PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Junior Kayla Prescott, right, seen blowing past a defender in the season-opener at Bangs, led the Lady Badgers offensively in their loss to Comanche. Prescott scored 12 points on five-of-10 shooting. Trailing by two points with less than five seconds on the clock, the Lady Badgers were called for an offensive foul.

But, according to head coach Stuart Beckwith, Madison Morris’ charging foul on a drive to the hoop as time expired did not cost them the game.

The Lady Badgers let victory slip away by failing to do the little things, and the result was a 39-37 road loss at Comanche.

“The kid had good position, and [Morris] did exactly what I asked her to do,” Beckwith said. “I wouldn’t argue the call and, it wasn’t the difference maker.

“It was the missed free throws, the turnovers and the missed block outs [that really hurt].”

Lampasas (0-2) missed nine of 14 free-throw attempts in the contest. In the season-opener at Bangs, the Lady Badgers were 10-of-20 from the foul line.

Despite the struggles, Beckwith considers the free throw woes to be an easy fix.

“It’s a simple game,” the coach said. “That’s just a lack of confidence.”

Even with all the self-inflicted wounds, including a two-of-seven shooting performance in the fourth quarter, the Lady Badgers showed plenty of fight throughout the night.

Led by Lacey Drewes’ four first half 3-pointers, the Maidens created a seven-point cushion at 17- 10 before Lampasas responded with nine unanswered points, punctuated by Kayla Prescott’s game-tying trey and Jennifer Herron’s goahead baseline jumper to earn its lone lead of the evening at 19-17.

After starting the third quarter tied at 19-19, the two teams remained deadlocked eight minutes later, heading into the final period at 28-28.

The Maidens (3-0) took control by hitting a pair of free throws and then Drewes widened the gap with her fifth 3-pointer. It was the junior guard’s only field goal of the second half, but it was an emotional back-breaker.

“We didn’t shut her down when we needed to,” Beckwith said. “We made some adjustments [defensively to contain her], and to be honest, I’m disappointed that she got an opportunity.

“She came down and hit that to put us down by five, and we never overcame that. We absolutely never overcame it.”

But they came close.

Trailing by four points, 36-32, Prescott connected on a long two, but Maidens’ guard Haley Burleson hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to four points with 28 seconds left.

Moments later, the Lady Badgers’ 2008-09 all-district second team members hooked up as Lauren Barlow found Sarah Bishop, who hit a 3-pointer to draw Lampasas within one point, 38-37, with under 10 seconds left in the game.

Drewes (17 points) hit one of two free throws after being intentionally fouled by Morris, and the stage was set for the Lady Badgers’ failed last-ditch effort to force overtime.

Prescott led Lampasas with 12 points (5-of-10 FG) and two steals. Bishop added 10 points, while Morris was the squad’s top rebounder, grabbing six of the team’s 20 boards.

The Lady Badgers lost the rebounding war by six, but had a better shooting performance than the 2A home team. Lampasas hit 15 of its 41 attempts (37 percent), while Comanche was 12-of-40 (30 percent) from the field.

The Maidens were much more productive from the free-throw line (10-16) and from behind the arc (5-17), though. Lampasas hit just two of nine 3-pointers.

The biggest difference between the two teams, however, could literally be found on the court, according to Beckwith.

“[The Maidens] were missing some markings on their floor; they don’t have volleyball lines,” the coach said, referring to the fact his team spent a majority of the offseason without three key players who were making a run at the playoffs with the varsity volleyball team. “The teams we are playing have been doing basketball since August as a team. That makes a big difference.”

The Lady Badgers will have ample opportunity to gel before Thanksgiving.

Lampasas plays six games in six days, as it hosts a tournament this weekend and then is in a back-toback situation against Harker Heights and Killeen Ellison on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

“They are going to get some real quality time [together],” Beckwith said. “We can grow through game situations, and I think we grew [at Comanche].

“If you play hard, you’re going to beat 50 percent of the people you play. I don’t think there was a time [against the Maidens] when there was lull in our intensity.”

***

After leading by one point, 8-7, at the end of the opening quarter, the Lady Badgers’ junior varsity team found itself on the wrong end of a 21-9 run as Comanche pulled away to earn a 38-30 victory.

Offensively, Juls Crook (12 points) and Megan Mason (10 points) led Lampasas (1-1).

The freshmen lost their second consecutive game, falling by 21 points, 39- 18, on the road.

The Maidens held Lampasas scoreless in the second quarter and owned a 30-7 lead at halftime.

Kailey Davis was the Lady Badgers’ top scorer with four points.