With her experience, skills, aggressiveness and her playmaking ability, it has become evident that junior Parris Atkins is going to lead the Bryant Lady Hornets during the 2020-21 basketball season. The question is going to be, from game to game, how much help is she going to get from her inexperienced teammates.
In their season opener at Pulaski Academy on November 23, it was a struggle for most of them. Even though they’d prepared for it in practice, a varsity high school basketball game seemed to be a little daunting at times and they absorbed a 69-41 loss that deeply disappointed their head coach Brad Matthews.
So, they went to work to build off the experience and, on Thursday, those same Lady Hornets seemed much more relaxed, much more aggressive and, as it turned out, much more effective against the Pine Bluff Fillies at Hornet Arena.
With Atkins pouring in 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, the Lady Hornets broke fast and never trailed on the way to a 64-43 romp for their first official victory of the season.
Atkins started with three sophomores and a freshman and they all played better. Lauren Lain added 15 points and seven rebounds while Emileigh Muse pitched in with 11 points, five boards and several assists. Natalie Edmonson fired in a pair of 3-pointers and freshman point guard Brilynn Findley scored 6 while gathering six rebounds.
“I thought we competed much better,” said Matthews. “This team is always going to be a work in progress. We have so many young kids, so many inexperienced kids. Tonight, there were a lot more moments where the competitive toughness showed up.
“That’s got to be there all the time,” he insisted. “It was much better than the last time out. That’s progress. We’ll keep chasing that, trying to get more consistent in our competitive toughness.
“I thought that was the most positive thing that came out of it,” the coach added. “Since P.A., we’ve been drilling competitiveness, rebounding, trying to take care of the ball a little bit better. In spurts, all of those were better tonight. But there were still other spurts where they weren’t.
“It’s game three,” he noted. “We’re not supposed to be perfect this time of year but we’re making progress. That’s good to see.”
The 40-23 rebounding margin was a strong indication of that increase in competitiveness.
The Lady Hornets opened the game with a 13-0 run.
Lain, who had just 2 points at Pulaski Academy, scored Bryant’s first 3 points on Thursday. Muse added a 3 then Atkins scored following her own miss. Her three-point play at the two-minute mark in the first quarter, made it 11-0.
Lain capped the run with a pair of free throws.
Teanna Jeffrey, who led the Fillies with 17 points in the game, broke the ice with 1:03 left in the opening period. An offensive rebound by Kennedi Williams made it 13-4 going into the second period.
Findley hit a layup off a feed from Muse to open the second quarter. Moments later, Muse picked up the assist on a layup by Atkins to make it 17-4.
A baseline jumper by Kaylan Lockett interrupted the Lady Hornets’ run. Charlene Colen scored to cut the lead to 9. But Bryant then put together a 14-0 run, which was capped off by back-to-back buckets by Atkins, the first off a steal by Findley. Lain scored 6 points during the run.
The lead had ballooned to 31-8. They Lady Hornets held a 33-11 advantage at the half.
Bryant’s largest lead came early in the third period. Muse hit a 3 off an assist by Findley then Atkins made a steal and a layup. A free throw by Pine Bluff’s Kyesha Burnett was followed up by a 3 from Findley that made it 41-12.
The Fillies whittled on the lead the rest of the third quarter. But going into the fourth, Bryant still held a comfortable 54-32 advantage. In the fourth quarter, Pine Bluff got as close as 18 down but never closer.
The Lady Hornets are scheduled to play next on Monday, Dec. 7, at Lonoke.
