File photos by Rick Nation
Caylin Allen (14), Brandon Harris and Garrett Cowart (10) team up defensively. (Photo by Rick Nation)
The annual Central Arkansas Junior High Conference Tournament gets underway tonight with play-in games between the eighth and ninth seeded teams at Lake Hamilton and Benton.
The winner of those games will join the rest of the league in Conway starting Wednesday for the remainder of the tourney, which is scheduled to conclude with girls and boys championship games on Saturday at Buzz Bolding Arena.
The Bryant Hornets freshmen, seeded third among the boys teams, will open on Wednesday at 4 p.m., against sixth-seeded Conway Blue at the old Conway High School gym. The Hornets, 16-7 overall and 6-2 in the league, concluded the regular season with a 47-31 win over Conway Blue on Thursday, Feb. 13. It was the only time the two teams met this season.
The Lady Hornets, 10-13 and 3-5, are seeded fifth for the tourney. They’ll take on Conway White at Bolding Arena on Monday at 8:30 p.m. Bryant lost twice to Conway White during the regular season. On Nov. 21, in the third-place game in the Bryant Invitational Tournament, Conway White defeated the Lady Hornets 40-24. In the CAJHC game on Jan. 30, the Conway team escaped with a 33-27 victory.
Here are the brackets for the tournament:
CENTRAL ARKANSAS JUNIOR HIGH CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
At Conway (except where noted)
#at Buzz Bolding Arena; @at Conway High School gym
Monday, Feb. 17
Game 1 — Benton (9) at Lake Hamilton (8), (girls), 6 p.m.
Game 2 — Cabot South (9) at Benton (8), (boys), 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 19
Game 3 — Conway Blue (3) vs. Mount St. Mary Academy (6) (girls), 4 p.m.#
Game 4 — Bryant (3) vs. Conway Blue (6) (boys), 4 p.m.@
Game 5 — Cabot South (2) vs. Cabot North (7) (girls), 5:30 p.m.#
Game 6 — Lake Hamilton (2) vs. Little Rock Catholic (7) (boys), 5:30 p.m.@
Game 7 — North Little Rock (1) vs. game 1 winner (girls), 7 p.m.#
Game 8 — North Little Rock (1) vs. game 2 winner (boys), 7 p.m.@
Game 9 — Conway White (4) vs. Bryant (5) (girls), 8:30 p.m.#
Game 10 — Conway White (4) vs. Cabot North (5) (boys), 8:30 p.m.@
Thursday, Feb. 20
Game 11 — Game 5 winner vs. game 3 winner (girls), 5 p.m.@
Game 12 — Game 6 winner vs. game 4 winner (boys), 5 p.m.#
Game 13 — Game 9 winner vs. game 7 winner (girls), 6:30 p.m.@
Game 14 — Game 10 winner vs. game 8 winner (boys), 6:30 p.m.#
Saturday, Feb. 22
Game 15 — Game 11 winner vs. game 13 winner (girls championship), 12 p.m.#
Game 16 — Game 12 winner vs. game 14 winner (boys championship), 1:30 p.m.#
