The Brownwood Lions are looking to redeem themselves during the 2024-25 basketball campaign after finishing with a 10-24 overall record and 0-8 league mark a year ago.
The same four teams from the last two seasons – Stephenville, Glen Rose, Graham and Mineral Wells – are again on the District 6-4A district slate this year, along with the addition of Brock.
“Brock is going to be a tough one for sure, they’ll come in ranked in the state,” said Lions head coach Will Parker. “Glen Rose is always good, so those two teams are the ones everyone will be going after. Stephenville is very young, we played them a lot in the spring and summer so that so be a good match-up for us. Graham and Mineral Wells are the wild cards. Mineral Wells is probably the most athletic team in the district and Graham’s girls coach is now coaching the boys, but they graduated a ton.”
Brownwood will start the season with a roster consisting of Casey Friebel, Ross Strasner, Noah Pyle, Hayden Brumbelow, Durham Brown, Bennett Windham and Elias Perez. Reinforcements will arrive after the conclusion of football season.
“We’re pretty thin right now, we’ve still got some guys to add from football,” Parker said. “The guys that have been coming in day-in and day-out, we’re really excited to step on the court and go play somebody. We were able to go scrimmage with just six guys and our guys realized how in shape they have to be and how mentally though they have to be to play 32 minutes.
“We’re led by four guys that have been together throughout the spring and the summer – Casey, Hayden, Ross and Noah. Those four guys have done a good job trying to bring this group together. As far as the fifth, sixth and seventh guy we’re going to have available to us, it’s still to be determined, but we’re excited about adding those guys and those pieces.”
Following the season opener, the Lions have pre-district games lined up against Benbrook, Early, Lampasas, Llano, Jim Ned, Comanche, Burnet, Brady and Gatesville. Brownwood will also compete in the Dublin and Brady tournaments, and host the annual TexasBank Holiday Classic Dec. 26-28.
Regarding the keys to success this season, Parker said, “We talk a lot about the four things it takes to win basketball games – shooting percentage, offensive rebounds, turnovers and getting to the free throw line. Those are the things we’re focused on this year. How well we shoot the ball and not turning it over will dictate how well we do. The pre-district games are what were looking at in terms of taking better shots and what that does for us offensively.”
The District 6-4A slate tips off Jan. 10 at Stephenville.
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2024-25 BROWNWOOD LIONS VARSITY BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
| Nov. 12 | at Dublin | 7:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 15 | at Benbrook | TBA |
| Nov. 19 | Early | 7:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 23 | Lampasas | 2:15 p.m. |
| Nov. 25 | Llano | 12:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 26 | Jim Ned | 12:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 3 | Comanche | 7:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 5-7 | at Dublin tournament | TBA |
| Dec. 10 | at San Angelo Lake View | 7:15 p.m. |
| Dec. 12-14 | at Brady tournament | TBA |
| Dec. 16 | at Burnet | 6:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 20 | at Brady | 4:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 26-28 | TexasBank Holiday Classic | TBA |
| Jan. 3 | at Gatesville | 7:45 p.m. |
| Jan. 10 | at Stephenville* | 7:15 p.m. |
| Jan. 14 | Graham* | 7:5 p.m. |
| Jan. 17 | at Brock* | 7:15 p.m. |
| Jan. 21 | Mineral Wells* | 7:15 p.m. |
| Jan. 24 | at Glen Rose* | 7:15 p.m. |
| Jan. 28 | Stephenville* | 7:15 p.m. |
| Jan. 31 | at Graham* | 7:5 p.m. |
| Feb. 4 | Brock* | 7:15 p.m. |
| Feb. 7 | at Mineral Wells* | 7:15 p.m. |
| Feb. 11 | Glen Rose* | 7:15 p.m. |
* District 6-4A Game