The Bryant White Lady Hornets eighth grade team of Bryant Middle School outscored the Benton Lady Panthers eighth graders 10-2 in the third quarter to gain the upper hand Monday night on their way to a 25-16 victory.
Kaitlyn Greer scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the way.[more]
“Kaitlyn kept us alive in the first quarter when we got out to an extremely slow start,” noted Lady Hornets coach DeAnna Ward. “She hit 3 of 4 free throws in the first quarter and 5 of 8 in the game. Then scored all 10 of our points in the third quarter.”
Alex Wright had five rebounds for the Lady Hornets and Melinda Murdock and Greer contributed three steals apiece.
Greer’s three free throws in the first quarter were the only points scored as the Lady Hornets shut out the Lady Panthers. Benton, however, started the second quarter with a 6-0 run and the Lady Hornets’ only scoring was free throws by Wright, Addie Chaloupka and Murdock. A basket at the buzzer gave Benton a 10-7 lead at the half.
Greer’s basket early in the third quarter cut the gap to 1 then Benton managed its lone basket of the quarter at the 4:45 mark. Consecutive hoops by Greer around a missed opportunity at the line for Benton knotted the score at 12. With 1:36 left in the period, Greer hit a free throw that put the Lady Hornets ahead to stay.
Moments later, she added a layup off a drive to the basket and, before the quarter was through, she scored again inside to put Bryant up 17-12.
Wright extended the Bryant run with the first basket of the fourth quarter and Destin Nichols hit a free throw before Katy Stillman made a steal and basket with 4:24 left to cap the run, making it 22-12.
In all, it was a 13-0 run for Bryant White.
Benton cut the lead to 7 late in the game but Courtney Bulthuis hit two free throws in the final seconds to finish off the victory.
Bryant White was set to return to action tonight at Little Rock Episcopal.
