PEARCY — The 2016-17 basketball season for the Bryant White Lady Hornets eighth grade team came to a rugged conclusion on Tuesday night when they suffered a 38-14 loss to the Lake Hamilton Lady Wolves.
Foul trouble undermined their effort. The Lady Hornets were able to battle for a 5-3 lead by the end of the first quarter but Lake Hamilton surged in the second and third quarters. It was 19-11 at the intermission then 30-14 going into the fourth quarter.
“We were called for eight fouls by the end of the first quarter, which put many of us in foul trouble and put their team within two fouls of the (double) bonus,” noted Lady Hornets coach Ben Perry. “They had only one foul called against them at that point.
“By the first minute of the second quarter, Lake Hamilton was in the double bonus,” he added. “They shot nine free throws just due to fouls called, making six of them, while we shot only two in the second quarter.
“Either way you look at it, we lost the second quarter and never came back,” the coach said. “Due to foul trouble I had to sub many athletes and the pressure from the (Lake Hamilton) starters never stopped. We had 28 fouls called on us the whole game while Lake Hamilton only fouled us eight times.”
Kaitlyn Weng, Lauryn Taylor and Lexi Rose each fouled out for Bryant White.
Krystyn Weng led the team in scoring with 5 points. Taylor and Jaiyah Jackson each had 4 and Sequoia Green 1.
“Lake Hamilton was bound and determined to prove a point that night,” Perry said. “I am proud of the girls. They have worked hard all season long. Many of their games were decided by the last quarter and a few by only a couple of points in the end and could have gone either way. I look forward to seeing them play next year as ninth graders.”
