Lady Hornets are champions again, this time as victors at the 64th Joe T. tourney
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
By Rob Patrick
LITTLE ROCK — It’s telling that the Most Valuable Player at the 64th annual Joe T. Robinson Invitational Tournament had 24 points in three games.
That’s 8 a game.
Not what you’d expect of an MVP?
Well, Alana Morris is not just a scorer. In fact, she’s typical of the Bryant Lady Hornets in 2009 in that she excels in a variety of facets of the game: Defense, rebounding, ball-handling, passing.
That’s how you not only win tournament MVP awards but how you win tournaments.
For the second time this year already, the Lady Hornets captured a tournament championship, following up their season-opening sweep through the Crabtree Invitational in Bentonville with the big trophy from the venerable old Joe T. Tourney with a convincing 48-32 win over the Pulaski Academy Lady Bruins on Friday night.[more]
Point guard Haley Montgomery and swing player Hannah Goshien each scored 15 points to lead the team in scoring. Montgomery became the sixth different Bryant player to lead the team in scoring in a game this season.
Both earned all-tournament honors. Goshien was a consistent scorer for the Lady Hornets throughout the tourney but Montgomery was actually coming off a semifinal game against Arkadelphia in which she didn’t score at all. Her energy, harassing defense and ball-handling were impressive.
In fact, the Lady Hornets, deployed in five different defenses throughout the final, frustrated the Lady Bruins who turnoved the ball over 17 times and shot just 12 of 40 from the field (30 percent). Bryant finished with a 25-20 rebound advantage.
“Just trying to mix it up to keep them off balance,” said Bryant head coach Blake Condley of the variety of defenses. “I think our girls are getting comfortable making those changes on the fly. Hopefully, as the season progresses, they’ll get a little more comfortable and a little more comfortable.
“I thought we were able to frustrate them, keep them out of any kind of rhythm that they could get in,” he added. “I try to preach to the ladies, we can play good defense every night. That’s what we’ve got to focus on, that’s what’s going to help us to be a good team. We’ve got to come out and guard every night. And I thought we did that tonight.”
Indeed, when the starters for both teams went to the bench with 2:52 left in the game, Pulaski Academy had managed just 27 points. At that point, Bryant held its largest lead of the game at 21.
The Lady Hornets never trailed in the game after rolling out to an 8-0 lead. Kenzee Calley’s 15-foot jumper got them on the board and, after a five-second count resulted in a turnover, Montgomery drove for a layup as she was fouled. She converted the free throw to make it 5-0. The first of Goshien’s three 3’s in the game completed the opening barrage and forced Lady Bruins coach Jerry Hutchison to call a timeout.
His team responded with a run that had them within 9-6 at the end of the opening quarter then even at 9 when Scarlett McCracken opened the second with a 3.
Calley and PA’s six-foot-plus post Sarah Barlow traded baskets to keep it even. The Lady Bruins had a chance to take the lead but misfired and Montgomery drove for a layup that turned into another three-point play.
And Bryant had the lead for good.
When Goshien followed a stretch of scrambling by both teams with her second triple, the Lady Hornets had their largest lead of the first half at 19-11. The halftime score was 21-15.
Abbi Stearns, along with Calley, Brooke Parish and the helping hands of the perimeter players, stifled Barlow who finished with 8 points but only got the ball enough to attempt six shots. Stearns went up strong for the first basket of the second half but the Lady Bruins kept hanging around. It was 30-21 for a long time as both teams ratcheted up the defense. Finally, with 2:46 left in the third, Montgomery converted a pair of free throws after a technical foul was assessed on Hutchison and the Lady Hornets had their first double-digit advantage.
The teams traded turnovers before Morris fed Shanika Johnson who was fouled under the basket. Her free throws with 2:14 left in the third quarter increased the lead to 13.
McCrackin added a 3 only to have Montgomery fouled on 3-point try at the other end. She calmly buried all three shots.
Bryant led 39-25 going into the fourth quarter. Sarah Cathey’s driving layup broke the ice 33 seconds into the period but that would prove to be the last scoring the Lady Bruins would do until the reserves entered with just under three minutes left in the game.
In the interim, Montgomery drained a 3 and, with 6:11 left, the Lady Hornets spread the floor, forced Pulaski Academy out of its zone and made them chase. Parish and Goshien sank six consecutive free throws to pump the difference up to 21.
“These young ladies are good at making adjustments,” Condley mentioned. “We can talk about things at halftime. We can talk about things that are working and not working and, I’ll be honest with you, this group of young ladies, after I get through with my spiel at halftime, I’ll ask them, ‘Hey, what are you seeing that’s working, or not working? What do we need to change?’ And I usually get some good feedback from some of the leaders on this team to make those changes. It gives them ownership. They know this is their team.”
LADY HORNETS 48, LADY BRUINS 32
Score by quarters
Pulaski Academy 6 9 10 7 — 32
BRYANT 9 12 18 9 — 48
LADY BRUINS 32
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
S.Cathey 2-6 0-0 0-1 1 0 4
McCrackin 2-8 0-0 0-1 1 0 6
Harris 2-16 1-2 2-3 5 3 5
Blann 1-1 2-2 0-6 6 5 4
Barlow 3-6 2-2 2-0 2 3 8
Pearce 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hughes 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
M.Lee 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 3
D.Cathey 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 3 0
Phillips 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 0
Swanson 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Peterson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Fravel 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 2-2 4
Totals 12-40 5-6 6-14 20 15 32
LADY HORNETS 48
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Montgomery 3-5 8-9 0-2 2 2 15
Goshien 4-6 4-4 1-2 3 1 15
Calley 3-5 0-0 0-0 0 2 6
Stearns 2-4 2-2 1-4 5 1 6
Morris 1-4 0-2 0-5 5 0 2
Parish 0-0 2-2 0-6 6 0 2
Johnson 0-5 2-2 0-2 2 2 2
Neal 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
C.Lee 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Ball 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Abernathy 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Barker 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Sory 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hogancamp 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 1-1 2
Total 13-29 18-21 3-22 25 8 48
Three-point field goals: Pulaski Academy 3-9 (McCracken 2-4, M.Lee 1-1, Harris 0-3, Hughes 0-1), Bryant 4-12 (Goshien 3-5, Montgomery 1-3, Johnson 0-4). Turnovers: Pulaski Academy 17, Bryant 19. Technical foul: Pulaski Academy coach Hutchison.
