PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Starting guard Kalyn Urofsky tries to slow down Hutto’s Shelby Debord during the Lady Badgers’ home loss Tuesday. It was the Lady Badgers’ game to lose.

And they did.

With less than three minutes remaining on the clock, Lampasas led 38-36 over the Lady Hippos in both teams’ district-openers, but a 3-pointer from Hutto’s Jordan Hemker changed everything.

The senior post’s long bomb triggered an 8-0 run and boosted Hutto to a 48-43 victory in Lampasas.

Hemker’s trey proved to be the Lady Hippos’ only field goal of the quarter, but they connected on 13 free-throw attempts in the period. For the game, Hutto finished with a 14-of-24 record from the freethrow line.

Minus the late-game collapse, Lampasas had a solid showing in the contest and threatened to win the team’s first district game in more than a year.

PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Junior Kayla Prescott drives to the basket against Hutto. Prescott finished with team-highs of 14 points, five steals and two assists, but it was not enough as the Lady Hippos won 48- 43 in Lampasas. Last season, the Lady Badgers went 0-10 through District 25-4A play, with their closest games being nine- and 10-point losses to Hutto.

Despite dropping the game, Lampasas (8-14, 0-1 district) already has surpassed its win total from last season, which was five.

Led by Kayla Prescott’s teamhigh 14 points, Lampasas was within two points of the opposition all night after climbing out of an early 15-9 hole to take control at 18-17 on Marisa Bogart’s steal and layup with 4:20 left in the first half.

The Lady Badgers held a slim 22- 21 advantage at the break but had little offensive success in the third quarter. Lampasas attempted only seven shots in the period.

Luckily for the Lady Badgers, while they failed to create shots, Hutto failed to make its, going five of 18 from the floor in the third quarter.

Separated by just one point at 32- 31 entering the fourth quarter, guard Jennifer Herron (6 pts.) nailed a deep jumper to put Lampasas up 33-32. The lead grew to 36-33 as Prescott converted a steal into a layup, and junior Madison Morris (8 pts.) hit one of two free throws with 6:12 left.

The squads exchanged free throws for the next four minutes until Hemker delivered the gamealtering 3-pointer that put Hutto (15-10, 1-0) up for good.

Sarah Bishop scored nine points for the Lady Badgers in addition to grabbing four rebounds and getting a pair of steals. Fellow senior Lauren Barlow finished with a game-high nine rebounds to go with six points.

Lampasas returns to the court tonight and hosts Hendrickson at 7 p.m.

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The Lady Badgers junior varsity improved its record to 8-8 (1-0 district) with a 31-27 win over Hutto Tuesday. Megan Mason scored a team-high 15 points, while Juls Crook and Julie Mize each added five points.

Lampasas’ freshman squad fell to 5-9 on the year and 0-1 in district play after losing to Hutto by 13 points, 37-24.

Kailey Davis led the Lady Badgers in the loss with nine points. Tori Liverman scored five points.

Both subvarsity teams face Hendrickson at home tonight, with the freshmen starting at 5:15 p.m. and the JV at 5:30 p.m.