Hornets nab Invitational crown
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
Bryant Hornets’ head basketball coach Leo Olberts has a solid group of four seniors in Tad Beene, Nathan James, Jared Thomas and Matt Thornton in his lineup every time the team hits the hardwood. They played vital roles as juniors. They’ve been through the wars and understand what Olberts expects and what the team needs to do to win. It was almost like they took turns making big plays for the Hornets as they blitzed through three opponents on the way to the championship of the Bryant Invitational Tournament last week.
The Hornets downed Central Arkansas Christian 70-59 on Thursday, bounced Sylvan Hills 66-50 on Friday then avenged their lone loss of the season with a 57-47 triumph over the Lake Hamilton Wolves in Saturday’s title tilt.
Olberts knew he would be able to count on that senior quartet when the season began. But you can’t beat people going four on five. The question became: Who would step up to be the fifth in the lineup?
The answer, it’s beginning to appear, is not A, B, C, or D, but E — all of the above, as a rotation of players that each contribute — each in their own way — something to the lineup.
“We never have gotten a true starting lineup yet,” Olberts agreed. “We know we’re going with those four seniors, then there may be a different guy every other night. They all have something that they do. It just kind of depends on who we’re playing and what the situation is. We have several that come in off the bench and do a good job for us.”
So far, starting assignments — which don’t necessarily translate into a the most playing time — have gone to junior Matt Brown and sophomores Jeremy Reeves and Jermaine Smith. Off the bench, the first subs have been Josh Elrod, Colin Weatter, Johnny Goforth and Jared Koder. Each brings something different to the lineup.
Brown is quick, a tough defender with the muscle that his stellar work on the football team has afforded him. On a team of excellent passers, he’s probably the most spectacular. He’s a solid ballhandler, taking the load of that duty off of Beene when he’s in.
Smith is similarly quick which makes him an asset on defense. He can help with the ballhandling but his primary asset is that he can be a big scorer. He’s streaky but, when he gets it going, he can give the team a big lift like he did in the 76-70 loss to Lake Hamilton earlier this season. Smith got hot and poured in 27 points, 19 in just the fourth quarter.
Reeves is solid. He’s got some strength, some ballhandling ability and a nice shooting touch when left open. He’ll mix it up inside for rebounds and stickbacks, muscle up a shot in traffic or he’ll step out and hit the open 3. He doesn’t try to do to much, doesn’t try to force things and plays smart.
Elrod is rangy with long arms and good height for a swingman. With nice shooting touch and good range, he can pitch in with the scoring if given the open shot but, like Reeves, doesn’t feel the need to force a shot. He sees the floor well, makes solid passes and handles the ball confidently. Plus, he has a knack for getting out on the Hornets’ fast breaks. His biggest asset may be his hustle.
Weatter is a raw-boned inside player. He can step out and hit consistently from 12-feet and in, then go to work inside defensively against bigger or more athletic players and give no quarter. He battles on the boards, blocking out well.
Goforth also helps out inside. He’s the kind of player Olberts likes inside, not only tall but big and strong, someone to take up some space in the paint. Primarily, he works on rebounding and defending, Goforth doesn’t look to score much, but knows what to do with an offensive rebound or a loose ball inside.
Koder is cat-quick and another good ballhandler with plenty of hustle. Though he’s had a hard time getting his shot off so far, when he’s open he can knock it down from long range. He’s not afraid to take a charge or hit the floor after a loose ball. He will scrap.
Each of those guys have had their moments this season and, the way it’s developing, will have others down the line. In the championship of the Invitational, for example, it was Elrod and Ridge that gave the Hornets a lift when they were struggling to stay in the game against the Wolves.
A late first-quarter run by the Wolves had created a seven-point lead (15-8, going into the second period and 17-10 soon thereafter). Just in off the bench, Elrod knocked down a 15-foot jumper from the wing to make it 17-12. Moments later, Lake Hamilton’s Brandon Hansen missed a 3-point shot and Elrod grabbed the rebound.
A Hornet turnover cost them that possession but, after another missed 3, Bryant had the ball back. Elrod wound up feeding Thornton who knocked down a 3-pointer to get the Hornets within 17-15.
A pair of free throws by Clarence Kelley increased the Wolves’ lead but Thornton fed Beene for a layup and after another miss by Hansen, Thornton earned a trip to the free-throw line off a drive to the hoop.
That was a bad thing for Lake Hamilton to do, too. Thornton wound up hitting 10-of-10 free throws in the game including those first two which tied the game at 19.
Lake Hamilton rallied to get back up 24-19 before a driving jumper by Beene. The Hornets then forced a turnover that Elrod cashed in with a layup to cut it to 1 again.
The Wolves’ center James Johnson hit a 10-footer but Ridge countered for Bryant with an offensive rebound and bucket to make it 26-25.
A late 3 by Hansen put Lake Hamilton ahead 29-25 at the half.
The Wolves attempted a whopping 31 3-pointers in the game, making eight. Hanson was 5 of 16 and wound up taking 20 shots to get 15 points. Kelley hit a couple of 3’s on his way to 11 points.
For Bryant, Thornton finished with 15 and Beene 9, but it was the performance of Thomas in the second half that pushed the Hornets into the lead. After scoring just 4 points and gathering one rebound in the first half and looking a little timid against Lake Hamilton’s rugged inside players, Thomas came through with a determined second half performance and wound up with a game-high 17 points and eight boards including five on the offensive end.
