Lady Badgers drop two
Marble Falls 73, LHS Girls 49; Burnet 43, LHS Girls 33

Left: LHS senior guard Casey O'Connor draws a foul Friday night in the Lady Badgers' 73- 49 loss to top-ranked Marble Falls. Right: LHS sophomore post Lauren Barlow battles junior point guard Katy Cooke for the ball on Friday.

The Lampasas High School girls' basketball team saw its playoff hopes vanish over the weekend, falling to top-ranked Marble Falls, 73-49, on Friday and to rival Burnet, 43-33, on Saturday.

For the first time in two weeks, the Lady Badgers (8-18 overall, 2-7 in District 25-4A) had their head coach at the helm. Mitzi Lancaster, who has been in the hospital with her infant son Cash, was on the sideline during both games this weekend.

Lancaster's presence appeared to inspire the Lady Badgers against Marble Falls (24-3, 9-0) as they matched the Lady Mustangs bucket for bucket for the first 14 minutes and trailed just 34-28 at the half. But the Lady Mustangs went on a 16-2 run to open the third period. On the game, the Lady Mustangs connected on six 3-pointers.

"They showed why they're the top-ranked team in the state," Lancaster said. "They can flat out shoot the ball."

PHOTOS BY GABE WOLF

MHS senior Morgan Shell led all scorers with 27 points, and hiccupquick junior point guard Katy Cooke scored 19.

Jennifer Howard and Latoscha Sherman scored 11 points apiece to pace the Lady Badgers. Howard scored nine of her 11 in the first half, including a first-quarter 3- pointer. Sherman tallied eight of her 11 in the second half.

The Lady Badgers' long-distance shooting wasn't at the same level as was the Lady Mustangs', but they did connect on four long balls. Michelle Benton hit two treys, Howard made one, and Carey Yeary canned one.

The Lady Mustangs relied heavily on their outside shooting because their post play was not dominant. Sherman and sophomore posts Lauren Barlow and Sarah Bishop combined for 19 points.

"They're certainly a great team and deserving of all the credit they've received," Lancaster said. "But we felt like they are not as strong inside as they are outside. We were able to take advantage of that at times, but I think we could have received even more production from the post players."

The Lady Badgers are scheduled to play four of their last five games at home, playing host to Lake Travis tonight and Pflugerville Connally on Friday.