The Brownwood Lady Lions put forth perhaps their best two efforts at Warren Gym this season on the same day Thursday, smothering Breckenridge, 53-18, before stifling Waco Connally, 58-34, to kick off the TexasBank Holiday Classic.
The Lady Lions (15-6), winners of seven of their last eight outings, had labored on their home floor throughout much of the season but controlled the action on both ends of the court Thursday.
Brownwood yielded a total of 52 points in two games as teams were producing 40 points per game on average against the Lady Lions coming into the tournament.
“We talked about playing the gaps and no matter if we play zone or man stay active and I thought they responded and did a good job of that,” said Lady Lions head coach Heather Hohertz.
In the 24-point triumph over Connally, the Lady Lions owned a 17-5 edge after one quarter, as slow starts had plagued Brownwood at home earlier in the season.
“We took care of their pressure, got comfortable in finding the open person and attacked the basket,” Hohertz said. “We definitely started the game like we needed to start the game.”
Midway through the second period, Connally closed the gap to 21-16, but the Lady Lions scored the final eight points of the first half to regain a comfortable 29-16 edge heading into halftime.
“I called a time out there and reminded them we can’t give them any run outs in transition and free layups because that’s what gets them going, so take care of the ball and make the simple pass,” Hohertz said. “They responded to that and did a better job of taking care of the ball from that point on.”
After Connally scored the first points of the second half, Brownwood answered with seven in a row to open a 36-20 advantage, and the Lady Lions were not threatened the rest of the way.
Icess Hall led the team with a dozen points followed by eight each from Trinity Roberts and Kate Tindol, seven from Nylah Hall, six apiece from Hannah Deen and Miranda Northcutt, five from Jade Morin, and three points apiece from Rylie Schaffer and Lanie Johnson.
Waco Connally’s offense mostly came from Tynia Minnitt, who scored a game-high 24 points.
In the 35-point win over Breckenridge, the Lady Lions led 17-6 after one quarter, 30-10 at halftime, and 44-10 heading to the fourth period.
Icess Hall again led Brownwood with 12 points trailed by 10 from Johnson, nine from Deen, six from Nylah Hall, five each from Morin and Roberts, four from Northcutt and two points from Tindol.
Breckenridge received 11 points from Karsyn Smalley, three from Ruthie Valdez and two points each from Preslie Malcut and Kadyn Tidwell.
With the lopsided victories, the Lady Lions were able to rest their starters in the second half of both games, which is always vital when battling for a tournament championship.
“You never know when it’s going to be next man up, so they need minutes and to get touches,” Hohertz said. “It’s nice to be able to have our legs fresh to rotate girls in and out.”
The Lady Lions will attempt to secure a sixth consecutive victory and the top seed from Pool A of the Girls Big School bracket when they clash with Fort Worth Nolan Catholic at 6:40 p.m. Friday at the Brownwood Coliseum.
“We’re playing in the Coliseum, so we’re going to refocus especially with our depth perception on shooting in the Coliseum,” Hohertz said. “But we’re going to continue to play hard and hopefully continue to find ways to put the ball in the hoop.”
