The Bryant White Hornets seventh grade basketball team came off their extended holiday break by splitting their first two games this week. On Tuesday, they suffered a 25-24 heartbreaking loss at the hands of the Cabot South seventh graders. But, on Thursday, they outlasted the Bryant Blue Hornets of Bethel Middle School, 27-16.
In the victory, Arlon Jenkins paced White with 8 points. O.J. Newburn had 7 and Darrick Rose 6.
The game was tied 8-8 after a quarter but White built a 16-12 lead by halftime and led 23-16 going into the fourth period. They held Blue without a point in the final stanza.
“Bethel did a good job of slowing the game down in the first half with their zone,” Bryant White head coach Heath Long noted. “We came out after halftime and executed a little better and managed to pull away in the second half.
“We were also better defensively in the second half, not fouling as much, which helped us as well,” he observed.
Ahmad Adams had 11 points and Newburn 9 in the loss to Cabot South. An 11-4 surge in the third quarter helped put the Panthers in position to win. Bryant built an 8-2 lead in the first quarter and was up 13-8 at the half. But Cabot South led 19-17 going into the fourth.
“We didn’t play our best game and it wound up costing us,” Long said. “Cabot South is a good team and you can’t play the way we did and beat them. We fouled them a lot and they wound up shooting many more free throws than we did. We need to learn from our mistakes so that we can improve going forward.”
The seventh grade team returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 17, against Cabot South.
