In their first meeting against the No. 7 Glen Rose Lady Tigers, the Brownwood Lady Lions carried the lead into the fourth period before succumbing by a four-point margin. In Friday’s District 6-4A rematch at Warren Gym, the Lady Lions were unable to keep pace as Glen Rose rolled to a 54-31 victory.
Again, offensive inconsistency plagued the Lady Lions (8-12, 1-4) throughout the contest as Glen Rose (21-2, 4-1) led by a 16-8 count after one quarter, 31-17 at halftime and 39-22 through three frames.
“Our effort wasn’t bad, it was the same game as Tuesday in that we couldn’t make a shot,” said Lady Lions 12th-year head coach Heather Hohertz. “Eight field goals, no threes, and 15 of 26 from the free throw line. Against a team like Glen Rose and a team like Stephenville, you’ve got to score. We had the looks, we countered what they were going to do defensively with our offense, we just didn’t make the shots. We had a lot down in the paint, we had wide open threes, we just didn’t knock them down. We have to step up and hit shots and the last two games we’ve struggled with that.”
The Lady Lions scored the first five points – all from Brooke Price – but Glen Rose answered with 14 of the next 15 to grab a 14-6 advantage, and Brownwood was never able to catch up.
“We didn’t take care of the ball, we turned it over there back-to-back-to-back to allow that run to get going,” Hohertz said. “We knew what was coming, it happened the first game, and we just didn’t handle it.”
Brownwood finished with 24 turnovers while Glen Rose committed just nine.
Tessa Goodwin tallied a team-high 14 points for the Lady Lions, Price added seven, Jaylen Savage chipped in four, Kynslee Walker and Naysa Leach contributed two points apiece and Mady Pyle and Lindsey Larose both sank one free throw.
Glen Rose received 14 points from Hazel Hawkins, 10 each from Abby Stephenson and Hannah Cantwell, and nine from Jeana Douglas.
“The last game they didn’t knock down their outside shots, but they were hitting shots tonight,” Hohertz said. “They’ve been shooting the ball a lot better the last few games and from film that I saw that. It put pressure on our defense tonight and at times we looked really good. But when we don’t score we don’t have a lot of energy on defense. We have to find ways to put the ball in the hoop and to be active defensively. That just has to happen.”
Despite their recent struggles, the Lady Lions can clinch their 12th straight postseason berth with a win Tuesday at Lampasas (17-7, 0-5), which fell to Gatesville, 44-34, Friday night. Brownwood owns a 57-52 victory over Lampasas from the first round of league action.
“I was hoping we could get this one tonight and take a little bit of pressure off us going to Lampasas,” Hohertz said. “We haven’t traveled well the last few games and we have to show up and be ready to go from the opening tip. For some of these inexperienced players they’re going to have to step up. This is probably going to be one of the biggest games of their careers.”