PEARCY — When the main thing is improvement, being better at the end of the season than you were at the start, the Bryant White Lady Hornets seventh-grade team of Bryant Middle School has succeeded in the 2017-18 basketball season.
Though they were unable to get over the top for wins in A and B games played at Lake Hamilton on Tuesday night, the fact that they played both games tough was an indication of their improvement.
In the A game, Lake Hamilton’s Lady Wolves edged Bryant White 17-12. In the B game, it was even closer with the Lady Wolves eking out a 13-9 victory.
The seventh-grade team closes out the season this Saturday in a tournament in Cabot. They’ll play North Little Rock Gold and Vilonia.
In the A game, Haya Winfield led the way with 7 points. Jayla Knight added 3 and Bailey Zimmerman 2.
But the Lady Hornets were plagued by poor free-throw shooting. They were 4 of 17 at the line, enough to make up the difference.
“It was an extremely physical game,” said Lady Hornets coach Ben Perry. “The key to the game was our missed free throws and their press defense. We still have a problem throwing the ball away and breaking their press with the correct pass break. We got flustered on offense with their full-court press and made bad decisions with the ball.
“We were able to out-score them in the second half, but it was too little too late,” he mentioned. “Before, we were not taking shots. Now we are taking shots, but we need to score.”
In the B game, Brookly Welch scored 5 points, Kate Delcastillo and Emily Corvin added 2 each.
“We played tough and aggressive,” Perry said. “It was good to see them hustle.
“We have an issue with making a good outlet pass and chinning the ball on a rebound,” he mentioned. “We made several shots, but we still are not making good shots. We missed several rebounds and we allowed too many inbounds plays for baskets.”
