For more photos of this event by Kevin Nagle, go here
The Cabot South Lady Panthers hit a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference game against the Bryant Lady Hornets at the Bryant Middle School gym on Monday night. A basket in the final seconds gave them a 12-7 lead.
But the Lady Panthers were then limited to just one basket until the final three minutes of the game. It was a 26-2 run for the Lady Hornets who surged to their first league victory, 33-19.
“They made a couple of shots the first quarter, but we also had some bad closeouts,” said Lady Hornets coach Nathan Castaldi. “They were open shots.
“We contested shots a lot better after that,” he acknowledged. “We made them put the ball on the floor, make decisions rather than just be catch-and-shoot kids, and I think that was the big difference.”
You can’t win if you can’t score.
Caitlin LaCerra hit a 3 to open the scoring in the game for the Lady Hornets, who improved to 6-6 overall with the victory. But the Lady Panthers answered and, despite a pair of baskets late in the quarter by Parris Atkins, held the lead the rest of the quarter.
Neither team scored in the second quarter until Bryant’s Jordan Hancock followed her own miss for a basket at the 3:20 mark.
The Lady Hornets didn’t actually tie the game until the final minute of the half when Regan Dillon buried a 3 from the wing. With :07.1 showing, Daria Greer hit a free throw to give Bryant its first lead since 3-0. It made it 13-12 at the half.
Emma Chappell’s offensive-rebound basket opened the second half and put Bryant up 15-12. It stayed that way for four minutes before Cabot South scored its first field goal since the final few seconds of the first quarter. It had the Lady Panthers within 16-14.
But ShaMya Jordan’s 3 with 1:24 left in the third quarter started a game-breaking push for the Lady Hornets. Atkins, who led all with 12 points, hit a pair of free throws with :41.3 left then V’Mya Palmer made a steal that Atkins cashed in with a layup to make it 22-14 going into the fourth stanza.
Hancock opened the fourth quarter with a 3 and the Lady Hornets had their first double-digit lead of the game. Greer drove for a basket then Atkins added two free throws and a driving layup to extend the margin to 31-14 going into the final three minutes.
Jordan drove for a layup off a Cabot South turnover to extend the margin to 19 before Castaldi turning to his reserves.
In all 16 girls played for Bryant, nine in the first half.
“Over the break, we had some girls who put in some good practices and that’s one of the things we’re trying to do, reward those girls for working hard and showing us in practice, and over the Christmas tournament, that they could contribute in some meaningful ways,” said the coach.
The Lady Hornets host Lake Hamilton on Thursday, hoping to improve to 2-1 in league play.
LADY HORNETS 33, LADY PANTHERS 19
Freshman
Score by quarters
Cabot South 12 0 2 5 — 19
BRYANT 7 6 9 11 — 33
LADY PANTHERS 19
Miller 1-5 0-0 3, Thomas 1-3 0-0 2, Van Winkle 1-2 0-0 2, Clark 1-1 0-2 3, Reynolds 1-2 0-0 2, Niers 1-5 0-0 2, Alsup 0-1 0-0 0, Nuemann 0-1 0-0 0. Totals7-25 (28%) 1-4 (25%) 19.
LADY HORNETS 33
Greer 1-6 1-2 3, LaCerra 1-4 0-0 3, Chappell 1-1 0-0 2, Dillon 1-2 0-0 3, Atkins 4-9 4-8 12, Jordan 2-4 0-0 5, Hancock 2-5 0-0 5, Mefford 0-0 0-0 0, Palmer 0-0 0-0 0, Cicero 0-0 0-0 0, H.Hartz 0-1 0-0 0, S.Hartz 0-0 0-0 0, Hammett 0-0 0-0 0, Sanders 0-2 0-0 0, Strickland 0-1 0-0 0, Purifoy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals12-35 (34%) 5-10 (50%) 33.
Three-point field goals:Bryant 4-12 (LaCerra 1-4, Dillon 1-2, Hancock 1-2, Jordan 1-1, Greer 0-1, Atkins 0-1, Sanders 0-1), Cabot South 4-9 (Reynolds 2-5, Miller 1-3, Clark 1-1). Turnovers:Bryant 11, Cabot South 16. Rebounds:Bryant 10-14 24 (Atkins 2-6 8, Chappell 1-4 5, Cicero 1-1 2, Dillon 0-1 1, Hancock 1-0 1, Strickland 1-0 1, S.Hartz 0-1 1, H.Hartz 1-0 1, Hammett 1-0 1, Stricland 0-1 1, Purifoy 1-0 1, team 2-0 2), Cabot South 5-14 19 (Thomas 0-5 5, Reynolds 0-3 3, Nuemann 1-2 3, Miller 0-2 2, Clark 2-0 2, team 2-2 4). Team fouls:Bryant 8, Cabot South 16.
