BENTON — When the first half was over on Monday, Feb. 14,[more] the regular-season champion Conway White Lady Kittens were officially concerned. They trailed the Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team, 24-15. But Bryant’s hopes of an upset and a berth in the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference post-season tournament final at Benton Arena were dashed when the Lady Kittens rallied for a 57-40 win.
The Lady Hornets include Aubree Allen, Jessica Alliston, Andrea Buford, Ashlee Caton, Caylin Choate, Dezarea Duckworth, Kaitlyn Greer, Keedy Harrison, Taylor Matthews, Dee-Dee Mosby, Melinda Murdock, Amber Newman, Destiny Nichols, Brittany Privett, Erica Smith, Rori Whittaker and Alex Wright.
Conway White had edged ahead 34-32 by the end of the third quarter then rode that momentum to the victory, ending Bryant’s season at 14-12.
“I am very proud of these girls,” said Lady Hornets head coach Nathan Castaldi. “They worked very hard all year and the improvement that they made was very clear. Being my first year to coach girls, this group made my job very easy.”
Duckworth led Bryant with 13 points, Allen added 12 and Choate 6. Whittaker added 3 with Smith, Harrison and Murdock contributing 2 points each.
“I thought we played a real good game, especially the first half,” Castaldi stated. “I don't think the (final) score is really evidence of how good a game it was. It did not get out of hand until real late.
“The first half was the best half of basketball we played all year,” he continued.
“We did a great job of handling their press, and scoring off of it. The second half we did not do as good of a job against their press and made a few mental mistakes that really hurt us. (Conway White) played very physical all game long and, in the second half, they used that to their advantage.
“I could not have been more proud of the effort that we gave during the game,” the coach concluded.
