Photos by Rick Nation
Aubree Allen tries to get a shot over Lake Hamilton’s Kori Bullard. (Photo by Rick Nation)
When the Bryant Lady Hornets played at Lake Hamilton, it was bombs away for the Lady Wolves who hit nine 3-pointers. The Lady Hornets could take some solace from the fact that they held Lake Hamilton’s star center Kori Bullard to 2 points but on the Lady Wolves’ return visit on Friday night, such was not the case.
Bullard finished with a double-double including 17 points and her teammates combined to knocked down eight 3’s in a 54-38 win that spoiled Senior Night for the Lady Hornets.
“I think that, obviously, she was her holding herself to 2,” commented Bryant coach Brad Matthews, regarding the difference from last time to this. “She was not nearly as aggressive. But she’s really good. She made shots. She was aggressive. She just impacts the game in every way possible, rebounding, passing, shooting.
“When they’re making shots, they’re hard to guard,” he added. “They’re going to be a hard out for somebody in the State Tournament. They have one of the most dominant post players in the league and they’re really, really talented. They played really well, shot it real well. We just didn’t have an answer.”
“I thought our kids fought hard,” the coach concluded. “We just couldn’t make enough shots.”
Only four players scored for Bryant with junior point guard Jakeria Otey accounting for 24 points. Jayla Anderson added 10, Peyton Weaver hit a 3 and Maddie Baxter connected on a free throw.
Jakeria Otey (Photo by Rick Nation)
Along with Bullard, Lake Hamilton’s Kylie Frazier finished with 13, including three of those treys. Alex Murray added a trio of triples as well for 9.
The game was a scramble for the first five minutes with Otey and Carlie Herron each hitting a 3 in the first two minutes. It stayed 3-3 until Bullard drained a 12-footer with 2:56 left in the opening period.
By the end of the quarter, the Lady Wolves led 9-3 but Otey opened the second quarter with a 3 to keep Bryant close. Two free throws for Lake Hamilton’s Haley Evans were answered by a basket inside by Anderson off a drive-and-dish by Otey.
Lake Hamilton created some cushion after that with a 12-3 run interrupted only by free throws by Baxter and Otey. Anderson hit a 12-footer with :09 left in the half to make it 23-13.
Anderson added Bryant’s first four baskets of the second half as well. The Lady Hornets were within 25-17 on the second of those, an offensive-rebound hoop. But Frazier drained a 3 and, after a Bryant miss, Bullard canned a 15-footer. Anderson interrupted but Frazier tossed in another from long range to extend the margin to 33-19.
Before the third quarter was over, Murray hit two of her treys and the lead great to 20 before a three-point play by Otey in the final seconds made it 43-26 going into the fourth quarter.
But Bullard scored inside and Frazier connected from outside to start the scoring in the final stanza, extending the lead to 22, the Lady Wolves’ largest advantage of the game.
When Murray hit her third triple at the 4:59 mark it was 53-31. The Lady Hornets whittled it to 16 as the final.
Bryant, now 8-15 overall and 4-9 in the South Conference, wraps up the regular season on Tuesday at El Dorado. The Lady Hornets will be facing a team that was 22-1 entering the week but has lost back-to-back games to Pine Bluff and Benton.
Jayla Anderson pushes the ball up the floor. (Photo by Rick Nation)
