By Rob Patrick
SHERIDAN — Battling back from a 10-point deficit against a fired-up Sheridan Yellowjackets team which was buoyed by a boisterous crowd, the Bryant Hornets appeared to be bound for a well-earned victory.
With :36.7 showing on the clock, senior Dontay Renuard had grabbed a tipped pass from teammate Brandon Parish and scored while being fouled, snapping a 41-41 tie. Renuard, who had a season-high 21 points, had to wait while Sheridan subbed for starter Jacob Brown who fouled out on the play. Ironically, on a night when the Hornets converted 13 of 18 from the line compared to Sheridan’s 8 of 22, Renuard’s free throw rimmed out and Sheridan rebounded.
The Jackets worked the clock down to :12.1 and called a timeout to set up a play to either tie it or win it.
They went for the win and R.J. Comic got open for a 3-pointer from the corner and nailed it at the buzzer to stun the Hornets, giving the Jackets’ a 44-43 victory.[more]
“I thought our kids played really hard. I thought they played hard enough to deserve to win but it just wasn’t meant to be,” stated Hornets coach Ron Marvel afterwards. “I really thought the kids played under some difficult circumstances because there was a full house, it was kind of a hostile environment and it certainly wasn’t the best officiated game I’ve been to.
“We caught them on a high,” he said of the Sheridan team. “I didn’t think we played that bad. We went into a difficult situation and we almost pulled it out. If we’d hit that last free throw, it’d been different because we’d probably have fouled them and they wouldn’t have gotten that 3-point shot. But just being ahead by 2, we couldn’t afford to foul.
“They screened us and we didn’t switch the screen,” explained the coach. “I think that kid could take that same shot three more times and he probably wouldn’t hit it. It just happened to be at the right place at the right time. We got caught on the screen and he got a wide open look at it. That shot was the last thing but certainly wasn’t what cost us the game. There were a lot of other things we could’ve done that would’ve made a difference too.”
The Hornets led by 3 going into the final minute. Parish had dished to K-Ron Lairy for a twisting layup with 2:44 left to give Bryant a 39-38 lead. Neither team could score again until, with 1:07 left, sophomore Quinton Motto was fouled pulling down a rebound after a Sheridan miss. He coolly connected on both shots to make it 41-38.
But, with :51 to go, Sheridan’s Sawyer Dunigan connected on his four 3-pointer of the game, knotting it back up before Renuard’s basket put Bryant back on top.
Dunigan finished with 18 points for the Jackets, Comic had 12. Lairy, the Hornets’ leading scorer, finished with 7 for Bryant but had a tough shooting night, hitting just 2 of 12 shots from the field. Motto finished with 6, Parish 5.
The loss dropped the Hornets to 7-7 and evened Sheridan’s record at 6-6. Both begin conference play on Friday. Bryant, in the 7A-Central, hosts Little Rock Catholic while Sheridan, in the 6A-South, visits Pine Bluff.
Asked if the loss might affect the Hornets going into that league opener, Marvel answered, “Not really. It’s the first conference game and I think after a couple of days of practice the kids will shake it off and they’ll realize that. I know the conference is really tough and they know it’s really tough. We’re just going into it hoping to win enough games to get us to the State tournament.”
Bryant held the upper hand early against Sheridan when Parish made a steal and Lairy fed Renuard for a layup to break the seal on the scoring. Moments later, Parish drained a triple and Bryant led 5-0. But, behind 10 points from Dunigan, including a buzzer-beating 3, Sheridan surged to a 17-13 lead going into the second quarter.
And when Comic started the second quarter with a basket and Dunigan followed it up with his third trey, the Hornets found themselves down 22-13.
Lairy hit a 12-foot jumper to get Bryant back on track. The Hornets wound up holding Sheridan scoreless over the final 4:03 of the half but just couldn’t take full advantage. The Jackets held on for a 25-19 lead at intermission.
Two quick baskets by Comic early in the third quarter gave Sheridan it’s largest lead at 29-19 but Renuard started Bryant’s comeback with a 3 at the 4:09 mark. Brown made a free throw but L.J. McLaughlin hit a jumper from the corner for Bryant. And, after Simpson missed two free throws, Renuard converted a pair trimming the lead to 4.
Simpson, however, got another chance at the line when he was fouled on a three-point shot. He converted two of the three but McLaughlin fed neatly Renuard for a layup in transition then took a charge to negate a basket by Simpson. That also gave Bryant a chance at the last shot of the quarter. And the Hornets took advantage as Parish picked up another assist on a bank shot from the post by Motto that cut the lead to 32-30.
Motto hit two free throws early in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 32 and, after Dunigan, Renuard and Sheridan’s Nick Ware traded free throws, Kendall Butzlaff took a feed from Lairy inside and scored to put the Hornets ahead for the first time since their opening salvo.
After a Sheridan turnover, Lairy converted a pair of free throws as Simpson fouled out and Bryant led 37-34. And Parish followed with a steal to give his team a chance to increase the margin but a turnover cost them.
But not right away.
In a frustrating series of events, the Hornets sent Nick Ware to the line after he grabbed an offensive rebound. Ware missed both shots but somehow hustled to claim the rebound. He was fouled again with 3:38 left and, this time, converted both shots to cut the lead to 37-36. A Hornets turnover followed as Sheridan went to a full-court trap. Dunigan cashed it in with an up-and-under move putting his team on top with 3:24 to go.
After a timeout, the two teams traded turnovers setting up Parish’s feed to Lairy that put the Hornets back on top and set up the dramatic finish.
YELLOWJACKETS 44, HORNETS 43
Score by quarters
BRYANT 13 6 11 13 — 43
Sheridan 17 8 7 12 — 44
HORNETS (7-7) 43
Lairy 2-12 3-4 7, Parish 1-1 2-2 5, Butzlaff 1-3 0-0 2, McLaughlin 1-2 0-1 2, Renuard 8-15 4-7 21, Motto 1-3 4-4 6, Rayburn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-36 13-18 43.
YELLOWJACKETS (6-6) 44
Simpson 1-3 3-7 5, Dunigan 7-15 0-2 18, Brown 1-4 1-2 3, Comic 5-13 0-2 12, Spann 0-2 0-0 0, Ware 1-2 4-7 6, Oliver 0-2 0-2 0, Gibbs 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-43 8-22 44.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 2-8 (Renuard 1-5, Parish 1-1, Lairy 0-2), Sheridan 6-23 (Dunigan 4-9, Comic 2-8, Simpson 0-2, Gibbs 0-2, Brown 0-1, Oliver 0-1). Rebounds: Bryant 28 (Renuard 8, Motto 6), Sheridan 33 (Simpson, Brown, Spann 6). Turnovers: Bryant 14, Sheridan 14. Team fouls: Bryant 17, Sheridan 21. Fouled out: Bryant, Butzlaff; Sheridan, Simpson, Brown.
