GREENBRIER — The Bryant White Lady Hornets seventh grade team of Bryant Middle School concluded the 2016-17 season on Thursday night with A and B games against the Greenbrier Lady Panthers. In the A game, Greenbrier outscored the Lady Hornets 17-5 in the second half to break up a close game. In the B game, Bryant prevailed 22-17.
“I knew going into the (A) game that (Greenbrier) was extremely good,” said Lady Hornets coach Ben Perry. “They had beaten Little Rock Christian and Vilonia. My goal was to just tell the girls to play hard and have fun the last game of the year.”
In the A game, the Lady Hornets trailed just 7-5 after a quarter and 20-16 at the half. But it was 33-19 going into the fourth quarter.
“The score doesn’t depict the game that was being played,” Perry related. “At the end of the second quarter, we were down by 4 against a team that has proven to blowout teams that have beaten us. The girls found themselves in a position to take the lead but they were soon in foul trouble and, although I have tough subs and a good bench, their starters and subs were able to pull ahead in the third quarter to where we couldn’t catch up.”
Jordan Hancock led Bryant with 8 points including a pair of 3’s. Regan Dillon scored 5, Emma Chappell 4 with Catlin Lacerra and Daria Green scoring 2 each.
“The girls played a great team but I was extremely proud of them,” Perry said. “They never gave up and the bench continued to cheer no matter the outcome. They played better against this team than they had played all year against tough competition.
“Even though the score was not in our favor, you could tell that the team was fighting for everything the whole way,” he added. “I cannot wait to get them in the off-season workout and work hard to improve for next year. Everyone better be watching this group next year because they are determined to get better and are hungry for a good fight.”
In the B game, Bryant broke to a 12-9 lead by the end of the first quarter and held on for a 14-9 edge at the half. It was 19-13 going into the fourth quarter.
Greer and Savannah Lucas each scored 6 points. Jayla Purifoy added 4 with Shamya Jordan, Joe Turner and Jayla Keith finishing with 2 each.
“They played tough and full of energy,” Perry said. “It was one of the best games the B team has played all year. My goal was to have fun and for everyone on the sideline to cheer for their team no matter what happened. I wanted to keep an upbeat bench and wanted all the girls to enjoy the game. I noticed by doing this, the team played much better and seemed to have much more fun.”
