BENTON -- Calvin Allen had no time to relax Tuesday night, but the 6-0 senior guard did not seem to mind.
Allen scored 8 of his 17 points during a key first-quarter outburst that led Bryant to a 64-46 victory over Benton in the Saline County Shootout at Panther Arena.
"It's hard to give him rest sometimes, but we're working on it," Bryant Coach Mike Abrahamson said. "It's hard out there for him. He really needs a break at times, but to his credit, he's so tough that he finds a way to regroup without taking a break. I don't know how he does it."
"I'm a machine," Allen said. "I don't need rest."
Bryant (7-1) rode a sturdy defensive effort to knock off Benton (7-2) in the Panthers' annual shootout. The Hornets came up with seven steals during the first quarter, which saw them score 14 consecutive points to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 16-4 advantage. Benton was never any closer than eight the rest of the way.
"Coming off the Jammin' for Jackets Tournament we only had one day of practice," Abrahamson said. "[Defense] is something we really wanted to improve on because I didn't think we defended consistently the way we work on it. I didn't know if one day would be enough time to fix it. The kids got back to their habits, and I'm really proud of their efforts."
Benton took a 4-2 lead with 4:25 left in the first quarter on a short jumper from senior Fred Harris, but Allen scored eight of the game's next 12 points to put the Hornets on top for good.
"Speed kills, and [Bryant] definitely has a lot of speed," Benton Coach Dexter Hendrix said. "We've got to do a better job of handling pressure, but they had a lot to do with it. Bryant was very physical with us in the first half and caused us a lot of problems."
Bryant finished with 15 steals, 13 of which came in the first half. Benton had only five steals.
"We just executed our game plan," Allen said. "Coach A is always telling us to stay in the passing lanes, and we just executed that plan."
Senior guard Romen Martin led Bryant with 18 points while making three first-half steals. Senior Braylon Steen added 13 points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Kaleb Turner put in 10 points.
Benton was paced by 21 points from junior guard Jai Peters, who scored 8 of the Panthers' first 10 points. Senior Shaheed Halk added 11 points. Harris led the Panthers in rebounding with 10.
Bryant led 16-6 after the first quarter and built a 29-14 advantage by halftime. Benton got no closer than 13 points in the second half.
"I thought they played as well as they could have," Hendrix said of Bryant's effort. "I've got to give them credit, and now we've got something to work on."
"I don't want to say I'm surprised because I know our kids are capable of that," said Abrahamson of Bryant's first-quarter effort. "We really respect Benton, and coming into this game it really felt like they would be the hardest team to guard based on what they run and how they run it that we've played so far. So, to see that type of effort in the first half really set the tone for the entire game."
BRYANT (64)
Martin 6 5-6 18, Turner 5 0-0 10, Allen 7 3-4 17, Moody 2 2-4 6, Steen 5 3-5 13, Chumley 0 0-0 0, McIntosh 0 0-0 0, Lambert 0 0-0 0, Canada 0 0-0 0, Terry 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 13-19 64.
BENTON (46)
Sims 0 0-0 0, Halk 4 2-4 11, Riddick 2 0-0 6, Peters 10 1-1 21, Harris 3 0-2 6, Blalock 0 0-0 0, Angelo 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 3-7 46.
Bryant (7-1);16 13 13 22 -- 64
Benton (7-2);6 8 10 22 -- 46
Three-point goals -- Bryant 1 (Martin). Benton 3 (Riddick 2, Halk). Team fouls -- Bryant 12, Benton 16.
Girls roundups
ARKADELPHIA 40, MALVERN 31 Allie Harris scored 10 points to lead host Arkadelphia (6-6) past Malvern. Malvern was led by Laney Wallace, who had 13 points.
BENTON 41, BRYANT 28 Italei Gray scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half as the Lady Panthers (6-6) defeated the Lady Hornets (1-7) in Benton. Lenzie Newman added 12 points and Tamia Halk 10 for Benton, which led 23-15 at the half. Kelly Williams led Bryant with 10 points while Mary Catherine Selig collected 10 rebounds.
JASPER 66, DEER 23 Hope Brasel led the Lady Pirates (13-5) with 16 points in a victory over the Lady Antlers. Taylor Belle Davidson added 15 for Jasper.
STAR CITY 67, STUTTGART 24 Sarajane Linsy led host Star City (10-2) with 25 points in a rout of Stuttgart. Larena Walker scored 15 points while Anna Wynn added nine points.
Sports on 12/14/2016