Guard Olivia Pielemeier scored 20 points including a pair of baskets, one to start and one to finish, a 12-2 blitz to end the first half, which erased a 2-point lead for the Bryant Blue Lady Hornets eighth grade team of Bethel Middle School and spurred the Lake Hamilton Lady Wolves to a 44-30 victory at the Bryant Middle School gym on Thursday night.
Lake Hamilton had opened up the game with a 9-2 run before the Lady Hornets put together an 11-2 surge to take the lead.
After the Lady Wolves closed out the half, however, Bryant Blue never led again. The Lady Hornets countered early in the third quarter to trim the margin to 5. By the end of the third, Lake Hamilton had built a double-digit lead, eventually leading by as much as 16.
Now 4-4 on the season, Bryant Blue squares off against Bryant White on Monday, Jan. 14.
Emileigh Muse paced the Lady Hornets with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Natalie Edmonson and Abby Gentry each scored 6 points. Mary Beth James scored 4, Anna Brown 3 and Anna Kate Jordan added a free throw.
Trailing 9-2 with 1:44 left in the first quarter, Gentry hit a running jumper to get the Lady Hornets’ surge to the lead going. Muse scored inside after a Lake Hamilton turnover.
After a driving layup by Pielemeier, Muse followed a teammate’s missed free throw at the buzzer to trim the Lady Wolves’ lead to 11-8.
To start the second period, Edmonson drove for a layup off a steal. After a Lake Hamilton miss, Brown gathered an offensive rebound, scored and was fouled. When she completed the three-point play, the Lady Hornets were up 13-10.
Lake Hamilton regained the lead and had a 16-13 edge when Muse scored again as she was fouled with 2:02 left in the half. She missed the free throw, but the Lady Hornets were within a point.
The Lady Wolves, however, scored the last 7 points of the half to take a 23-15 lead into the locker room.
Muse scored off the offensive glass to start the second half. After a free throw for Lake Hamilton, Edmonson converted twice at the line to make it 24-19.
Before the Lady Hornets could score again, on a Gentry basket off an inbounds play, the Lady Wolves had pushed the lead to 10. James answered a Lake Hamilton basket to make it 31-23. Peilemeier scored the first 5 points of the fourth quarter to push the margin to 15.
Gentry popped a 17-footer but a three-point play by Peilemeier pushed the margin to 16, the largest of the game.
