Heather Hohertz is beginning her 14th campaign as Brownwood Lady Lions head coach, but the 2022-23 squad may be the youngest in terms of varsity experience she has fielded.
Just two seniors – and one starter – return from last year’s 20-14 bi-district finalist squad, while two freshmen and four sophomores are among the 10 players on the roster as the season tips off Tuesday, Nov. 8 at Eastland.
“We’re going to have a lot of youth but they play hard,” Hohertz said, eluding to a preseason scrimmage against Brady, Ozona and Rocksprings. “From what I saw and what I really liked is we’re not going to lack in effort. They play hard and it might be 100 miles an hour in the wrong direction, but we can fix that. I was really pleased because you can’t coach effort. We can work with effort, we can work with the Xs and Os and by the time we get to district I think we’ll be playing to the potential that we should be.”
Seniors Mady Pyle, the top three-point shooter a year ago, and Kassidy Wooten, whose broken foot cost her most of last season, are back for the Lady Lions, while junior Kimber Green is the only other member of the roster with any varsity experience.
“Mady started the last two years and has been on varsity since her sophomore year and unfortunately Kassidy missed the whole district season last year due to a broken foot,” said Hohertz, who owns a 266-147 career record at Brownwood. “We have two freshmen and three sophomores that will play a lot of minutes for us. We have a couple of juniors that are going to give us some big minutes. As long as we’re gelling and continue to play with the effort I saw in the scrimmages, we’ll be OK and compete and give ourselves a chance to win. If the seniors continue to lead the young ones, I like what I see from this team and I like us moving forward.”
Among the key newcomers are freshmen Icess Hall and Hannah Deen, along with sophomore Sidney Windham.
“Our starting point guard will be Icess Hall, she’s a freshman and Ike’s sister, and Hannah Deen is coming over from volleyball so she has a lot of experience playing at the varsity level,” Hohertz said. “They’re going to play vital roles in us being successful. Sidney Windham, our No. 1 cross country runner, played in our playoff game last year due to injuries and she’s going to have to play a big role. Those three are going to have to step up for us to be successful this season.”
The rest of the roster features junior Olivia Ringer and sophomores Kate Tindol, Miranda Northcutt, and Talasia Green.
“We’re going to have to take some lumps as we go and continue to grow, but we’re not going to use the excuse that we’re young,” Hohertz said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 14, 15 or 16 years old on the court, you have to be mature and play to the strength of the team and compete against 17 and 18 year old girls.”
Following the opener with Eastland, the Lady Lions will face Merkel, Sweetwater, Early, Odessa High, Jim Ned, Coleman, Goldthwaite, Burnet, Springtown, San Angelo Lake View, Bangs and Marble Falls in pre-district action. The Lady Lions will also host the TexasBank Holiday Classic again as well as take part in tournaments at Hamilton and Lorena.
Brownwood opens its home slate Monday, Nov. 21 against Early.
“We’re going to need to play with consistency,” Hohertz said of the early season goals. “We’re going to have to develop our offensive game. We have to find a consistent scorer. Defensively, all my teams have played good defense and we’re going to change the defense a lot this year, we’re going to press so we have to make sure we are continuing to get in good shape so that we’re able to press for four quarters. We’re going to use the pre-district games and tournaments to get in really good shape and find our chemistry as a team and determine who our starters are and who is coming off the bench.”
The District 6-4A slate tips off Jan. 6 with a visit from preseason TABC No. 15 Glen Rose in the opener, while No. 16 Stephenville, Mineral Wells and Graham also stand between Brownwood and the postseason.
“Glen Rose and Stephenville are always tough,” Hohertz said. “Glen Rose returns their whole team from last year, who were sophomores, and they had a move in who was an all-state player so they’re going to be really tough. Stephenville is always tough year in and year out. If we continue to improve and compete at the level we need to compete at we’ll put ourselves in a good position to make the playoffs and compete in district.”
As for the Lady Lions’ potential this season, and going forward, Hohertz said, “We’re really fast and really athletic so if the young ones continue to grow up during the season I think the sky’s the limit for them, and the future is really bright.”
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BROWNWOOD LADY LIONS 2022-23 VARSITY BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
| Nov. 8 | at Eastland | 6:15 p.m. |
| Nov. 12 | at Merkel | 6:15 p.m. |
| Nov. 15 | at Sweetwater | 6:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 17-19 | at Hamilton tournament | TBA |
| Nov. 21 | Early | 3:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 22 | Odessa (at Glen Rose) | 4 p.m. |
| Nov. 29 | Jim Ned | 6:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 1-3 | at Lorena tournament | TBA |
| Dec. 6 | at Coleman | 6:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 9 | at Goldthwaite | 6:15 p.m. |
| Dec. 12 | Burnet | 6 p.m. |
| Dec. 16 | at Springtown | 6:15 p.m. |
| Dec. 19 | at San Angelo Lake View | 11:15 a.m. |
| Dec. 20 | Bangs | 11:15 a.m. |
| Dec. 28-30 | TexasBank Holiday Classic | TBA |
| Jan. 3 | Marble Falls | 6 p.m. |
| Jan. 6 | Glen Rose* | 5:45 p.m. |
| Jan. 10 | at Mineral Wells* | 6:15 p.m. |
| Jan. 13 | Graham* | 7 p.m. |
| Jan. 17 | at Stephenville* | 7 p.m. |
| Jan. 20 | OPEN | |
| Jan. 24 | at Glen Rose* | 7 p.m. |
| Jan. 27 | Mineral Wells* | 7 p.m. |
| Jan. 31 | at Graham* | 7 p.m. |
| Feb. 3 | Stephenville* | 7 p.m. |
| Feb. 7 | Amarillo Tascosa (TBA) | TBA |
*District 6-4A Game