Photos by Rick Nation
Bryant’s C.J. Rainey pulls up for a jumper in front of Lake Hamilton’s Corey Worley. (Photo by Rick Nation)
With a 14-2 run, the Bryant Hornets had established a 10-point lead over the Lake Hamilton Wolves inside the first minute of the second quarter. The Wolves’ 6-6 sophomore post player, Jason Burks, won on the bench with three fouls already. Two other starters had two fouls.
So it looked like the Hornets were on the verge of blowing the game up Friday night. After all, Lake Hamilton had already lost games at Benton and Pine Bluff during the week. And, no doubt, the Hornets had their 76-47 rout at Lake Hamilton on Jan. 28 in mind.
Perhaps — just perhaps — the Hornets were thinking that this was going to roll out the same way.
Unfortunately for them, the Wolves had different ideas. They kept coming and, in the end, turned the tables on the Hornets with a 73-57 win spoiling Bryant’s Senior Night.
The loss dropped the Hornets to 11-13 overall and 7-6 in league play entering their final regular-season game at El Dorado on Tuesday. Still in the running for a Class 7A State Tournament bid, the Hornets are desperately in need of a victory. But the Wildcats, like the Wolves, are one of five teams Bryant defeated in their 6-1 run through the league the first time. To this point in the second round, four of those five teams have been able to get back at the Hornets.
Lake Hamilton didn’t gain the lead until late in the third quarter. Then outcome then hung in the balance for a while. The teams were tied at 40, 45 and 47. An offensive rebound basket by Spencer Turner snapped the last of those knots. The Hornets had two chances to tie it back up or take the lead and came up empty.
With 5:08 left, Wolves’ senior Corey Worley hit a free throw after being fouled on a drive to the basket. He would go on to score 14 of his team-high 18 points down the stretch. Lake Hamilton gradually pulled away after that.
A 3 by Cedarrian Crosby at the 3:22 mark had Bryant within 54-50 but Worley answered in kind from the top of the key. Burks blocked a shot inside by Crosby then scored at the other end and Bryant coach Mike Abrahamson called a timeout with 2:36 left.
Romen Martin drives around Lake Hamilton’s Andrew Broadbent. (Photo by Rick Nation)
The Hornets were never that close again.
“They played really well,” Abrahamson said of the charged-up Wolves. “First and foremost, you’ve got to give them credit. Even when we got up, they never put their head down and they kept responding. They persevered and they played really well. They sustained a large portion of the first half without their big guy (Burks) who is such a key to what they do.”
Asked about the difference in this game and the previous one, the coach stated, “The difference, unfortunately, was just the simple fact that when we went down there, we hit shots early. We just didn’t shoot it well tonight.
“I wish I could say that we were tough enough to not let that affect our defense but the reality is that every time that happens, it affects our defense,” he explained. “Then you get in a situation where you can’t go to a zone because then they’ll hold it. You’ve got to keep the pressure up but then certain guys are getting really tired but I don’t feel comfortable getting them out.
Senior Caleb Strain fires a shot. (Photo by Rick Nation)
“Really, I struggled tonight to find five that could give us something on both ends of the floor,” Abrahamson continued. “That’s something we’ve dealt with all year. Tonight was another night. We are a team that has to make shots to play well. It pains me to say that but that’s the reality. Because if we’d hit shots everything else would’ve gone well. That would’ve kept the defensive energy up. Maybe we could’ve gotten them to call a few timeouts, maybe caused them to melt down a little bit. We almost had them there. We almost got that meltdown.”
Indeed, Lake Hamilton was hit with two technical fouls in the first half. The first came on head coach Scotty Pennington when the Hornets appeared to be getting it together and the fouls were starting to rack up for his team.
Lake Hamilton had led 8-6 when Crosby drove and hit a scoop shot. After Andrew Broadbent, the Wolves’ point guard, drove for a basket, the Hornets responded with a 10-0 surge.
Greyson Giles hit a free throw then Rainey hit a short jumper off a feed from Desmond Duckworth. When the Wolves turned the ball over, Pennington protested to the point of picking up the T. With :33.3 left in the first quarter, Rainey went to the line and knocked down both shots. And, on the subsequent possession, Bryant went for the last shot of the quarter which Duckworth buried from long range to make it 18-10 going into the second quarter.
Desmond Duckworth (Photo by Rick Nation)
Two free throws by Rainey made it a 10-point lead less that 30 seconds into the second.
But, over the next 5:30, Bryant could only add free throws by Romen Martin and Rainey. Lake Hamilton, spurred by the emotional play of forward Cade Hill, pulled within 24-22. Fired up, Hill was cited for talking a little too much to the Hornets and the Bryant student section and picked up the second T with 2:08 left in the half.
To top it off, that was his third foul and he had to come out.
And, in turn, Giles hit a triple and added a free throw to bump the lead back to 6, 28-22. Levi Rengstorff and Rainey traded baskets but then Quan Gipson hit a layup with :06 left in the half to cut it to 30-26.
“We could not get that meltdown,” Abrahamson reiterated. “In fact, we melted down.
Lake Hamilton was within a point before the second half was a minute in. But Giles and Rainey connected for back-to-back 3’s and, with a 7-point lead, the Hornets looked again to be on the verge of a breakout.
But the Wolves responded with an 11-2 run that gave them their first lead since that 8-6 edge in the first quarter. A stickback by Giles tied it at 40 and, after Burks posted up for a basket and Turner hit a 3, Kevin Hunt drained a troika for the Hornets to make it 45-43 going into the fourth period.
Hunt’s driving jumper with 7:24 left, pulled the Hornets even at 45. Hill followed his own miss at the other end but Rainey hit two free throws (with Hill picking up his fourth foul) to make it 47-47 with 6:19 left.
Lake Hamilton’s game turning run followed.
Burks finished with 13 points, Hill 12 and Gipson 11 to go with Worley’s 18. For Bryant, Rainey finished with 20 and Giles 15. Hunt had 7, Martin, Crosby and Duckworth 5 apiece.
Bryant seniors, from left, manager Will Barefoot, Rickey Buchanan, Cedarrian Crosby, Greyson Giles, Austin Hammonds, C.J. Rainey and Caleb Strain. (Photo by Rick Nation)
