PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Lady Badgers post Hailey Morrison goes up for a rebound during Lampasas’ season-opening 46-36 loss at Bangs. Offensively, Morrison scored four points in her varsity debut. The Lady Badgers simply do not have the experience yet.

With three players competing on the volleyball team that was eliminated from playoff contention just two weeks ago, the varsity squad played just one scrimmage as a complete team before opening the season on the road at Bangs.

The lack of cohesiveness showed, especially in the third quarter, as Lampasas lost 46-36.

“The bad thing is that we have to live a whole week with this,” assistant coach Jimmie Cain said. The Lady Badgers canceled their game against Llano so the team could attend Lampasas’ playoff football game.

“It’s a long season, and we’ve got the people we need and they’ve got talent. It is not anything that is not fixable.”

In addition to losing practice time with the volleyball players, the varsity squad is comprised of four new faces.

Nevertheless, Lampasas had its opportunities.

After playing a competitive first half and leading by two points, 21- 19, at the break, the Lady Badgers could not execute under Bangs’ full-court pressure beginning in the third quarter. Bangs outscored Lampasas 19-6 in the period to take a 38-27 advantage into the fourth.

“I have to give Bangs credit, they played great defense,” Cain said. “We’ve got to get better at executing and put two halves together.”

Seniors Lauren Barlow and Sarah Bishop led the Lady Badgers offensively. Barlow recorded a team-high nine points while Bishop finished with seven.

Newcomer Kayla Prescott posted five points in the loss, and sophomore Hailey Morrison added four.

In addition to struggling under a smothering defense, Lampasas failed to hit the easy shots, missing 10 of its 20 free-throw attempts.

The Lady Badgers return to the court Tuesday, traveling to Comanche for a 6:30 p.m. start.

*** Lampasas’ junior varsity team picked up a two-point victory in its season debut, beating Bangs 33-31 behind a team-high 17 points from Juls Crook.

The freshman Lady Badgers were not as fortunate, suffering a twopoint defeat in Bangs.

Kailey Davis led the team with 20 points, but it was not enough as the Lady Dragons won 37-35.