CONWAY — For much of the 2013-14 season, it was just a struggle for the Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team to score. It wasn’t for lack of trying. It wasn’t for lack of coaching. It wasn’t for lack of individual ability.
And the team was pretty consistently good defensively. Many nights there just seemed to be a lid on the basket.
Admittedly, there was a lack of size and strength inside. Forwards wound up playing post and, though they battled, it was often tough to even get good looks at the basket. Teams like the Conway White Lady Wampus Cats on Wednesday would zone up, spread out to stop the Bryant guards from getting too many open shots from the perimeter, then the zone would collapse and they’d surround anyone that tried to penetrate.
Oh, they had their moments. A 36-20 win at Cabot North comes to mind, a 31-13 win over Watson Chapel early in the year, wins over Hot Springs and Lake Hamilton at the holiday tournament at Lake Hamilton.
Even in losses like the 27-13 setback to Conway White in Wednesday’s opening round of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference Tournament — which ended the Lady Hornets’ season — they got things going for a while, putting together a 9-2 run at the end of the first half and start of the second.
But they’d struggled to sustain it or they were already in a hole they couldn’t quite climb out of. Both applied in their finale.
Conway White held the Lady Hornets without a point until Kendall Rogers hit a free throw with just 2:38 left in the first half. The Lady Cats led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter and 11-0 before Rogers broke the ice.
It was 15-1 before Rogers produced the first field goal, pump faking and driving around a White defender and pulling up for a 10-foot jumper with just :26 left in the half.
That started Bryant’s surge. Akayah Grigsby hit a free throw before the half was over then added another to start the third quarter. But the Lady Hornets were energized coming out of the locker room. Destiny Martin was fouled on a drive to the hoop and converted a free throw. The Lady Hornets forced a turnover and Rogers got to the line for a pair, making it 17-6.
Though they were unable to take advantage of a steal by Sarah Kennedy, the Lady Hornets extended the run when Riley Hill, working the short corner against the Conway zone, fed Lania Ratliff under the basket for a bucket.
And when Rogers again pump-faked to draw the defense and worked her way to an open 12-footer, which she canned, it was 17-10 with 1:30 left in the half.
The Lady Hornets appeared to have whittled 2 more points off the lead on an up-and-under move off a drive by Martin but the basket was wiped out when it was ruled she had taken one too many steps to get there. A call that head coach Nathan Castaldi disputed but to no avail.
So it was 17-10 going into the fourth quarter with the Lady Hornets having held Conway White to just 1 point in the third.
To start the fourth, the Lady Cats’ Maggie Evans misfired but out-wrestled the rebound away from the Lady Hornets. The ball went outside to Eryka Lewis who connected for the only 3-pointer of the game.
Momenst later, Hill and Ratliff again combined for a basket to keep the Lady Hornets within 20-12. Reagan McCormick followed up with a steal and, on her way to the basket, was fouled. The infraction was ruled to have occurred before her shot so the Lady Hornets inbounded under their own basket only to have the Lady Cats take the ball away.
That was the first of three chances Bryant had to cut into the 8-point margin before Conway scored again. With 3:21 left, Lewis, who led all scorers with 9 points in the game, converted a pair of free throw.
As it turned out, the Lady Hornets were held to one free throw by Rogers over the final 4:49. A few free throws and one final field goal padded the White lead in the final three minutes.
Bryant finishes the season 10-14 overall, an up-and-down season that was frustrating and exhilarating along the way.
The thing is, there’s no reason that the individuals on the team, when mixed with other classes with different strengths, won’t develop and enjoy success over the next three years.
Watch and see.
LADY WAMPUS CATS 27, LADY HORNETS 13
Score by quarters
BRYANT 0 3 7 3 — 13
Conway White 7 9 1 10 — 27
LADY HORNETS 13
Martin 0-3 1-2 1, Rogers 2-6 4-8 8, Kennedy 0-1 0-0 0, Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Ratliff 2-7 0-3 4, McCormick 0-2 0-0 0, Kubiako 0-0 0-0 0, Jaramillo 0-4 0-0 0, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Walter 0-0 0-0 0, Ward 0-0 0-2 0, Hutchison 0-0 0-0 0, Rayford 0-0 0-0 0, Kuchinski 0-0 0-0 0, Lessenberry 0-0 0-0 0, Palmer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 4-24 5-15 13.
LADY WAMPUS CATS 27
Tufu 1-4 0-1 2, Lewis 3-7 2-2 9, Grigsby 0-1 3-6 3, Evans 1-11 0-0 2, Drennan 1-4 0-0 2, Hughes 0-1 2-2 2, Sipes 2-4 0-0 2, Broyles 1-3 0-0 2, Carbage 0-0 0-0 0, Hopkins 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 9-35 8-13 27.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 0-5 (Jaramillo 0-4, McCormick 0-1), Conway White 1-10 (Lewis 1-5, Tufu 0-2, Evans 0-1, Drennan 0-1, Broyles 0-1). Rebounds: Bryant 30 (Ratliff, Rogers 7, Hill 5), Conway White 22 (Drennan 7). Turnovers: Bryant 18, Conway White 9. Team fouls: Bryant 13, Conway White 13.
