After a fast start to the season, the Brownwood Lions basketball has been trending water in a sense as the start of District 6-4A looms the second week of January.
During the three-day, 88-game, 45-team TexasBank Holiday Classic Thursday through Saturday, head coach Will Parker would like to see the Lions regain the consistency they displayed during the early portion of the 2024-25 campaign.
The Lions (12-6) started the season with victories in eight of their first 10 contests, including a six-game win streak, but have since split their last eight decisions. Brownwood is, however, coming off a 68-53 Friday road victory over Brady.
“Every day we’re trying to get a little bit better,” Parker said. “We’re not going to beat very many teams the way we’re shooting right now, so we have to figure out a way to make easier shots, find easier shots, get into some rhythm where we’re catching and shooting our 3s, not just off the dribble, and being able to find guys under the basket whether it’s cutting or screening away. Defensively we’re going to have to do a better job of forcing teams to shoot tougher shots. We have got to shoot at a higher percentage than our opponent, and on the defensive end we can make this happen if we get some stops.”
Regarding the overall start to the campaign, Parker said, “We’ve had a pretty good start. We’ve won 12 games, the guys are having some confidence going into the Classic. We’ve got some guys are playing really well together. We’re still trying to figure out a few matchups, but for the most part I feel like the guys have really bought into the keys for our season to be successful.”
Parker said of the biggest positives about the Lions’ performance on the court thus far, “I like the way the guys are playing with each other, the groupings we have out there, the encouragement I hear, the ability for guys to pick each other up when things don’t go well, being able to move past the bad plays or turnover or missed shots and not dwell on the past. We’ve been down some guys going into the fourth quarter but we just keep fighting until the end which is really good sign that our team is gelling together.”
The Lions will be competing in Pool C of the Boys Gold Bracket with games against Early at 6:40 p.m. Thursday at Warren Gym and La Grange at 10:40 a.m. Friday at Warren Gym.
“Early’s become a tradition to play them the first night of the tournament and it’s always a packed house,” Parker said. “We’ll play La Grange which I know nothing about other than they were 11-6 as well. They’ve had a pretty tough schedule and I know they’ll travel up here on a mission to knock off the host school.”
The two other pools feature Gatesville, Greenwood and Academy in Pool A and Gordon, Alvarado and Jarrell in Pool B.
“You want to win the first game first, but the third and fourth game we’re going to have we’re going to face some really good teams whether it’s Alvarado or Gordon or Gatesville or Greenwood, that’s going to be some really good competition for us,” Parker said. “The other pools that we’re going to be going up against are pretty stacked. I’m excited to watch those teams and then play against them.”
Regarding the importance of the TexasBank Holiday Classic not only to the program, but the community, Parker said, “It’s so cool to watch the excitement that is around the tournament, not just the games, but the sponsors which has grown over the years since I’ve been here, to be the people volunteering to be a part of it. It’s so encouraging because a lot of the younger guys come with their families and their excitement for the game is growing. We couldn’t do it without our sponsors and Coach Hohertz has done a tremendous job of building the sponsorship up and letting these teams come for free, they don’t pay a dime, which is unheard of these days. For our community to be able to put this on says a lot about the City of Brownwood.”
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BOYS GOLD BRACKET
Pool A: Gatesville, Greenwood, Academy
Pool B: Gordon, Alvarado, Jarrell
Pool C: Brownwood, Early, La Grange
Jarrell vs. Gordon, 9:20 a.m. Thursday, Coliseum
Gatesville vs. Greenwood, 1:20 p.m. Thursday, High School
Early vs. La Grange, 2:40 p.m. Thursday, Coliseum
Gordon vs. Alvarado, 4 p.m. Thursday, High School
Greenwood vs. Academy, 5:20 p.m. Thursday, Coliseum
Brownwood vs. Early, 6:40 p.m. Thursday, High School
Gatesville vs. Academy, 8 a.m. Friday, High School
Alvarado vs. Jarrell, 9:20 a.m. Friday, Coliseum
Brownwood vs. La Grange, 10:40 a.m. Friday, High School
Pool A 1st vs. Pool B 1st, Noon Friday, Coliseum
Pool A 2nd vs. Pool B 2nd, 2:40 p.m. Friday, Coliseum
Pool A 3rd vs. Pool B 3rd, 4 p.m. Friday, High School
Pool B 2nd vs. Pool C 2nd, 8 a.m. Saturday, Coliseum
Pool B 3rd vs. Pool C 3rd, 10:40 a.m. Saturday, Coliseum
Pool A 1st vs Pool C 1st, 1:20 p.m. Saturday, Coliseum
Pool C 2nd vs. Pool A 2nd, 2:40 p.m. Saturday, High School
Pool C 3rd vs. Pool A 3rd, 5:20 p.m. Saturday, High School
Pool C 1st vs. Pool B 1st, 6:40 p.m. Saturday, Coliseum