Basketball gets going in earnest this week as the Bryant High School teams join the fray. Tonight, the Hornets make their official debut at 5:30 against Beebe in the first round of a tournament in Searcy. Later this week, on Thursday, the Lady Hornets open their season at the Crabtree Invitational in Bentonville. A 5 p.m., the Lady Hornets will take on Duchesne, Mo.The Searcy tournament will be played on Monday, Thursday and Saturday while the Bentonville tourney will be completed over three consecutive days.
The Hornets return four players that contributed considerably last season, seniors K-Ron Lairy at the point, senior Kendall Butzlaff at center, senior Dontay Renuard at forward and senior Brandon Parish at guard.
The Lady Hornets welcome back all but a pair of graduating seniors including starters Alana Morris, Hannah Goshien, and Kenzee Calley along with seniors Haley Montgomery, Shanika Johnson, Brooke Parish and junior Abbi Stearns who contributed off the bench last season.
In addition, the Bryant freshman teams will continue their season with the opening games in the South Division of the Central Arkansas Conference. Tonight, the freshman teams along with the Bryant White eighth grade boys team travel to Conway Blue. On Thursday, the freshman teams along with the Bryant White eighth grade girls host Sheridan.
In between, on Tuesday, it’ll be the first match-up involving Bryant White and Bryant Blue in seventh and eighth grade action. At Bethel Middle School, the evening will begin with a seventh-grade girls game at 4:30 followed by the seventh grade boys, the eighth grade girls game then the eighth-grade boys game.
