Defense carries Hornets to victory over Senators

FORT SMITH — Once Bryant turned up the defensive intensity, it rolled to its first Coke Classic title.

The Hornets used a 35-5 run over a 13-minute stretch to defeat Pulaski Robinson 60-30 in the championship game of the 41st Coca-Cola Christmas Classic on Saturday night at the UAFS Stubblefield Center.

Bryant (10-3), which needed a buzzer-beater to beat Fort Smith Northside in the semifinals Friday, had no such drama against the Senators (8-5), as the Hornets led 3316 at halftime and were never seriously threatened.

“After all of the emotion last night with a great atmosphere for basketball, and then we have to turn around and play another game,” Bryant coach Mike Abrahamson said. “This situation can also happen in the postseason. You have to have the mental toughness to play well in any type of situation.”

Robinson led early, getting its biggest lead at 11-8 on a Donavan Young inside basketball off an inbounds play with 1 minute, 17 seconds left in the first quarter.

“Give Robinson credit at the start because I think their zone put us on our heels a little bit. They came out ready to go,” Abrahamson said.

From there, it was all Hornets.

Treylon Payne, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, finished the quarter with a drive and 3-pointer giving Bryant the lead for good at 13-11 after one quarter.

Those points were the beginning of the 35-5 run, that included the Hornets outscoring the Senators 20-5 in the second quarter to take control of the game at halftime at 33-16.

“We have good kids, and when we challenged them, they responded like we hope they would,” Abrahamson said. “They turned up the intensity and defensive pressure, and those things led to good things on the offensive end.”

Payne scored 12 of his game-high 17 points in the first half.

The run continued into the first four minutes of the third quarter, and Bryant scored the first 10 points of the period, including four from Catrell Wallace, to lead by a commanding 43-16 margin.

Besides Payne, Wallace

and Camren Hunter each added 12 for the Hornets. Elliott Harris Jr. scored eight points to lead the Senators.

Now Abrahamson has to get his team ready for Friday’s 6A-Central conference opener and a rematch against Northside.

“All 14 (6A-Central) games are going to be a grind,” Abrahamson added. “Every team is good with great coaches and tough kids. Whoever wins this conference is going to be one heck of a tough team. We need to feel like we can be right there with all of them.”

In other games Saturday, Northside downed Southside 58-45 in the third-place game thanks to 19 points from Javion Releford. Also, Little Rock Fair edged Charleston 58-54 in the fifth-place game while Texarkana (Texas) Pleasant Grove nipped Van Buren 6664 in the seventh-place game. Bryant ................ 13 20 13 14 — 60 Pulaski Robinson..11 5 6 8 — 30 BRYANT (10-3): Payne 17, Wallace 12, Hunter 12, Lambert 6, Jenkins 5, Robinson 3, Adams 3, West 2. PULASKI ROBINSON (8-5): Harris 8, Tolerson 6, McGraw 5, Kelly 3, Kiremerwa 2, Willis 2, Johnson 2, Young 2.