A strong inside game and an early lead helped the Cabot North Junior Panthers slip past the[more] Bryant Blue Hornets, 44-37, in an eighth grade basketball game at Bethel Middle School Tuesday.
Cabot North also prevailed in the seventh grade game, 31-19.
The loss in the eighth grade game snapped a six-game winning streak for Bryant Blue.
The Hornets are 7-2 and the two losses are the lone games this season they have fallen short of scoring over 40 points. The other time was when they scored 39 in a loss to Bryant White on Nov. 13. The rematch between the Bryant and Bethel is Monday, Nov. 17, at the Bryant Middle School gym.
“We started off slow again,” mentioned Bryant Blue coach Derek McGrew. “We cut the lead to 3 with under a minute left but Cabot North led throughout the game. They handled our pressure and hurt us inside with their post men. They were the best team tonight. They deserved to win.
“We shot poorly again,” he noted. “We were 10 of 19 at the free-throw line.”
Desmond Duckworth led the Hornets with 14 points. Calvin and Caylin Allen each finished with 10. Chase Kincaid added 2 points and Hunter Handly 1.
Cabot North established an 11-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and held a 21-13 advantage at the half. It was 31-26 going into the final period.
In the seventh grade game, Sam Chumley scored 11 of Bryant Blue’s points. Myers Buck finished with 4, Mitchell Wollard 2 with Matthew Sandidge and Diante Woodson scoring a point apiece.
Cabot North led just 8-5 after the first quarter and 13-9 at the half. It was 21-15 going into the fourth quarter before the Junior Panthers pulled away at the end.
Now 3-3, the Bethel seventh graders will play Bryant White on Monday, Nov. 17, as well.
