By Rob Patrick
The Cabot South Junior Lady Panthers used a 15-2 run at the end of the second quarter and start of the third to gain the upper hand on the Bryant Junior Lady Hornets on Thursday, Jan. 8. And though the Lady Hornets rallied in the fourth quarter to trim a lead of as much as 7 down to 1, they just couldn’t get over the top as Cabot held on for a 40-30 victory.
The Lady Panthers pulled away at the end, finishing the game on a 9-0 run.
The loss was Bryant’s second in a row after its eight-game winning streak. At 12-4 overall, the Lady Hornets aimed at snapping their skid and improve to 5-2 in the South Division of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference when they visited their rivals in Benton on Monday, Jan. 12.[more]
The teams traded the lead in the first quarter with Cabot eventually holding a 9-7 lead going into the second.
Two free throws by Jessie Taylor tied the game two minutes in. While the Lady Hornets were holding Cabot scoreless over the first 2:40 of the quarter, Kayla Sory added a pair from the line, Raegan Barker made a steal and Allie Hogancamp cashed it in with an 18-footer that produce a 13-9 lead.
But that’s when Cabot made its run interrupted only by a pair of free throws by Callie Hogancamp with :27.3 left in the half.
The Lady Panthers led 21-15 at the break and opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer to create their largest lead of the game.
It was 26-19 when the Lady Hornets began to whittle on that margin thanks to baskets by Sory, London Abernathy and Barker. Cabot led just 28-25 going into the fourth quarter.
It was 31-25 before Bryant made its final run at taking the lead. Abernathy hit a free throw and Barker hit two, made a steal and was fouled for another pair from the line and, with 2:53 left, the Lady Hornets trailed just 31-30.
But a 3-pointer ended Bryant’s surge and the Lady Hornets were unable to score the rest of the game.
Barker finished with 10 points, Sory 6 and Abernathy 5 for Bryant.
