When the Bryant Hornets freshman team played at Lake Hamilton on Nov. 16, they suffered a 52-29 loss. In the return engagement at the Bryant Junior High gym on Thursday, the Hornets played the Wolves much tougher, but they just didn’t have an answer for Lake Hamilton gunner Ty Robinson. Hitting six 3-pointers in the game, Robinson accounted for 29 points and nine rebounds to lead the Wolves to 52-40 win this time.
Trent Ford led the Hornets with 11 points. Grant Johnson had 9 and Cairon Allen came off the bench to score 7.
The game was tight much of the way. On a pair of baskets from Ford, the Hornets got out to a 5-0 lead. The Wolves pushed back and held a 9-5 lead before Joseph Nelson hit a baseline jumper to make it a 2-point game.
But it seemed that every time the Hornets got close, Lake Hamilton had an answer, often from Robinson. After a pair of free throws by a teammate, Robinson popped back-to-back 3’s to make it a 17-7 game at the first break.
Allen made a steal that let to a basket by Nelson off a feed from Jamison Lewis. But Robinson drained a 3.
Allen hit a free throw and Johnson drove for a layup to make it an 8-point game, but Robinson scored. Mytorian Singleton answered for Bryant with a strong drive to the basket, scoring as he was fouled. Though he missed the free throw, the margin was 8 again.
Both teams had chances to change that but neither did until Robinson buried another triple with 1:59 left in the half.
The Hornets had chances to get closer but converted just 2 of 7 from the free throw line in the second period.
It was 27-17 at the half.
The Hornets were energized when the second half started, and they made a run at the Wolves. Johnson hit a pair of free throws after rebounding a teammate’s miss. Turnovers then led to consecutive layups by Devin Holmes.
Bryant was within 27-23 as Lake Hamilton called a timeout. When play resumed, there was Robinson with a jumper in the lane to get his team back on track.
The Hornets hung around, however. A pair of 3’s by Ford had them within 36-31 with 2:01 left in the third quarter. But the Wolves scored a quite 7 points including another trey by Robinson to push the margin back to 12. A 3 from Johnson in the final seconds made it 43-34 going into the fourth quarter.
The teams traded baskets for half of the period but, after Allen scored off the offensive glass with just over four minutes left, the 47-38 Wolves’ lead expanded as the Hornets were unable to score the rest of the way except for two free throws by Allen at the 2:09 mark.
The Wolves went to a delay game and closed out the victory.
Bryant plays next on Thursday, Nov. 21, at Little Rock Catholic.
WOLVES 52, HORNETS 40
Freshman
Score by quarters
Lake Hamilton 17 10 16 9 — 52
BRYANT 7 10 17 6 — 40
WOLVES 52
Carter 3-7 3-4 9, Hurley 2-11 0-0 4, Robinson 11-16 1-2 29, Christon 2-7 0-0 4, Kirdt 3-5 0-0 6, Gossett 0-1 0-0 0, McCain 0-1 0-2 0, Hughes 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 (43%) 4-8 (50%) 52.
HORNETS 40
Ford 4-6 0-0 11, Johnson 3-6 2-2 9, Holmes 2-5 0-2 4, Singleton 2-3 0-1 4, Nelson 2-4 1-2 5, Lewis 0-6 0-2 0, Allen 2-4 3-5 7. Totals 15-34 (44%) 6-14 (43%) 40.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 4-12 (Ford 3-5, Johnson 1-2, Lewis 0-4, Allen 0-1), Lake Hamilton 6-15 (Robinson 6-9, Hurley 0-2, Christon 0-2, Carter 0-1, Gossett 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 9, Lake Hamilton 11. Rebounds: Bryant 7-13 20 (Allen 1-5 6, Nelson 3-1 4, Johnson 2-2 4, Ford 0-1 1, Holmes 1-0 1, Singleton 0-1 1, Lewis 0-1 1, team 0-2 2), Lake Hamilton 13-20 33 (Robinson 2-7 9, Kirdt 2-6 8, Carter 3-3 6, Hurley 3-3 6, McCain 2-0 2, Christon 1-0 1, team 0-1 1). Team fouls: Bryant 9, Lake Hamilton 15.
