Photos by Andrew Schroeder
Coming off a game against North Little Rock in which they gave up a season-high 72 points, the Bryant Hornets put the clamps on the Cabot Panthers on Friday night. Cabot wound up with more turnovers (25) than points in a 64-24 loss at Hornet Arena.
Everybody played and 11 of the 13 Hornets contributed to the scoring.
Kade Ruffner led Bryant with 12 points. Gabe George came off the bench to score 11 and, in limited time, Cam Hunter, the team’s top scorer on the season, added 10.
But it was the defense that really shined from the starting five to the 13th player, sophomore James Billingsley, who made a steal and a layup with :45 left in the game, for his first varsity points.
“That’s got to be a staple,” said Hornets head coach Mike Abrahamson regarding the defensive effort. “To be honest with you, I was a little disappointed at the beginning of the game. They got some good looks from 3. They shoot a lot of 3’s and they were getting some good looks.”
Indeed, Braylen Roberts and Sam Owen each hit a 3 in the opening minutes, which had the game tied 6-6.
After that, however, the Panthers only managed one more triple, which came midway through the fourth quarter, which had started with the mercy rule in effect.
“It got better,” acknowledged Abrahamson. “Our guys just seemed to kind of wear on them as the game went on and they didn’t get as many open looks. Our guys gave great effort defensively.”
Hunter countered those early 3’s for Cabot with one of his own that snapped the tie and put the Hornets in front to stay.
Owen hit two free throws but a three-point play by Gavin Brunson was followed by a long-range 3 by Austin Schroeder to push the lead to 15-8. That resulted in a Cabot timeout.
Cabot’s Jadyn Whaley made it 15-10 with 2:04 left in the opening quarter. Bryant responded with a 6-0 run to end the period. Ruffner fed freshman Drake Fowler for a layup. In the final minute of the half, Brunson got a layup and, after Ruffner made a steal, he went to the line to make it 21-10.
Off kickout from Brunson, George hit the first of his trio of 3’s in the game, starting the second quarter and making it a 14-point lead.
Baskets by Roberts and Gavin Muse cut the margin to 24-14 with 5:36 left in the half, but that was the last the Panthers would be able to score until a minute into the third.
Cory Nichols hit two free throws after following a teammate’s miss. Ruffner hit a 3 off a feed from Fowler to make it 29-14. Will Diggins got free for a layup and Ruffner hit the offensive glass for a score. Landyn Newburn forced a couple of Cabot turnovers and had an offensive rebound before Brunson scored with :15 left. Bryant held a 35-14 advantage. The blowout was on.
“You never know if it’s going to turn out like that because you’ve got to play the game,” Abrahamson said. “You never know what’s going to happen. But the effort of the guys that get the majority of the minutes allowed the guys that need that experience to get in. It’s great to be able to do that because it’s a grind out there. We have no Tuesday or Friday off.”
The teams traded baskets in the first half of the third quarter. With 3:55 left in the period, Bryant’s lead was 44-21. Hunter had hit another 3 and, moments later, popped a short jumper. He came out and did not return.
“He got in a little bit of foul trouble which afforded us the opportunity to do that,” Abrahamson said of Hunter. “And he’s a team guy so he’s all about it.”
Over the final 3:42 of the third, the Hornets went on a 9-0 spree with George drilling two triples and Ruffner hitting one. The lead ballooned to 53-21 so the clock ran in the fourth quarter.
A steal and dunk by sophomore Darren Wallace started the fourth-quarter highlights for Bryant. Billingsley made a steal that led to an offensive-rebound basket by George. Fowler had a stickback and, after Cabot’s third 3, freshman T.J. Lindsey took a feed from Fowler and scored, setting up Billingsley’s steal and layup.
Said Abrahamson about his starters on the bench, “They’re loving to see Darren get that dunk and one. And James getting that and-one in transition. They love seeing Gabe hit those 3’s. He hasn’t hit in a couple of games. So, he’s back on track. They love to see Landyn getting after it on defense. They love to see Drake get out there and play well and T.J. It was good.”
Exhorting his young players down the stretch, Abrahamson caught the eye of an official.
“I’m proud I got a bench warning,” he said after the game. “That was good.”
HORNETS 64, PANTHERS 24
Score by quarters
Cabot 10 4 7 3 — 24
BRYANT 21 14 18 11 — 64
PANTHERS (2-14, 0-6) 24
Bennett 0-3 0-0 0, Haynes 1-5 0-0 2, Owen 1-4 2-2 5, Muse 2-4 0-1 4, Roberts 3-6 1-2 8, Leaks 0-1 0-0 0, Tonnessen 0-3 0-0 0, Whaley 1-2 0-1 2, Coleman 0-0 0-0 0, King 1-1 0-0 3, Goforth 0-0 0-0 0, Theobald 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 9-30 (30%) 3-7 (43%) 24.
HORNETS (12-2, 4-2) 64
Nichols 1-1 2-2 4, Ruffner 4-7 2-2 12, Hunter 4-5 0-0 10, Adams 0-4 0-0 0, Diggins 3-4 0-0 6, Brunson 3-4 1-1 7, Schroeder 1-4 0-0 3, Newburn 0-1 0-0 0, Fowler 2-5 0-0 4, George 4-6 0-0 11, Wallace 1-3 1-2 3, Lindsey 1-3 0-2 2, Billingsley 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 25-48 (52%) 6-10 (60%) 64.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 8-24 (George 3-5, Ruffner 2-5, Hunter 2-3, Schroeder 1-3, Adams 0-4, Fowler 0-2, Newburn 0-1, Wallace 0-1), Cabot 3-14 (Owen 1-2, King 1-1, Roberts 1-1, Bennett 0-3, Haynes 0-2, Muse 0-2, Tonnessen 0-1, Whaley 0-1, Theobald 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 12, Cabot 25. Rebounds:Bryant 13-15 28 (Ruffner 1-3 4, Brunson 1-3 4, Hunter 0-3 3, Newburn 1-2 3, Fowler 2-0 2, George 2-0 2, Wallace 1-1 2, Lindsey 1-1 2, Nichols 1-0 1, Diggins 1-0 1, Schroeder 0-1 1, Billingsley 0-1 1, team 2-0 2), Cabot 9-13 22 (Roberts 1-4 5, Leaks 0-3 3, Haynes 1-1 2, Muse 0-2 2, Coleman 1-1 2, Owen 1-0 1, Whaley 0-1 1, team 5-1 6). Team fouls: Bryant 14, Cabot 15.
