By Rob Patrick
Trying to slow down Bryant Lady Hornets freshman guards McKenzie Adams and Kiara Moore, the Sheridan Lady Stingers freshman team deployed in a triangle-and-two defense to start their game at the Bryant Middle School gym on Thursday night.
It took a little while to get adjusted but, with the help of a pair of 3-point bombs by Logan Davis, the Lady Hornets forced the Lady Stingers to forego that strategy. And, with withering pressure defense, the Lady Hornets rolled to a 42-20 win that kept them unbeaten on the season.
Bryant is 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the South Division of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference going into Monday’s game at Mount St. Mary’s Academy in Little Rock.
Coming off games in which she’d scored 24 and 26 points, respectively, Adams was held to 12 points by Sheridan but that still led all scorers. Moore, after being held scoreless in the first quarter, went on to score 9 points to go with Davis’ 8, which all came in the first half. Courtney Davidson pitched in with 7, Hayley Murphy 4 and Whitney Myer 2.[more]
“Sheridan did a great job putting a lot of pressure on McKenzie and what got us going was Logan Davis did a great job,” stated Lady Hornets coach Eric Andres. “They elected to leave her a little bit more open and she made them pay by hitting some big shots for us. Those early 3’s kind of got us rolling.”
After a 5-0 start, the Lady Hornets went into the final minute of the first quarter clinging to a 5-4 advantage. A steal and layup by Davidson made it 7-4 going into the second stanza.
Davis hit her second 3 to open the second-quarter scoring. Sheridan’s Rochelle Aguilar, a former Bryant player, hit two free throws then answered a Davidson hoop with one of her own as the Lady Stingers stayed within 12-8.
But Moore drilled a 3 and Davis knocked down a 12-footer from the wing before Adams finished the quarter with a basket inside with :09 on the clock, making it suddenly 19-8.
And when the Lady Hornets opened the second half with an 11-0 run to create a 30-8 lead, they were in control.
“In the second half, we were able to wear them down a little bit with our defense,” Andrews commented. “We were applying a lot of pressure and they were having to work for everything they got then they started turning the ball over a little bit more in the third quarter.”
Sheridan wound up with 23 turnovers and the Lady Stingers struggled to score, managing just five field goals in the game.
Bryant’s third-quarter push began with a pair of free throws by Adams then a steal and layup by Moore. Myer hit a turnaround jumper in the post which Moore followed with another layup off a Sheridan turnover.
After a misfire by the Lady Stingers, the Lady Hornets worked the ball to Davidson on the baseline. She faked a shot and drove past the defender, drilling a shorter jumper while being fouled. The three-point play capped the run.
Allison Stipes hit a free throw with 1:08 left in the third quarter to end a drought of over eight game minutes. Stipes missed her second free throw but Aguilar rebounded and got it back to her. Stipes buried a 3 to make it 30-12. And, after Bryanna Moltz converted both ends of a one-and-one in the final seconds of the third quarter, Sheridan had whittled the lead to 30-14.
McKenzie Rice made a steal to start the fourth quarter, preventing Sheridan from eroding the Bryant lead further. Though Rice couldn’t get her layup to go, Adams was there, hustling back to grab the carom and score. A driving layup by Moore was followed by another theft by Rice and another follow basket by Adams that made it 36-14 going into the final 4:30 of the game.
The largest Bryant lead would be 42-17 in the late going after a pair of baskets by Murphy.
JUNIOR LADY HORNETS 42, LADY STINGERS 20
Score by quarters
Sheridan 4 4 6 6 — 20
BRYANT 7 12 11 12 — 42
LADY STINGERS
Stipes 1-2 3-4 6, Aguilar 2-4 2-2 6, Hubble 0-2 0-0 0, Love 0-9 0-1 0, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Moltz 0-3 2-2 2, Easter 0-1 0-1 0, Collins 1-3 1-2 4, Sheridan 1-1 0-0 2, Canada 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 5-27 8-12 20.
LADY HORNETS
Moore 4-6 0-0 9, Adams 4-8 4-5 12, Davis 3-5 0-0 8, Buck 0-3 0-0 0, Davidson 3-6 1-2 7, Rice 0-2 0-0 0, Myer 1-1 0-2 2, Murphy 2-3 0-0 4, Yazza 0-0 0-0 0, McPherson 0-1 0-0 0, Scarlett 0-0 0-0 0, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0, Combs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-35 5-9 42.
Three-point field goals: Sheridan 2-4 (Stipes 1-1, Collins 1-1, Love 0-1, Moltz 0-1), Bryant 3-6 (Davis 2-4, Moore 1-2). Rebounds: Sheridan 28 (Love 6), Bryant 17 (Davidson 4, Adams 3). Turnovers: Sheridan 23, Bryant 14. Team fouls: Sheridan 10, Bryant 16.
