By Rob Patrick
BENTON — Despite a fast start, the Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team just couldn’t shake the Benton Junior Lady Panthers for much of their game at the Benton Arena on Monday, Jan. 12.
In fact, Bryant’s 9-2 lead had turned into a 19-18 deficit in the final seconds of the third quarter.
But Casey Lee grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with :21 left in the period and, at the other end, ended a Benton threat by taking a charge. Bryant led 20-19 going into the fourth quarter and, with Lee adding a pair of free throws and another basket along the way, turned that stickback bucket to end the third into a game-turning 11-1 run.
The Lady Hornets went on to extract a 36-26 win, improving to 12-4 overall and 5-2 in the South Division of the Central Arkansas Conference, on the heels of co-leaders North Little Rock and Cabot South.
Lee finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Hornets, matching Benton’s Brooke Million for scoring honors. Jessie Taylor added 9 points. Kayla Sory and London Abernathy had 5 each.