By Rob Patrick
PEARCY — Whether it was the fact that it was a third-place game instead of the championship or that it was being played on New Year’s Eve or that the host team was their opponent, the Bryant Hornets freshman team endured[more] a nightmare of a game Friday at the second Kameron Hale Invitational Tournament.
The Hornets didn’t reach double digits in scoring until the 4:59 mark of the fourth quarter as Lake Hamilton rolled to a 42-20 victory on its home floor.
Now 8-6, Bryant hosts conference rival Conway Blue tonight. League games officially begin on Monday, Jan. 10, when Cabot North visits Bryant.
The Hornets team includes Phillip Barnett, Dakota Besancon, Chase Christie, Brandon Cranford, Cedarrian Crosby, Evan Davis, Trevor Ezell, Greyson Giles, T.J. Hall, Austin Hammonds, Hunter Holder, Matt Jernigan, Spencer Kilgore, Slade Lewis, Madre London, Dylan Masters, Davis Nossaman, Gray Orman, Garrett Phillips, C.J. Rainey, Brian Reed, Mitchell Scoggins, Caleb Strain and Christian Washington.
On baskets by London and Rainey, the Hornets were within 7-4 at the end of the first quarter but they did not score in the second period.
The Junior Wolves pushed the lead to 14-4 by the break then added the first basket of the second half before Strain connected on a 3 to stop the Hornets’ drought. But that provided the team’s only points of the third quarter. Lake Hamilton led 28-7 going into the fourth and held a 31-7 bulge before London hit a free throw with 5:19 left in the game. Giles followed with a steal that led to a trip to the line where he converted twice to make it 31-20.
A layup by London trimmed the lead to 19 but Roger White scored and the Hornets were unable to get that close again.
It wasn’t that they weren’t getting shots. They suffered 13 turnovers. They wound up 6 of 32 from the field, 19 percent.
London finished with 7, Rainey 5, Strain and Holder 3 each and Giles 2. For Lake Hamilton, Malik Blevins had 14 and White 11.
Earlier in the season, the Wolves had defeated the Hornets 37-32 at Lake Hamilton. The Wolves play at Bryant on Jan. 20.
