BADGERS 8-1
LHS boys overcome sluggish start, tame pesky Tigers
By JEREMY HEATH Staff Writer

Senior Jacob Maceyra scored five points from the point guard spot on Tuesday.

Lampasas High School boys' basketball coach Scott Harrelson wasn't too happy with what he saw from his Badgers Tuesday night.

He thought they gave up too many offensive rebounds. He thought they struggled to stay within the desired tempo of his offense. He thought they turned the ball over too many times. He thought they failed to put the game out of reach when they had opportunities to do so in the fourth quarter.

There was, however, one aspect of his team's performance with which he couldn't find fault.

"It's pretty good to be disappointed when you win," he said.

Harrelson's Badgers might have allowed Class 3A Rockdale to hang around long enough to pull within six points with three minutes to play, but they also put together enough solid runs to topple the Tigers 49-39 at Bozarth-Fowler Gymnasium.

With the win, the Badgers improve to 8-1 on the season. The team finished 9-21 last year.

"It's definitely great," senior post Heath Cofield said. "Here at Lampasas, we haven't had a team get off to this kind of a start in awhile. It's hard to believe we're nine games in, and we've almost reached last year's win total. But if we want to keep going, we've got to keep looking forward to practice and games, and continue to work hard every single day."

Left: Heath Cofield had 10 points and four blocks in the Badgers' 49-39 win against Rockdale. Above: Clay Tyner had four points and eight rebounds.

The Badgers, who captured the title at last weekend's Mitchell- Timmons Memorial Tournament in Lorena, were scheduled to open play in the three-day Fort Worth Brewer Tournament on Thursday. They will return home to play host on Tuesday to Waco Midway.

Rockdale led 10-9 after one quarter before the LHS defense clamped down in the second and third quarters. The Badgers led 22-16 at the half and 36-26 heading into the fourth.

Lampasas dominated in the paint throughout the contest, but the Tigers connected on five 3-pointers to keep the Badgers from pulling away.

"I thought the defense was good in the first half, especially in the second quarter," Harrelson said. "But I also thought we broke down defensively at times and did some things we haven't been doing. We gave them too many offensive rebounds and allowed them to hit some 3s to stay in it."

PHOTOS BY GABE WOLF

The Badgers squirmed and squeezed their way into a controlled offense like a woman into undersized jeans.

"When we run our offense, we're pretty good," the coach said. "When we try to create, we get into trouble. If we can just run our offense and remain patient, we'll be good. If we don't, we'll be pretty average."

Controlled rhythm is the key.

"A lot of times, we'll get in a rush and not play at our speed," Cofield said. "Then Coach will take a timeout and tell us, 'Calm down. Don't be anxious, and play your game.' That's when we play it right."

Junior post Heath Hopson scored a game-high 23 points. He recorded seven of those points in the final 1:43 of the second quarter to lift the Badgers from a 16-15 deficit to a 22-16 lead. He scored 10 more in the third quarter, including two three-point plays and a buzzerbeater. Hopson finished 10 of 12 from the field.

"It's funny: Heath Hopson didn't even play to the level he's been playing at, and he still scored 23," Harrelson said.

Cofield scored 10 points in the paint and rejected four shots.

Guard Jacob Maceyra added five, including a crowd-pleaser in transition. With 5:35 to play and the Badgers leading 40-34, Maceyra stole a pass and whipped it to Clay Tyner on the breakaway. Tyner stopped to let a defender overrun the play and sent a behind-the-back pass to the play-trailing Maceyra for the layup.

Tyner, who along with Maceyra fought to keep the offensive tempo controlled, tallied four points and eight rebounds and also recorded a key block on a Tiger breakaway.

Coleton Lucas scored four points on putbacks, Warren Scott notched two points and five rebounds.