By Rob Patrick
CONWAY — A night after playing the top[more] team in the 7A/6A-Central Conference to within 7 points, the Bryant Hornets traveled to take on the No. 2 team, the Conway Wampus Cats.
A physically-gifted, veteran team which won the 2010 Class 7A State Tournament, the Wampus Cats proved to be an even tougher match-up for the Hornets, particularly when the game turned into a “survival of the fittest” contest. The officials let them play, as they say, which puts a finesse team like Bryant in a bind against a talent-laden foe. When the rules are not strictly enforced, Darwinian basketball ensues.
Conway rushed out to a 16-0 lead to start the game and Bryant could never get the margin under 15. The Cats closed out the game with a 17-1 run and turned it into a “sportsmanship rule” game that ended 67-31.
“It was tough,” acknowledged Bryant head coach Mike Abrahamson. “Conway’s very good, a very difficult opponent. Coupled with last night’s tough game that we played against Van Buren — if we play (Conway) when they’re fresh then we’re going to have to play really, really well to win the game. And we’d have to get them to play not good. We just weren’t ready to do that tonight.
“I’m upset with my guys about a few little things but things just kind of seemed to snowball in the wrong direction,” he added. “We’ll try to bounce back. This loss won’t define us, but how we respond to it, will.”
It would’ve been a bonus — a big one — if the Hornets, now 5-17 overall and 1-8 in league play, had pulled off an upset but, as it stands, they can still put together a surge in a bid to make it into State, with four of their last five games at home against teams they either beat or played close on the road, starting this Friday when Cabot visits. Too, a late run this season would no doubt do wonders for the team’s confidence for next season.
Obviously, a team that would be, say, 9-18 making State would be a mixed blessing for most but, for a team with as little experience as the Hornets — two seniors and no returning starters from last year — just the chance to see what a State tournament is like, along with another few days of practice could be valuable.
Conway was led by its splendid sophomore guard Tim Boyd, who finished with 17 points. Senior Colt Fason added 15 and T-Shawn Sims had 12. The Cats’ strong group of guards limited Bryant’s Jordan Griffin to 5 points. Brantley Cozart had 10 and Quinton Motto 9.
With quick, physical play outside and in, the Conway defense forced 20 Bryant turnovers. The Hornets shot 26 percent from the field (10-of-39).Fason scored 9 of his points during that opening salvo. He started it with a 3 and, later, added a dunk. His putback with 2:47 left in the quarter completed the run. Griffin and Eric Moore hit free throws for the Hornets in the final 1:25 to make it 16-2 going into the second period.
Boyd hit a 3 to run it to 19-2 before Bryant got its first field goal. Motto hit a driving layup with 6:49 left in the half to break the ice. He would add a free throw a few seconds later. But layups by Everett Reed and Boyd extended the margin to 18.
It reached 19 before a three-point play by Griffin cut it to 16. Cozart and Logan Trudell combined on a steal to give Bryant a chance to cut further but Griffin’s contested 3 wouldn’t fall. The teams traded turnovers then both Boyd and Bryant’s Houston Garner missed 3’s. Reed, however, beat the buzzer following his own miss and it was 34-16 at the intermission.
Motto and Boyd traded buckets to start the second half then Garner nailed a triple to get the Hornets back within 15. Cozart took a charge on a drive by Boyd to get the ball back but Conway’s Micah Delph made a steal that led to free throws by Glenn Norris.
Garner, in turn, fed Motto for a layup to make it 38-23. Another charge, this time on Fason, and the Hornets had another chance to whittle it down. But Garner’s 3-point try rimmed out and, after Motto grabbed the carom, a turnover led to another running jumper by Boyd which started a 10-1 run that pushed the lead to 48-24 before Cozart hit a late 3 to make it a 21-point game going into the final eight minutes.
Norris hit a running jay then Cozart drove to the rack for a three-point play to make it 50-30 but the Hornets, with Abrahamson subbing liberally, only managed a free throw by sophomore Strodney Davis the rest of the way.
Conway continued to play starters mixed with reserves down the stretch, enabling the Cats to build the 30-point advantage that produced the “mercy rule” and a continuously running clock.
CONWAY 67, BRYANT 31
Score by quarters
BRYANT 2 14 11 4 — 31
Conway 16 18 14 19 — 67
WAMPUS CATS (18-5, 9-2) 67
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Boyd 7-13 2-2 0-3 3 3 17
Delph 2-4 1-2 0-5 5 1 5
Sims 5-8 2-3 1-2 3 2 12
Norris 1-4 2-2 1-0 1 2 4
Fason 7-10 0-0 3-4 7 4 15
Guiden 1-7 0-0 1-1 2 0 3
Reed 3-5 0-0 3-3 6 1 6
Collins 2-3 1-1 0-0 0 1 5
Jones 0-0 0-0 1-0 1 1 0
G.Davis 0-0 0-0 0-2 2 0 0
Team 0-1 1
Totals 28-54 8-11 10-21 31 15 67
HORNETS (5-17, 1-8) 31
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Griffin 1-2 3-5 0-2 2 1 5
Cozart 3-5 3-3 0-1 1 4 10
Wilson 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 1 0
Garner 1-7 0-0 1-3 4 0 3
Motto 4-6 1-2 3-3 6 2 9
Nossaman 0-1 0-0 2-2 4 2 0
Moore 0-0 1-2 2-0 2 0 1
Royal 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 0
Neale 0-0 0-0 0-2 2 1 0
Trudell 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Cambron 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
S.Davis 0-0 1-2 0-0 0 0 1
Team 1-2 3
Totals 10-39 9-14 9-17 26 12 31
Three-point field goals: Bryant 2-14 (Garner 1-5, Cozart 1-2, Griffin 0-4, Trudell 0-2, Wilson 0-1), Conway 3-12 (Boyd 1-4, Guiden 1-3, Fason 1-2, Delph 0-1, Sims 0-1, Norris 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 20, Conway 8.
