There's a reason the North Little Rock Lady Wildcats freshman team is unbeaten in the South Division of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference.
They're good.
But Bryant Lady Hornets freshman coach Eric Andrews was hoping his team might be able to give them some trouble when his team hosted the Lady Cats on Monday, Feb. 2. After all, the Lady Hornets had competed with them when they met earlier in the season though they wound up losing by 18. Playing at home and coming into the game having won five straight could've made a difference perhaps but, as Andrews noted, no one has been able to stay within 15 points of North Little Rock this season.
And that still holds true.
The Lady Hornets appeared to be a bit intimidated as they converted just 2 of 18 shots from the field in the first half, falling behind 25-6 on the way to a 39-22 loss.[more]
Bryant fell to 16-5 overall and 9-3 in the South Division going into a game at Cabot South on Thursday, Feb. 5, that would probably decide the second seed from the division for the CAJHC post-season tournament which commences on Saturday, Feb. 14, at Greenbrier.
North Little Rock which officially clinched at least a share of the division championship, was led by nimble, talented post player Lexus Williams who had 18 points, 18 rebounds and probably six or eight blocked shots. Guard Kaprecia Slocum added 9 points, Keirrah Cummings 7.
Slocum and Bryant's Kayla Sory traded baskets at the outset of the game, but North Little Rock then took control with a 10-0 run. London Abernathy hit a 3 to break a long Bryant dryspell with 4:35 left in the half but that was the last Bryant field goal until the 1:27 mark of the third quarter. The resulting 15-1 blitz by the Lady Wildcats broke the game open.
Jessie Taylor drove for a basket to end that drought for Bryant but Slocum answered. Free throws by Taylor and Raegan Barker before the end of the third quarter could only get Bryant within 31-11 going into the final six minutes.
Perhaps more relaxed, the Lady Hornets outscored the Lady Cats 7-2 to start the fourth quarter. But missed opportunities at the free throw line and from the field prevented them from make it a stronger rally. As it was, Abernathy had a basket and a pair of free throws that had the lead down to 33-18 with 3:49 left but that was as close as Bryant could get.
JUNIOR LADY WILDCATS 39, JUNIOR LADY HORNETS 22
Score by quarters
NLR 10 15 6 8 — 39
BRYANT 2 4 5 11 — 22
JUNIOR LADY WILDCATS
Jackson 0-8 1-4 1, Slocum 4-9 1-2 9, Cummings 3-4 1-3 7, Brooks 2-5 0-2 4, Williams 7-12 4-4 18, Howdyshell 0-1 0-0 0, Lowery 0-0 0-0 0, Fowler 0-4 0-0 0, Via 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Shelton 0-0 0-0 0, Sutherlin 0-1 0-0 0, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Bolton 0-0 0-0 0, Walters 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-44 7-15 39.
JUNIOR LADY HORNETS
Barker 1-8 2-5 4, Abernathy 2-7 2-2 7, Taylor 1-10 4-4 6, Lee 1-4 0-3 2, Sory 1-3 0-0 2, Blundell 0-3 1-2 1, Wilson 0-2 0-0 0, Nichols 0-0 0-0 0, C.Hogancamp 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 6-38 9-16 22.
Three-point field goals: North Little Rock 0-5 (Fowler 0-2, Slocum 0-1, Brooks 0-1, Sutherlin 0-1), Bryant 1-4 (Abernathy 1-2, Sory 0-2). Rebounds: North Little Rock 34 (Williams 18), Bryant 32 (Blundell 8). Turnovers: North Little Rock 21, Bryant 23. Total fouls: North Little Rock 13, Bryant 12.
