Photos by Kevin Nagle
Bryant’s Rachel Miller reaches high to pull down a rebound in a crowd. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
They’d led early in the fourth quarter, then trailed by as much as 9 midway through but, with 2:30 left, the Bryant Lady Hornets trailed the Sheridan Lady Yellowjackets just 31-29.
Sheridan got a big basket from point guard Lauren Mitchell, a 3 that was her lone bucket of the night, with 2:13 to go. Bryant’s Jayla Anderson hit a free throw to make it 34-30.
The Lady Hornets appeared to have a chance to get it back to 2 again when the Lady Jackets’ Hannah Schultz misfired with three Bryant players under the basket. But all three of them went for the rebound and, not knowing they were among teammates, none of them were able to control the ball. It went out of bounds back to Sheridan with 1:28 to go.
The Lady Jackets called a timeout and, on the inbounds play, they got it to their go-to girls, Kadesha Cooper, who powered up a shot, scored and was fouled. When she added the free throw, it was 37-30 and the Lady Hornets were unable to make up the ground, absorbing a 41-31 loss that was closer than that most of the game.
Free throws by Cooper, Brittany Johnson and Schultz extended the margin.
Cooper finished with a game-high 17 points. Schultz added 10 including a big 3-pointer midway through the final period.
Bryant’s Jayla Anderson gets crunched between a pair of Sheridan players under the basket. (PHoto by Kevin Nagle)
“She can shoot the 3. She’s unbelievable in transition. She’s a really good rebounder and she’s a really good post kid,” said Bryant head coach Brad Matthews of Cooper. “She’s really tough to guard. I thought Jayla (Anderson) and Maddie (Baxter) gave tremendous effort in there. She just makes the plays.
“On that inbounds play, Jayla was in a good spot but (Cooper) just made a play,” he continued. “That’s what players do. Give her credit. And you have to do so much to stop her, some of those other kids are going to get clean looks off of that. When she decides to play, she’s a handful for anybody in this league. She’s really good.
Junior point guard Jakeria Otey led Bryant with 15 points, 13 in the second half. Anderson finished with 5 points, Peyton Weaver and Aubree Allen 4 each.
“I was proud of our kids’ effort,” Matthews asserted. “I thought, for the most part, it was probably one of our better defensive efforts. I thought rebounding too, it was probably one of our better games of the year.”
Bryant out-boarded Sheridan 35-24 including 14 offensive rebounds to just four. Sheridan was just 11 of 33 from the field (33 percent) but the Lady Hornets went 9 for 39 (23 percent) including just 1 of 12 from 3-point range. They also converted only 12 of 21 free throws while Sheridan was hitting 16 of 23 including 9 of 11 by Cooper.
Still, Matthews noted, “We gave ourselves a chance.
“It was offensive rebounds and some transition baskets at Pine Bluff,” he added, referring to a narrow defeat on Thursday. “Tonight, (Sheridan) has their starting post player (Schultz) step out and hit a 3. The teams we’ve played are just making plays with two or three minutes left that we haven’t been able to answer.
Sheridan’s Kadesha Cooper, right, plays through Bryant’s Erica Smith (25), Maddie Baxter (12) and Aubree Allen (23) to get to a rebound. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
“I told our kids in the locker room, we’ve got to be ready for that because Tuesday night, we could find ourselves in a similar situation,” he added, mentioning the team’s next game at Texarkana. “We’ve just got to be prepared to execute and make the plays down the stretch.”
Neither team scorched the nets early. In fact, Sheridan hit just one of 11 shots in the opening period. But it took a 3-pointer by Weaver in the final minute to give Bryant a 7-4 lead going into the second stanza.
The Lady Jackets found the range by getting the ball to Cooper and feeding six-foot sophomore Bailey Richardson in the post. Though Bryant didn’t score in the quarter until Otey hit a pair of free throws with :03.3 left, the Lady Hornets only trailed 14-9 at the break.
To start the second half, Bryant put together a 10-1 surge to regain the lead. Weaver fed Allen inside for a basket and, after Johnson hit a free throw, Otey scored the next 6 points with four free throws, earned off a drives through the Sheridan defense, and a basket inside off an inbounds play from Weaver.
But, shades of things to come, Schultz got Sheridan going again with a 3-pointer. Richardson converted a free throw and Cooper posted up for a bucket. Allen countered with two from the line and, moments later, Erica Smith grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to get the Lady Hornets back within 21-19.
Schulz hit a free throw but Otey countered with a bucket inside after Rachel Miller had kept the ball alive off a teammate’s miss.
Bryant trailed just 22-21 going into the final eight minutes and, when Anderson knocked down a pair of free throws after following her own miss, the Lady Hornets held a 23-22 lead.
Sheridan surged again as Cooper posted up, Johnson scored off an inbounds play and Schultz buried a 3.
Trailing 31-23, the Lady Hornets’ final push began with a free throw by Otey. Miller hit a free throw after being fouled hauling down a Sheridan miss. Taking advantage of an ill-advised 3 by Richardson, Otey pushed it to the other end for a driving layup that had Bryant within 4.
Coming out of a Sheridan timeout, Allen stole a lob pass intended for Richardson and Otey cashed it in with a pull-up jumper in the lane to make it 31-29 with 2:59 to play.
That’s when Mitchell came through with her lone bucket, setting up the closing surge that included three Bryant turnovers as they tried to make up ground.
LADY JACKETS 41, LADY HORNETS 31
Score by quarters
Sheridan 4 10 8 19 — 41
BRYANT 7 2 12 10 — 31
LADY JACKETS (10-8, 5-4) 41
Mitchell 1-8 0-0 3, Hill 0-3 0-0 0, Cooper 4-9 9-11 17, Schultz 2-5 4-6 10, Johnson 2-4 2-4 6, Richardson 2-4 1-2 5, Stewart 0-0 0-0 0, Lucas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-33 16-23 41.
LADY HORNETS (8-13, 4-7) 31
Baxter 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 1-7 3-6 5, Weaver 1-6 1-2 4, Allen 2-8 0-2 4, Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Miller 0-1 1-3 1, Otey 4-16 7-8 15, Reeves 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 9-39 12-21 31.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 1-12 (Weaver 1-6, Allen 0-3, Otey 0-3), Sheridan 3-14 (Schultz 2-2, Mitchell 1-5, Hill 0-3, Cooper 0-2, Johnson 0-1, Richardson 0-1). Rebounds: Bryant 35 (Otey 7, Allen 6), Sheridan 24 (Schultz 7). Turnovers: Bryant 17, Sheridan 11. Team fouls: Bryant 18, Sheridan 15. Fouled out: Bryant, Anderson; Sheridan, Hill.
