By Rob Patrick
HOT SPRINGS — The Bryant Lady Hornets put together a 19-5 run in the second half against the[more] Texas High Lady Tigers of Texarkana. Unfortunately, they were down by 25 when they got it rolling.
They made the Lady Tigers sweat out it out in the fourth quarter but could get no closer than 11. The Lady Hornets ran out of steam at that point, playing their third game in as many days. Bryant failed to score over the final 3:14 of the game as Texas High closed out a 53-36 win in the third-place game at the ninth annual Summit Bank Spa City Shootout at Summit Arena Friday.
Bryant finishes the non-conference portion of its schedule with an 8-6 record. The 7A/6A-Central Conference schedule begins Friday, Jan. 6, when Mount St. Mary visits the Hornets Nest.
Texas High broke out to a 12-2 lead to start the game. Bryant had shot after shot that did everything but go through the net. Dezerea Duckworth scored to tie the game at 2 then the Lady Hornets missed nine shots in row before Duckworth got a 3 to go with 1:11 left in the opening period.
The Lady Tigers led 12-5 going into the second quarter and Bryant’s shooting woes extended to 2 of 17. But when Aubree Allen hit a baseline jumper with 6:02 left in the half, the Lady Hornets trailed just 14-7.
That’s when Texarkana freshman Chanell Hayes got hot from the outside. She hit back-to-back 3’s to spark a 16-1 run to end the half.
Hayes, a wing player, finished with a game-high 21 points and 16 rebounds. Jalissa Trotter added 10 points. Post Briana Murphy provided 8 points and 11 rebounds, part of a 42-30 edge on the boards for the Lady Tigers.
Bryant was led by Kiara Moore’s 13 points. Duckworth finished with 10 and Taneasha Rhode 8. Logan Davis, playing despite being hampered by injury, scored 3 points and Allen had 2.
“We were kind of flat-footed, not aggressive at all,” Lady Hornets head coach Brad Matthews said of the first half. “We just weren’t ourselves.”
Trailing 33-11 at the half, the Lady Hornets opened the third quarter with a layup by Moore off a steal and a 12-foot jumper by Davis. But Hayes knocked down her third triple and, after Moore scored off a drive to the basket, the Lady Tigers extended the margin to 42-17.
“They’re a good team,” Matthews acknowledged. “They’ve got some really good players, really good athletes. I thought their length bothered us when we got in the lane. We’ve got to learn to create contact and get to the free-throw line. I thought we avoided some contact trying to get a shot off instead of creating contact and getting to the free-throw line.”
The Lady Hornets were just 4 of 11 at the line. Texarkana was 11 of 21 with their misses helping to create Bryant’s surge.
“The second half at least we were aggressive,” Matthews stated. “Hopefully, we’ll learn the lesson as we get into conference that we have to be aggressive or we’re going to struggle.”
Rhode started the rally and contributed all 8 of her points along the way. A steal by Davis and a layup by Duckworth made it 42-21 going into the fourth quarter. Rhode’s basket off an offensive rebound kept the run going. Hayes interrupted but Rhode got free inside then Moore drove for a score. Drives by Duckworth and Moore on either side of a free throw by Murphy trimmed the lead to 14 and produced a timeout from the Lady Tigers coach.
Free throws by Duckworth and Moore along with an 8-footer by Rhode had the lead down to 47-36.
“We came out in the second half and played with a little more energy,” Matthews reiterated. “We still didn’t shoot it very well. This is three or four games this year where we didn’t shoot it well. We’ve got to get where we not only correct that but also our defense and rebounding has got to be good enough to carry us through those spurts. It wasn’t there tonight.”
LADY TIGERS 53, LADY HORNETS 36
Score by quarter
Texas High 12 21 9 11 — 53
BRYANT 5 6 10 15 — 36
LADY TIGERS 53
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Cooper 1-5 1-2 1-1 2 4 3
Trotter 3-7 4-6 4-0 4 4 10
Crump 3-5 0-0 0-0 0 1 6
Hayes 6-9 6-11 0-16 16 2 21
B.Murphy 4-11 0-1 3-8 11 4 8
Aldredge 2-3 0-1 0-5 5 1 5
Noel 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Thomas 0-0 0-0 1-0 1 1 0
Team 1-2 3
Totals 19-40 11-21 10-32 42 17 53
LADY HORNETS 36
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Moore 5-14 2-6 1-0 1 4 13
Davis 1-4 1-2 0-0 0 1 3
Duckworth 4-18 1-2 1-0 1 3 10
H.Murphy 0-1 0-0 1-1 2 3 0
Meyer 0-0 0-0 0-3 3 0 0
Davidson 0-5 0-0 4-5 9 0 0
Rhode 4-8 0-1 3-5 8 2 8
Allen 1-3 0-0 0-2 2 1 2
Weaver 0-2 0-0 1-0 1 3 0
Team 2-1 3
Totals 15-55 4-11 13-17 30 17 36
Three-point field goals: Bryant 2-10 (Moore 1-5, Duckworth 1-4, Davidson 0-1), Texas High 4-10 (Hayes 3-4, Aldredge 1-1, Trotter 0-3, Cooper 0-2). Turnovers: Bryant 17, Texas High 23. Technical foul: Bryant, Duckworth.
