By Rob Patrick
When Greyson Giles hit two free throws with three minutes left in the first half, the Bryant White Hornets eighth grade team of Bryant Middle School were tied with the North Little Lakewood Wildcats eighth grade team, 11-11.
Lakewood finished the half with a 7-2 run, however, then dominated the second half on the way to a 49-21 victory on Monday night at the BMS gym.[more]
The Wildcats led 16-11 before Cedarrian Crosby scored off a nice feed from Hunter Holder with :13 left in the half. But Lakewood beat the buzzer with a bucket to make it 18-13, starting a 19-0 run that proved too much for the Hornets to overcome.
Holder finally ended the Bryant White drought with a baseline jumper at the 1:32 mark in the third quarter. And Jordan Jones followed with a basket to trim the lead to 35-17. But, by the end of the period, North Little Rock had surged to a 41-17 advantage.
"We were able to make them play our game in the first half, which was our goal," noted Hornets coach Heath Long. "I was happy with the effort but we didn't do a great job of handling their pressure in the second half and that's when they got away from us."
Giles and Mitch Scoggins each finished with 5 points to lead the Hornets. Jones added 4, Crosby 3 with Holder and Brian Reed each contributing a basket.
Bryant White is set to return to action on Thursday at home against North Little Rock Ridge Road.
