Leander 53, Lampasas 42
Lady Badgers start game hot, can't maintain momentum
BY JEREMY HEATH Staff Writer

Latoscha Sherman: Senior post scored 16 points.

In the first quarter Friday night, the Lady Badgers could do no wrong.

The Lampasas girls' basketball team moved the ball well, shot the ball well and forced turnovers on defense.

For the next three quarters, it was Leander that could do no wrong. The Lady Lions used a balance of inside and outside play to rally from a 14-2 deficit and leave Bozarth-Fowler Gymnasium with a 53-42 win.

"In the first quarter, we played our tails off," LHS head coach Mitzi Lancaster said. "But then they (Leander) started hitting some shots -- got hot outside with the 3s. Then our intensity level dropped, and we started missing some shots inside. In spurts, I thought we did some good things, but little things at critical moments are killing us."

The Lady Badgers led 14-4 after one period, but Leander scored the first nine points of the second period. After tying the game at 18 with 2:20 left in the half, the Lady Lions got hot from beyond the arc as Britni Peters drained two 3- pointers, spurring Leander to a 25- 22 halftime lead.

Jennifer Howard: Senior guard scored 10 points.

The Lady Lions produced three 3-pointers in the second frame. Lampasas tied the game at 25-25 on Casey O'Connor's 3-pointer to start the second half, but the Lady Lions extended the lead to 41-31 after three quarters behind the inside play of Loren Winters.

The fourth quarter was marred by fouls against both teams. Just eight of the 23 total points produced in the quarter were scored from the floor.

Lampasas senior post Latoscha Sherman led the Lady Badgers with 16 points. Sherman consistently made plays inside, forcing the Leander defense to either foul her or surrender easy layups. The Lady Lions chose to foul her, and she responded by hitting 10 of 12 free throws.

Senior guard Jennifer Howard, who twice was called for blocks after getting her feet set and once called for a charge at the other end, was never able to get into a rhythm because of foul problems, but she still finished with 10 points. Two of her four successful shots from the floor came after offensive rebounds.

O'Connor finished with eight points, Lauren Barlow scored three, Sarah Bishop chipped in two, Molly Rogers added two and Michelle Benton scored one.

The Lady Badgers (2-8) open District 25-4A play tonight on the road against Marble Falls.

"The effort is there," Lancsater said. "We're definitely playing hard and giving a lot of effort. But we've got to get better at blocking out and get more people scoring. We've really got to get more production from our post players if we're going to have any success in the district."