Lady Hornets dismiss Cabot
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
The Bryant Lady Hornets and the Cabot Lady Panthers have had two of the most solid basketball programs in Class AAAAA in recent years — for Bryant many, many years now — and this year figures to be no exception if their battle against each other on Monday, Nov. 25, is any indication.
Both teams showed flashes of mid-season form despite the fact that it was just the second game of the campaign. Bryant led most of the way but couldn’t put the Lady Panthers to rest until late.
Senior Jeanne Randall came off the bench and scored 8 of her 10 points in the fourth quarter to spark that final surge as the Lady Hornets posted a 71-60 victory to improve to 2-0 on the season going into Tuesday’s game against Benton.
Sophomore Amanda Grappe continued to show she could handle high school competition, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for the Lady Hornets. Her sister Ashley added 14 points and senior guard Rachel Blakley had 13.
Cabot was led by a trio of impressive post players, getting 14 points from Brittney Goings, 14 from Laura Garlington and 9 off the bench from Ashley Anderson. Swing player Allie Gammill led with 16 points.
Down the stretch, the two teams got embroiled in a cycle in which Cabot would cut the lead to 5 then Bryant would bump it to 7. Two free throws by Gammill with 3:21 left had the Lady Panthers within 55-50. Randall, however, answered with both ends of a one-and-one chance. Goings cut it to 5 again then Blakley was fouled. She missed two shots, however, only to have Randall keep the ball alive with an offensive rebound. She missed the follow but Amanda Grappe rebounded and was fouled. She, too missed twice. But there was Randall again, hitting the offensive glass for a crucial stickback that kept the cycle going.
Goings’ jump hook made it 59-54 with 2:31 left but Randall hit a layup as the Lady Hornets sliced through the Cabot press.
At the other end, Anderson missed a 3-pointer and Randall rebounded, getting the ball to Amanda Grappe who was once again fouled. This time, Grappe hit both shots with 2:02 remaining and the Bryant lead was up to 9.
Cabot never got it back to 5 after that. Goings and Randall traded free throws then Ashley Grappe hit a pair to make it a double-digit lead with 1:19 to go.
After falling behind 6-2 early, the Lady Hornets rallied behind the scoring of the Grappe sisters, taking a 12-8 edge midway through the first quarter. The game was tied at 12, 14, and 16. Randall snapped the last of those deadlocks with an offensive-rebound bucket with 1:17 to go. Moments later, Meagan Kennedy whipped an eye-popping feed to Blakley who hit a short jumper that gave Bryant a 20-16 lead going into the second quarter.
The game was tied at 20, 24, and 27 in the second period. The latter knot was snapped when Goings stepped out and knocked down a 3 with 1:50 left in the half.
But Bryant finished the half with a 7-0 run capped by a buzzer-beating 3 from Blakley that made it 34-30.
Cabot was never even again. Bryant opened the second half with a 10-3 run, sparked by senior guard Haley Stobaugh who canned a pair of unanswered jumpers that pumped the lead up to 9 before Ashley Grappe connected on a jumper in the lane to make it 44-33.
The teams traded baskets until, with Bryant leading 50-39, Gammill and Anderson hit back-to-back shots in the final minute to make it a 50-43 game going into the fourth quarter.
Jennifer Slack scored inside then Blakley surprised Cabot with a one-player press, stealing the inbounds pass and scoring to make it 54-43. But Gammill hit four free throws and Anderson scored inside before Bryant could do anything more. The lead was down to 54-49 when Amanda Grappe made a steal that led to a free throw by Blakley with 3:59 left, starting the nip-and-tuck that highlighted play down the stretch.
