Hot Tourney Start
Lady Badgers open tourney with win, reach semifinals before cooling off

PHOTO BY GABE WOLF Lampasas sophomore post Sarah Bishop fights for a rebound in last week's 49-39 home loss against Killeen Ellison. Bishop is part of a combination of posts from which head coach Mitzi Lancaster wanted increased production. Lancaster got that production at the Kennedale Tournament as the Lady Badgers advanced to the semfinals.

The Lampasas girls' basketball team walked onto the court at the Kennedale Tournament Friday night in the midst of a four-game losing skid.

The Lady Badgers wasted little time snapping the streak.

LHS (2-6) jumped out to a 32-8 lead against Alvarado on its way to a 62-25, opening-round victory in the annual Thanksgiving tournament.

The Lady Badgers scored no fewer than 14 points in any quarter, including a second quarter that saw the Lady Badgers outscore Alvarado 18-2.

Senior guard Jennifer Howard scored a game-high 14 points.

After last Tuesday's 49-39 loss to Killeen Ellison, LHS head coach Mitzi Lancaster said she wanted to see more production from her post players, especially on the offensive end. Sophomore post Lauren Barlow scored 12 points from the paint against Alvarado, contributing heavily to an improved inside game.

Jennifer Howard: Senior guard was selected to the alltournament team.

Senior guard Casey O'Connor added 10 points in the win.

The Lady Badgers advanced to the semifinals and were matched up with host Kennedale.

Kennedale's offense was too much in the first half, posting 17 first-quarter points and 18 more in the second quarter to take a 35-12 lead at the half.

The Lady Badgers slowed the bleeding in the second half as Kennedale outscored them 20-17 on its way to a 59-29 win.

Senior guard Molly Rogers scored a team-high seven points, and Howard added six points and five assists.

After the loss to Kennedale, the Lady Badgers were placed in the third-place game against Fort Worth Southwest. After a back-andforth first half ended with Southwest leading 24-20, Southwest blew the game open with a 12-5 thirdquarter run on its way to a 50-38 win.

Rogers led the Lady Badgers with 10 points.

Howard, who was named to the all-tournament team, added seven to give her a three-game total of 27.

O'Connor scored six as did senior post Latoscha Sherman.

The Lady Badgers are scheduled to play at Brownwood at 6:30 p.m. tonight. They are scheduled to return home Friday to play host to Leander at 6:30 p.m..