Photos by Rick Nation
Lania Ratliff (Photo by Rick Nation)
The Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team closed out the regular season on Thursday with a tough 27-23 loss to the Conway Blue Lady Wampus Cats at Bryant Middle School gym.
At 10-13 overall and 3-5 in the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference, the Lady Hornets tied for fifth place in the league and earned the fifth seed to the post-season tournament by virtue of wins over Mount St. Mary Academy and Cabot North, who both finished 3-5 as well.
Bryant will open play in the CAJHC tournament at Conway against fourth-seeded Conway White on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.
Against Conway Blue, the Lady Hornets played even in the first half. It was 7-7 after a quarter and 13-13 at the half. The Lady Cats held them to just 2 points in the third quarter, however, and surged to a 21-15 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Bryant rallied down the stretch and cut the lead to 2 but couldn’t get over the hump as Conway Blue eked out the 4-point win.
“We worked really hard defensively on containing their best player who had 18 points on us last time we played,” noted Bryant coach Nathan Castaldi. “We did a better job — she still scored 14 — but had a few slip ups late and she got a couple of baskets to put Conway ahead.
“The girls fought back but just could not come all the way back,” he added. “I was really proud of the way Sarah Kennedy’s played. She was aggressive on the offensive side leading us in scoring and finding out post players open underneath for a couple of easy baskets. Reagan McCormick also played well giving us a lift off the bench.”
Kennedy led Bryant with 8 points. Riley Hill added 6, Destiny Martin 4, McCormick 3 and Lania Ratliff 2.
Riley Hill (Photo by Rick Nation)
Coach Nathan Castaldi discusses a call with one of the officials during Thursday’s game. (Photo by Rick Nation)
