A share of the conference championship[more] isn’t what the Bryant Hornets freshman team had in mind entering the week but it’s better than none.
A night after being knocked out of sole possession of the league lead by Conway Blue, the Hornets did what they needed to do to gain their share of the regular-season title by getting past the Lake Hamilton Junior Wolves, 35-24.
The win improved the Hornets to 14-10 overall and 6-2 in the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference, tied with Conway White for the regular-season title. Conway White, by virtue of a 51-45 win over Bryant on Jan. 24, will be the top seed at the post-season tournament, which is scheduled to start Saturday at Benton. The Hornets will be the No. 2 seed and open against seventh-seeded Little Rock Catholic at 5:30 p.m.
The Hornets include 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 and Caleb Strain.
Bryant jumped out to an 11-2 lead by the end of the first quarter. It was 17-8 at the half and 27-10 going into the fourth quarter.
Giles led the way with 9 points. Scoggins added 7 and Rainey 6. Strain and Christie had 3 each. Orman, London and Reed had 2 apiece. Jernigan hit a free throw.
“We didn’t play very well,” commented Hornets coach Steve Wilson. “We were very lucky to win. I think we were showing the effects of a tough game the night before. Lake Hamilton was struggling a lot too and I didn’t think we took advantage of it like we could’ve but maybe it was good to get a bad game out of the way going into the tournament.”
The Wolves were coming off a 48-40 win over Cabot South that garnered the No. 6 seed for the tournament. They’ll open against third-seeded North Little Rock Saturday.
