NORTH LITTLE ROCK — The Bryant White Hornets eighth grade team of Bryant Middle School went to war Monday night against North Little Rock Gold in the first round of the North Little Rock Middle School Invitational Tournament. It went to the wire but North Little Rock held on for a 43-40 win.
Bryant returns to tourney action this evening at 5:30 against Benton.
Against Gold, Cameron Hunter scored 15 points and had six assists. Austin Ledbetter added 12 points and seven boards. Myles Aldridge pitched in with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
“I am proud of the way our boys battled a very talented North Little Rock team,” said Hornets coach John Harrison. “We were down by as many as 13 points at one time in the third. Once we switched to a man to man defense we turned them over and forced them into bad shots.
“We had chances to win the game and Cameron Hunter could have tied the ballgame with 58 seconds left but was called for a charge and his fifth foul,” the coach recounted. “I thought Cameron displayed a lot of toughness and did a great job versus their pressure.
“As a team we missed 11 free throws and at least that many layups and lost by 3 to a solid team,” he noted, adding, “We play Benton tonight and I know the guys are going to be ready to play.”
