File photo by Rick Nation
FAYETTEVILLE — Despite the fact that the Bryant Hornets forced 19 turnovers, held the Bentonville Tigers to 27 percent shooting from the field, and actually had more field goals than the Tigers, they trailed late.
The reason? Bentonville was awarded 27 free throws (making 21) while the Hornets attempted just 12 (making only four).
The fact is Bryant only converted 29 percent of their field goals after scorching the nets at a 53 percent clip in their State opening win over Springdale on Tuesday.
Yet, the Hornets had a chance to knock off the 21-2 Tigers at the end. They trailed 39-37 after Bentonville point guard Jaylen Lee missed a shot, and called a timeout with :09 left to play. The Hornets worked the ball to senior Camren Hunter, a 1,000-point scorer and four-year starter who has been so clutch over the years.
Though Hunter was forced a few feet beyond the 3-point arc, he got a decent look. He had to pump once but the shot looked good off his hand. It just came off the back iron to Lee who was fouled with :00.4 remaining.
Naturally, he went to the free-throw line and made both shots as Bentonville survived 41-37 to end the Hornets’ season.
It was an excruciating end for Hunter and fellow seniors Aidan Adams and Austin Schroeder.
“We had our chances,” acknowledged Hornets head coach Mike Abrahamson. “We got a shot at the end and I’ll take what we got towards the end of the game. Not only just the last shot but the stuff we were getting towards the end of the game, the last couple of minutes.
“If you had told me that’s what we’re going to get in a close game with those people shooting the ball, especially Cam — that’s what we’re going to live or die by. So, that’s what we did.”
Hunter finished with 19 of Bryant’s 37 points. Cory Nichols had 6 and Gabe George 5.
The game was desperately contested, especially on defense. Both teams’ total was a season low.
Thane Spencer led Bentonville with 10 points but all nine Tigers that got into the game contributed to the scoring, all but one from the free-throw line.
“I didn’t think it warranted that,” Abrahamson said of the vast difference in charity attempts. “Not to be a complainer.
“(Bentonville) played great,” he said. “They defended us well. They attacked us well. We knew what they were going to do. They’re hard to guard. They’re a huge challenge to guard with (Lee) coming off ball screens and all those shooters. He makes great reads and they’re so hard to guard.”
Lee ended up with just 6 points. The Tigers’ 6’8” center Caden Miller was almost a non-factor with 2 points. Hayden Shanks finished with 9. Spencer’s 10 points included eight free throws and just one field goal.
“We couldn’t put the ball in the basket,” Abrahamson acknowledged. “Not only was there a big free-throw discrepancy in terms of them shooting a lot more than us, they made theirs, or a great percentage of theirs. So, even with the discrepancy, if we’re 9 of 10 for 12, we win the game. And then we’re probably shooting more at the end.
“The thing about it is, I thought we did some things uncharacteristic of our players,” he noted. “I don’t know. That’s probably a combination of things. We’ve got a lot of young people that haven’t played young all year that looked a little bit young tonight.
“We had a couple of one-handed passes that — that’s not what we do.
Bentonville had a large and vocal crowd on hand including a pack of students. Asked if his younger players were a little overwhelmed by playing a big game at State, Abrahamson said, “That’s something that’s created in their heads. We try to play it like it’s every other game.
“But, as I look back at the game, we got shots in the lane. We got shots at the rim. We got open 3’s with our shooters. We missed a lot of free throws. So, we had our opportunities.
“We have to make some of those. We have to make some of those free throws. We have to make some of those shots around the basket,” he concluded.
Bryant trailed 37-32 with 3:55 left. They got a lift from George who hit a 15-footer to make it a one-possession game. After Bentonville misfired twice at the other end, Hunter going into the lane and was fouled. But both of his free throws refused to fall.
Still, Bryant forced a turnover. Again, however, they were unable to take advantage and Bentonville’s Mason Krakau was fouled on the rebound. He proceeded to convert both free throws to make it 39-34 going into the last two minutes. With 1:43 left, Bryant’s Kade Ruffner delivered a 3 to make it a 2-point game.
And the Hornets forced another turnover to get a shot at tying or taking the lead. In traffic, Hunter’s shot rimmed out as Bryant fans protested the lack of a foul call.
With 1:01 to go, Bentonville took a timeout. They used up the play clock before Lee missed, setting up Bryant’s chance to win.
The start of the game indicated that it might be another hot night for Bryant when big Will Diggins stepped outside. And, when Miller didn’t come out of the lane, Diggins drained a 3.
The lead seesawed in that first quarter. When the Tigers led 12-10, Hunter came through with a 3-point play to give his team the lead. Anthony Wilson scored to put Bentonville up, but Hunter canned a 12-footer with :02 on the clock to put Bryant up 15-14 at the first break.
Missed free throws hurt the Hornets in the second quarter. They were 2 of 7 and wound up only scoring 4 points as Bentonville, making 7 of 10 free throws, surged to a 24-19 lead at the half.
The Tigers’ largest lead was 31-21 midway through the third quarter as Bryant managed just one field goal over the first four-plus minutes of the period.
After a timeout with 4:14 left, Bryant got a bit of a roll going, holding Bentonville without a point over the rest of the quarter.
Nichols scored inside and, later, added a free throw. George drained a 3 and Hunter beat the buzzer again and the lead was down to 31-29 going into the fourth quarter.
Bryant forced turnovers on Bentonville’s first three possessions of the fourth but, in turn, missed three shots to tie the game.
A three-point play by Spencer when Schroeder tried to step in and take a charge. That was Bentonville’s only field goal of the fourth quarter. They were 8 of 11 at the line.
The Tigers advance to take on 6A-Central Conference top seed, Little Rock Central on Saturday.
TIGERS 41, HORNETS 37
Score by quarters
BRYANT 15 4 10 8 — 37
Bentonville 14 10 7 10 — 41
HORNETS (19-5) 37
Fowler 0-0 1-4 1, Nichols 2-6 2-4 6, Ruffner 1-7 0-0 3, Hunter 8-16 1-3 19, Diggins 1-4 0-0 3, Schroeder 0-2 0-0 0, Wallace 0-2 0-0 0, Adams 0-6 0-1 0, Newburn 0-1 0-0 0, George 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 14-48 (29%) 4-12 (33%) 37.
TIGERS (22-2) 41
Spencer 1-4 8-9 10, Lee 2-11 2-2 6, Miller 1-2 0-0 2, Shanks 3-5 2-4 9, Hicks 0-2 1-2 1, Dehrmann 1-3 1-2 4, Krakau 0-4 3-4 3, Wilson 1-1 2-2 4, Collins 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 9-33 (27%) 21-27 (78%) 41.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 5-24 (Hunter 2-6, Ruffner 1-5, Diggins 1-2, George 1-1, Adams 0-6, Nichols 0-1, Schroeder 0-1, Wallace 0-1, Newburn 0-1), Bentonville 2-9 (Shanks 1-1, Dehrmann 1-1, Spencer 0-2, Lee 0-2, Hicks 0-2, Krakau 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 12, Bentonville 19. Rebounds: Bryant 9-19 28 (Hunter 1-7 8, Adams 1-4 5, Nichols 3-1 4, Diggins 2-1 3, Fowler 0-2 2, Ruffner 0-2 2, team 2-2 4), Bentonville 8-29 37 (Lee 1-9 10, Miller 2-3 5, Shanks 2-3 5, Spencer 0-4 4, Dehrmann 1-2 3, Krakau 1-2 3, Collins 0-2 2, Wilsopn 1-0 1, team 0-4 4). Team fouls: Bryant 21, Bentonville 17.