James added 8 points while cleaning the glass for 14 rebounds.
“We kind of got onto (Jared) about the first half,” Olberts said. “He was getting fouled and he just wasn’t making the baskets. The second half, we said, we were really going to go to him. Our strategy was to get in to Thomas and James. They did a really good job of pounding it inside, going up strong and they got the buckets.
“It was the best half Jared’s had in a long time,” he continued. “And, for us to be a really good team, we’ve got to get a lot of production out of him. It’s just that simple. We’re not very big so the guys that have some size have really got to come through for us.”
Thomas established himself right off the bat in the third quarter, posting up for a basket then tying it with a hoop off a nice feed from James.
A 3 by Kelley and a follow shot by Johnson got Lake Hamilton going again but Thomas countered with a baseline drive and, after both teams went dry for awhile, Reeves, in off the bench, made a nice cut to the hoop and scored off a fine assist from Thornton to cut it to 34-33.
That basket came with 2:35 left in the quarter. Neither team could score again until the final seconds of the period. James absorbed a charge defending a drive by Lake Hamilton’s Beau Brickell and wiping out a basket that would’ve increased the Wolves’ edge. At the other end, the Hornets went for the last shot and, with :09 left, Thornton was fouled.
Mr. Automatic, Thornton gave Bryant its first lead since it was 6-5 midway through the first period.
The game was tied at 37, 39, 40 and 42 during the first half of the final period. Thornton hit a pair of free throws with 3:55 left to put the Hornets up 44-42 and, at the other end where he’d blocked three shots, he went up on a shot attempt by Brickell and forced the Lake Hamilton forward to just hang onto the ball, unable to get a shot over Thomas’ extended arms. The travelling violation returned possession to the Hornets.
The two teams struggled for the upper hand for two empty possessions each after that. Finally, after a timeout with 2:15 left, the Hornets ran an inbounds play that resulted in a three-point play by James that upped the advantage to 5, Bryant biggest of the game.
They never trailed again.
Lake Hamilton whittled the lead to 49-47 with 1:00 left but Beene hit a free throw, Hansen missed a 3, James rebounded and found Thornton snow-birding for a layup to get it back to 5.
Free throws by Thornton and Thomas in the final :30 increased the advantage to the final 10-point margin.
After scoring 76 in the previous meeting with the Hornets, Lake Hamilton’s 47 may have been a season-low, a credit to Bryant’s defensive effort, Olberts said.
“The kids played with a lot of effort and intensity all night long,” he said. “This is one of the better teams we’ll play this year. They’re well-coached, they’ve got size and they can shoot the 3 and they’re quick. We knew we were in for a dogfight. We wore ourselves out trying to catch up (from an early 13-2 deficit) last time. This time, we stayed in our match-up zone and (assistant) coach (Chad) Withers does a great job on that match-up. He made a few adjustments on it in practice and the guys picked it up and it really helped us.”
Bryant made it to the finals with a convincing performance against Sylvan Hills on Friday. A 23-10 third quarter highlighted by a 12-2 run to end the period, blew the game open.
Beene had a splendid game, connecting on 7 of 9 shots from the field including 5 of 6 from 3-point range for a team-high 19 points. Thomas added 12 including 10 in the first half when the Hornets were establishing the lead. Thornton had 11 and James 10.
Sylvan Hills’ grabbed the early lead on a 3-pointer by Jeremy Brown but Bryant scored the next 12 points as each of the four seniors scored. Matt Brown fed Thornton for a fast-break layup to get Bryant on the board then Beene fed James for an easy 2 to put the Hornets ahead.
Beene followed with back-to-back 3-pointers from the wing to make it 10-3. James then snapped down an offensive rebound and fed Thomas for a basket to complete the blitz.
The Hornets led 16-9 at the end of the quarter. Sylvan Hills twice whittled the lead to 4 but a baseline jumper by James, a lean-in hoop by Thomas and a layup off a steal by Beene bumped it back up to 10.
Sylvan Hills was never as close again. When Beene drilled his three trey at the 1:33 mark, Bryant’s lead was 29-16.
A late run by the Bears cut it to 29-22 at the half but Bryant’s big third-quarter followed. Thornton scored 9 in the third period and Beene had 8 including two more 3’s in the final :30. The last, a buzzer-beater, gave Bryant a whopping 52-32 bulge.
Olberts cleared his bench in the fourth quarter and the reserves maintained the advantage. Ridge and Weatter each had 4 points down the stretch. The largest margin was 22. Ridge hit a 15-footer at the 6:06 mark to make it 56-34.
Sylvan Hills got as close at 14 with 2:00 to go but free throws by Ridge and a driving layup by Ben Olberts in the final minute helped the Hornets rebuild the margin.
Against CAC on Thursday, the Hornets were held to 6 points in the first quarter and trailed by 2. But they eclipsed the 20-point mark in each of the remaining three periods to win going away.
Beene scored 23 to lead all scorers. He had 18 in the second half. Thornton finished with 13 including 9 after the half. Thomas contributed 9 of his 12 in the second half as well. James also had 12 points but 9 of his came in the first half as the Hornets gained the upper hand.
Bryant led 28-21 at the half then built the advantage to 49-34 going into the fourth quarter.
