Photos by Kevin Nagle and Rick Nation
Maddie Baxter
Let by all-state guard Jakeria Otey, the Bryant Lady Hornets will begin competition on the 2014-15 basketball season when they host a jamboree this Saturday at the Hornets Nest.
The event will include some of the best teams in the state including North Little Rock, Cabot, Conway, Central Arkansas Christian and Pine Bluff. The Lady Hornets will open the day by playing two quarters against North Little Rock at 10 a.m., then they’ll conclude it with two quarters against Pine Bluff at 2:10 p.m.
In between, Cabot takes on CAC at 10:50 a.m., North Little Rock plays Conway at 11:40, Cabot faces Pine Bluff at 12:30 p.m., and CAC squares off against Conway at 1:20.
“It’s a really high quality jamboree,” said Bryant coach Brad Matthews. “There will be several players here that are D-I prospects.”
Bryant officially opens the season on Thursday, Nov. 13, at home against the rival Benton Lady Panthers.
“Our kids have been working hard,” said Lady Hornets coach Brad Matthews. “We started the second day of school and I think they’ve gotten a lot better. We had a good spring and a good summer.
“We’ll see where we are on Saturday,” he noted. “We play a really quality North Little Rock team, one of the top two or three teams in 7A with a legit chance to win a 7A State championship. Then we have Pine Bluff, which we’ve had a little history with the last couple of years. They’ll be really talented. So it’ll be an early judge of where this team is, fundamental-wise, execution-wise.
Rachel Miller
“We just kind of want to get the rust off,” the coach related, “get the first-game jitters out of the way, maker sure our effort is there. I don’t think that’ll be an issue with this group. We’ve got great kids, really good team chemistry so far. We’re looking forward to getting it started.”
Matthews hadn’t settled on a starting lineup yet.
“I think we’ve got a good eight, 10, 11 — depending on our health — that we can play,” he said. “We’ve got Jakeria back, a solid senior. She played a lot last year, led us in scoring. After that, we’ve got quite a few kids that are playing different roles. We’ll give them a chance to step up so we’ve kind of put the playing time question in the kids’ hands. Who we play will depend on how we play, how we execute and how they practice daily.”
It’s more depth than Matthews has had as he begins his fourth season at Bryant.
“Quite a bit more,” he acknowledged. “We’ve got probably five or six guards that we feel comfortable playing. Obviously, with Jakeria being kind of our bell cow right now. We’ve got a couple of sophomores in Destiny Martin and Kendal Rogers that we feel confident in. They’ve really come a long way since the season. We’ve got a couple of move-ins that we think can really help us. We’ve got Maddie Baxter, who had some good games last year and just needs to be more consistent in what she gives us. And we’ve got our ninth grader, Raija (Todd) that we’re moving up. She’s a 14-year-old kid playing against kids that are 17, 18-years old. It’ll be a good start for her with the really, really high quality competition she’ll go against. She’s kind of jumping in the deep end but she’s a really talented kid, really works hard in practice, has really blended in with our team well.”
The move-ins are guards Lauren Carroll, a senior, and Emily Ridgell, a junior. Another pair of players that received significant playing time last year are 6-1 post Rachel Miller and 5-8 forward Annie Patton, both juniors.
Annie Patton
Along with Otey, Baxter and Carroll, Cayla McDowell is a senior. Along with Miller, Ridgell and Patton, the juniors are Carolyn Reeves, Taylor Hill and Anna Turpin. Sophomores are Reagan McCormick, Lania Ratliff, Sarah Palmer, Riley Hill, Morgan Walters, Deja Rayford, Penny Smith, Martin and Rogers.
“Obviously, there will be a lot of development with all our kids between now and the really important games in February and March,” Matthews noted.
For the complete Lady Hornets’ schedule, go here.
