HOT SPRINGS — In the first half of their game against the Lake Hamilton Lady Wolves in the consolation final of the Spa City Shootout on Monday afternoon, the Bryant Lady Hornets, particularly senior post Erica Smith, did a good job of containing the Lady Wolves’ 6-2 star Kori Bullard. They held her to 8 points and just one rebound.
But, at the same time, the Lady Hornets had far too many long gaps between baskets on offense.
In the second half, the Lady Hornets were more productive on offense but so was Bullard who wound up with 22 points, five blocked shots and four rebounds as Lake Hamilton posted a 56-35 win.
Bullard, one of the best players in the South Conference and perhaps the state, is one of those few players with size that has the skills of a good guard as well as impressive ability in the post. Combine that with the savvy and confidence of a three-year starter and you have a player to build a very good team around.
Teams without a player like Bullard can be very good too but it comes down to meshing players with particular skills into a team of complimentary talents. Lake Hamilton would have to become that kind of team without Bullard.
Now, under most circumstances, those teams know they’re going to have to work that way from the end of the previous season and they work all off-season to develop that mesh. In some unfortunate circumstances, the projected identity of those teams is wiped out due to something unforeseen and they have to shift gears and build that complementarity anew on the fly as the season progresses.
That’s where the Lady Hornets find themselves. They had a leader similar to Bullard (though certainly without that size, but no doubt skilled and experienced) in Dezerea Duckworth for the entire off-season only to have her suffer a tragic knee injury in the team’s pre-season benefit game, which has wiped out her senior season.
The Lady Hornets have since been reconfiguring that mesh without their star on the fly. They were buoyed by three straight wins to start the season but, as might be expected, there have been rough stretches too. It’s a process that will ebb and flow. Consistency will be difficult. There will be frustration. The goal, however, is still the same: To play through those ups and downs and be the best team they as conference play develops and the post-season arrives.
Bryant has one more non-conference contest next Monday at home against Cabot on Monday. The Lady Hornets take on one of the league favorites at Benton on Friday, Jan. 10, to instigate the second season.
In the meantime, there will be encouraging signs mixed with the struggles in each game. On Saturday, Smith continued to play well defensively and rebound. She had just four boards but did a good job of keeping Bullard to just four. In addition, Peyton Weaver, rock solid as a senior leader who specializes in 3-point shooting, showed she can fake the 3, make a move past the defender and pull up effectively for shorter jumpers. She had 7 points.
Senior Aubree Allen, who like junior point guard Jakeria Otey, had to sit out all of last year, got back on track offensively with 14 points and hauled down a game-high eight boards.
And the team continued to get energy off the bench from junior Maddie Baxter and sophomore Annie Patton.
The struggles with turnovers continued as the Lady Hornets suffered 19. And their work at the free-throw line was not up to their usual standards as they converted just 6 of 14.
Bryant never led in the game. Lake Hamilton’s Brandy Scott scored off an offensive rebound then Weaver pulled up and canned a 15-footer to tie it 2-2. The Lady Wolves then took control of the game with a 16-2 rush that included Bullard’s first basket, which didn’t come until the 2:23 mark of the first quarter.
Jayla Anderson’s driving layup at 3:21 was Bryant’s lone bucket during the run. At the time, it had the Lady Hornets within 7-4.
It was 12-4 at the break then 18-4 when Allen stepped out and drilled a triple to break the Bryant drought at 5:19 of the second period. Lake Hamilton finished the half with an 11-2 surge with only a pair of free throws by Smith tallying on the Bryant side.
With the Lady Hornets trying to help with Bullard inside, the Lady Wolves had four different players hit 3’s in the game. Scott nailed three of them all in the first half. Courtney Thompson landed a pair in the second half.
The 29-9 lead at the intermission grew to 33-9 before Smith kicked out a pass to Weaver on the wing. She drilled a 3 to start a bit of a rally for the Lady Hornets.
Otey and Thompson traded treys then Allen hit the offensive glass for a bucket and Weaver added a jumper on the move to cut it to 38-19.
Malorie Catlett’s stickback for Lake Hamilton at the 2:14 mark of the quarter was the Lady Wolves’ last basket of the period. Allen hit a free throw then added a basket off a post-up move.
The Lady Hornets missed two chances to get closer after that but, off an inbounds play under their basket, they got a basket from Rachel Miller to make it 40-24 going into the fourth quarter.
Bullard drove for a hoop but Patton popped a 12-footer and Otey hit a free throw after making a steal. At 42-27 with 6:36 left in the game, the Lady Hornets were as close as they’d been since the second quarter.
But Bullard took over form there. Her personal 6-0 run that included a blocked shot on the defensive end, put an end to Bryant’s hope of a comeback. The largest lead was 56-31.
Conference rivals, the two teams will play home-and-home league games later this season.
LADY WOLVES 56, LADY HORNETS 35
Score by quarters
BRYANT 4 5 15 11 — 35
Lake Hamilton 12 17 11 16 — 56
LADY HORNETS (4-5) 35
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Otey 1-14 1-4 4-2 6 2 4
Anderson 1-2 0-0 1-1 2 2 2
Weaver 3-6 0-0 0-4 4 1 7
Allen 5-11 3-6 4-4 8 2 14
Smith 1-4 2-2 2-2 4 0 4
Baxter 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Miller 1-3 0-2 1-1 2 2 2
Patton 1-3 0-0 0-1 1 0 2
Reeves 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 5-2 7
Totals 13-45 6-14 17-17 34 10 35
LADY WOLVES (6-3) 56
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Frazier 3-10 0-0 0-1 1 2 9
Scott 3-6 0-0 2-2 4 0 6
Murray 1-5 0-0 0-4 4 2 2
Humphrey 1-4 0-0 3-0 3 2 2
Bullard 8-12 6-6 1-3 4 1 22
Nelson 1-5 0-0 1-1 2 0 3
Thompson 2-5 1-2 2-0 2 1 7
Evans 0-3 0-0 0-2 2 0 0
Suta 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 3
Catlett 1-1 0-0 2-1 3 2 2
Sorrell 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Team 2-3 5
Totals 21-53 7-8 13-17 30 12 56
Three-point field goals: Bryant 3-15 (Otey 1-7, Weaver 1-4, Allen 1-3, Patton 0-1), Lake Hamilton 7-17 (Frazier 3-5, Thompson 2-4, Nelson 1-2, Suta 1-1, Scott 0-2, Murray 0-2, Bullard 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 19, Lake Hamilton 14.
