In their final game as opponents (they’ll be teammates next year as freshmen), the Bryant White Lady Hornets eighth grade team of Bryant Middle School and the Bryant Blue Lady Hornets eighth grade team of Bethel Middle School battled in a close game at the Bethel gym. In the end, Bryant White extracted a 34-27 win behind a 12-point performance by Meagan Chism.
Mary Catherine Selig finished with 11 to lead Bryant Blue.
White led 8-4 after a quarter but only held a 14-12 edge at the half. The margin opened up a bit by the end of the third quarter. It was 22-17 going into the final stanza.
“I was very pleased with the consistency that we played with,” said Bryant Middle School coach Caleb Harper. “We didn’t get rattled when the game was going back and forth. We kept our cool, made stops defensively when we needed them, and were patient on offense to get quality shots.”
“Bryant played very well and they deserved to win,” said Bethel coach Derek McGrew. “Giving up 34 points was the most disappointing thing for me. But I was proud of our effort.”
Kalia Walker and Allison Steen each finished with 8 points for White. Lexi Helton added 6.
Rachel Studdard scored 8 for Blue with Ashlyn Thompson and Kenya Rideout scored 4 apiece.
Bryant White, now 8-7, closes out the season on Monday at Russellville.
Bryant Blue, now 4-8, hosts Lighthouse Charter in its final home game on Monday, Feb. 9, then closes out the season at Conway White on Thursday, Feb. 19.
