It will be a challenging 6A-Central opener for the Northside Grizzlies on Friday night.

The Grizzlies will welcome Bryant to Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse. The two teams played one another four times last season, with each winning twice.

However, Northside had the most important win against the Hornets, beating them last March in Hot Springs for the 6A state title.

“Every time we’ve played them since we got into the Central conference, every game against them has been a really close game and I don’t expect any different (Friday),” Grizzly coach Eric Burnett said. “Coach (Mike) Abrahamson is going to come in here with a really well-coached team and they’re going to be ready to play and I hope that us being at home, we’ll answer the bell when they come here.”

The Grizzlies (10-4) enter the conference opener on a roll, having won eight straight games. Their latest win came in last Saturday’s home opener, as Northside defeated Greenwood.

Bryant, meanwhile, comes in with an 8-5 record. On Tuesday, the Hornets debuted their brand-new arena with a 54-39 win against arch-rival Benton.

Burnett was able to get a glimpse of the Hornets when they played an early-season game in Little Rock.

“They’re shooting the ball, I think, a little bit better and I think they’ve been a little bit tougher off the dribble and they played good defense when I saw them play,” Burnett said. “So I see them coming in here shooting a lot of shots and attacking us off the dribble, so we’ve just got to be ready to move our feet.”

Friday will also be the 6A-Central opener for the Northside Lady Bears as they, too, welcome in Bryant.


Like the Grizzlies, the Lady Bears (11-3) enter conference play on a hot streak, having won their last six straight games. The latest was a 68-50 home win against Greenwood last Saturday, avenging a loss to the Lady Bulldogs last month at the Taco Bell Tournament of Champions, which was played at Northside.

While the revenge win against Greenwood was satisfying for the Lady Bears, Smith knows that Friday’s game will be far more important since these will be the games which actually count toward postseason play.

“As big as that one was, it doesn’t mean a hill of beans now,” Smith said following the Greenwood win. “This was just a pride win and defend your court.”

Bryant enters the conference opener at 7-4. The Lady Hornets also won the first-ever game at their new Hornet Arena, defeating Benton on Tuesday, 55-23.

Northside’s teams will be at home for its first two 6A-Central games. After Bryant on Friday, both the Grizzlies and Lady Bears are home again on Tuesday to take on Little Rock Central.
