In a defensive struggle at the Bryant Junior High gym, the Bryant White Lady Hornets eighth grade team rallied from a 14-11 deficit entering the fourth quarter to earn a 20-14 victory over the rival Benton Lady Panthers eighth grade team on Monday night.
The Lady Hornets got out to a good start, leading 7-2 after a quarter and 9-6 at the half. But they were outscored 8-2 in the third quarter as Benton took a lead.
Brilynn Findley led Bryant White with 12 points including 3 of 4 at the free-throw line. Kristen Reese was 4 for 4 at the stripe for her 4 points. Locklan Berry and Camille Calhoun added 2 points each.
“The first quarter, we struck quick with a steal and a layup,” recounted Lady Hornets coach Ben Perry. “We played tough defense against a very talented Benton offense. They have a very tall post who has been dominant all season down low.
“They double-teamed Brilynn, which slowed down our offense and made it difficult to get the ball down the court,” he related. “In the third quarter, we made some critical ball control errors and did not rebound very well.
“At the start of the fourth quarter, I told my team we were going to play fast and apply pressure,” the coach said. “We were able to tie it at the 4:23 mark then take the lead with our pressure half-court defense and full-court press at 3:50.
“We never gave it back,” he added. “We held Benton scoreless in the fourth quarter which is extremely hard to do. Not only was Benton scoreless in the fourth, their big post did not score one point all game. We ended with a great win against Benton for our first game at the new Junior High since Tip Off.”
Benton out-rebounded the Lady Hornets 34-16. But turned the ball over 27 times to just 19 for Bryant.
“It was just so hard to outrebound their big post,” Perry said. “We did not box out well against her and she had a reach that was tough to overcome for our post players. However, we won the turnover ratio. We were able to create turnovers and do our best to capitalize on them.
“It was a very hard fought game for both teams,” he noted. “We were able to come out victorious.
Bryant White, now 8-5, will play tonight against Bryant Blue at the Bethel Middle School gym.
“We will do our best against a much improved Bryant Blue team,” Perry said. “They have worked extremely hard and we will have work out in front us.”
