LITTLE ROCK — The Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team had two shots in the final[more] five seconds as they tried to send the game against the Mount St. Mary Mounties to overtime but the proverbial lid was on the basket. The Mounties held on for a 22-20 win at McCauley Center.
It was the second time this season the Lady Hornets lost a two-point heartbreaker to Mount. At Bryant, it came in overtime.
The Lady Hornets host Conway Blue in their final regular-season game on Monday, Feb. 6. They’ll probably play Mount again on Thursday in the play-in game for the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference Tournament at Bryant.
“We got down 4 with under a minute to play and I was proud of our girls battling back,” commented Lady Hornets coach Nathan Castaldi. “The girls did a good job of executing out of a timeout and we had a couple of opportunities to tie the game. We just could not convert.”
Jayla Anderson led Bryant with 10 points. Nikki Clay and Destiny Huffman added 4 each with Taylor Lindberg finishing with 2.
Mount held a 4-0 lead after a quarter but only added a free throw in the second period and Bryant surged to a 7-5 halftime lead. The Lady Hornets increased the margin to 13-9 by the end of the third quarter.
“We played a real good defensive first half and, in the second quarter, we started t4o settle down offensively and get good shots,” Castaldi said. “In the second half, we did not play as well defensively and turned the ball over too many times, which led to some easy buckets for Mount St. Mary.”
