Losing 5 of their past 6 games, the Bryant Hornets got back on the winning track Tuesday with a 61-31 rout of the Fort Smith Southside Mavericks in Bryant at the Hornets Nest in 7A Central Conference action. Sitting at 14-3 and 3-1 in the Central at one point, the Hornets were clinched a spot in the 7A State Tournament with their victory on Tuesday.
“There was a time that we wished we’d win the conference,” Bryant Coach Mike Abrahamson said. “Now we just need to get in the state tournament and take them one at a time. We’re in but our work is not over.”
The Hornets (16-8, 5-6) had a bit of a different tactic in Tuesday’s win as Abrahamson did wholesale subbing early on. Senior Braylon Steen put the Hornets on the board with an offensive rebound and put back 30 seconds into the game and Bryant led 5-2 early after senior Calvin Allen hit 1 of 2 free throws.
Then came the subbing as a new five players came in and were effective. Senior Marvin Moody, going to Tulane on a football scholarship, hit a 5-foot jumper, and junior Deron Canada had a steal and layup for the 9-2 lead with 3:50 left in the first.
“We’ve been getting off to slow starts and we were just wanting to switch it up a little bit, and see if we could get off to a quicker start,” Abrahamson said. “We kind of did. It wasn’t the best start, but we gradually got to where we were playing well.”
Southside 27, Bryant 20
The Bryant Lady Hornets suffered their 10th straight loss of the season in a 27-20 defeat of the Southside Lady Mavericks in 7A Central Conference action at the Hornets Nest. Bryant failed to score in the first quarter and were down 9-0 after one.
“Offensively, I didn’t do a good job of getting us good looks,” Bryant Coach Brad Matthews said. “I thought we had a good plan coming in, but give Southside credit. They did a lot of switching and I didn’t have a good answer.”