Lady Hornets reach final of Crabtree Invitational Tournament
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).
BENTONVILLE — The Bryant Lady Hornets were set to meet the Bentonville Lady Tigers in the championship of the Crabtree Invitational Tournament today after both won close semifinal contests on Friday.
Bentonville improved to 3-0 with a 30-28 win over Huntsville while the Lady Hornets improved to 2-0 with a 69-60 win over Texarkana.[more]
Junior Abbi Stearns struck for a career-high 20 points to lead the offensive effort. That total included a 6 for 7 performance at the free throw line. She also gathered six rebounds.
Senior Shanika Johnson came off the bench to drill five 3-pointers, three of them in a break-out second quarter for the Lady Hornets. Along with her 15 points, Kenzee Calley followed up her 19-point effort in Bryant’s opener on Thursday with 11 points, five boards and a pair of assists. Guard Haley Montgomery pitched in with 10 points and Alana Morris contributed 8 points and 11 rebounds.
“This was another good team victory,” stated Lady Hornets coach Blake Condley. “Four girls scored double figures and another player had 8. Shanika gave us a great spark off the bench.”
Texarkana, coached by former Bryant freshman coach Donnie Derfler, led Bryant 15-13 after a quarter but with Johnson getting hot, the Lady Hornets surged to a 39-28 lead by halftime. It was 54-43 going into the fourth quarter.
“There were a couple of times late where Texarkana tried to make a run on us and the girls did a good job of finishing the game,” Condley stated. “We were patient on offense and took a lot of time off the clock and we made our free throws.
“I’m very proud of our team’s effort,” he concluded.
Today’s final was set to be played at 11:30 a.m.
