PEARCY — Overtime has not been kind to the Bryant Hornets freshman team this season. Coming into Saturday’s game against the Hot Springs Junior Trojans in the second round of the annual Kameron Hale Invitational Tournament at Lake Hamilton High School, the Hornets had suffered a 47-46 loss in overtime to Pulaski Academy and a 45-44 loss in overtime to North Little Rock, accounting for two of their three losses.
With a chance to play for the tournament championship on the line, the Hornets found themselves in double overtime versus Hot Springs and, once again, they came out on the short end, 50-46.
Bryant, now 8-4, will play in the third-place game in the tourney Monday at 4:15 p.m., against Hot Springs Lakeside.
The Hornets had opened the tournament with a 46-10 romp over the Malvern Leopard Cubs on Friday.
“This an area of concern and one that will be corrected,” said Bryant coach Tyler Posey, after the 2OT loss to the Trojans. “Hopefully we’ll learn from this as we get ready for the upcoming conference season. These guys are hungry to get better and they get a chance to prove it against Lakeside.”
Calvin Allen led the Hornets with 16 points to go with six steals. John Winston finished with 10 points, six boards and three thefts. Caylin Allen added 6 points and four steals.
“Coming off a big win (Friday), it was important for us to come back strong against a talented Hot Springs team,” Posey said. “However, we did not start out strong and struggled through the first quarter with only 5 points. We just seemed a tad off the entire first three quarters and trailed 14 going into the fourth.
“Finally, in the fourth, everything started clicking,” he continued. “Were able to create multiple turnovers and convert all of them and ended up tying the game with 25 seconds remaining.”
The Hornets made a stop on defense and got three shots at a game-winner but the ball refused to go in.
“Again in overtime we played very well and had built a 5-point lead with 40 seconds remaining,” Posey recounted. “However, they made some plays down the stretch to pull the game within 2. They also forced a turnover and got the ball back and scored again to tie the game up. We could not hit our final shot it went into double overtime.”
Of the second extra period, Posey said, “Hot Springs really took control and we were not able to respond.”
In Friday’s win, Calvin Allen led the team with 7 points, three assists and two steals. Kaleb Turner and Garrett Cowart scored 5 points each. Everyone played and all but one got in on the scoring.
“We really came out ready to play,” Posey stated. “We started very strong with multiple steals and they never really got into rhythm. We converted these opportunities and built a 17-point halftime lead.
“We were able to play all our guys and everyone came in and played a good game,” he noted. “Overall, it was a good performance and one to build on. Jamale Slater
came in and played well recording four steals.”
After Monday’s game, the Hornets will play two final non-conference contests. They’re set to visit Conway Blue on Thursday, Jan. 9, then host Malvern on Monday, Jan. 13.
