a 6-5 edge after the first stanza then Bryant was up 16-15 at the half.
Parris Atkins led the Lady Hornets with 10 points. Caitlin LaCerra finished with 8, Daria Greer 7 and Jordan Hancock 5.
“Defensively we played pretty well,” said Bryant coach Nathan Castaldi. “We did a good job of making Lake Hamilton work for their points, but we put them on the free-throw line 34 times. We have to do a better job of keeping the game out of the officials’ hands.
“Offensively we did a good job of attacking their zone,” he noted. “We are still trying to find that balance of playing fast but also under control. We will have a really good possession where we work the ball and get a good shot and then the next time down, we will be in a hurry and take a bad shot. The more we play the more we will figure that out.”
