PHOTOS BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Forward Eduardo Davila (23) challenges for a rebound during the Badgers’ district-opening loss to Lake Travis Friday evening. The Badgers took a page right out of Joey McQueen’s playbook Friday night.

Facing the high-octane offense of the visiting Lake Travis Cavaliers, Lampasas head basketball coach Scott Harrelson employed a Princeton-style offensive strategy early in an effort to keep the ball out of his opponents’ hands and dictate the pace of the game.

Lampasas head football coach Joey McQueen took his team to the playoffs last season in part because he focused on the fact that his best defense was a good offense.

While the scheme did not work to perfection for the basketball team, it did allow the Badgers to keep within striking distance of the sixth-ranked Class 4A team in the state before a late run led Lake Travis to a 41-28 victory.

Ethan Byers loses control of the ball after being fouled on his way to the hoop for a layup. After giving up the first seven points of the game and scoring just three points in the entire first quarter, Lampasas had a legitimate shot to upset the state powerhouse as it trailed by only six points with less than four minutes remaining in the game.

The Cavaliers lived up to their lofty ranking late in the game, however, and scored the contest’s final seven points to secure the win.

“We needed to control the tempo of the game, and we did,” Harrelson said. “They were frustrated, mad, and [we] were down by only five at halftime. That’s where I wanted to be going into the fourth quarter, down five, but we were down 10.

“I thought the epitome of the game was that in the fourth quarter when we were down 10, my guys were diving all over the floor for loose balls. That was just magnificent.”

Astin Murray flies over the top of a Lake Travis player as he dives for a loose ball during the fourth quarter. The Badgers entered the final period trailing 29-19, but Colton Perkins hit a pair of free throws 15 seconds into the quarter, and Eduardo Davila used Manny Lopez’s assist to record a layup and trim the Cavs’ lead to six points at 29-23.

Lake Travis took advantage of some costly Badger turnovers to respond with a 4-0 run of its own and push the lead back to double digits with a little over five minutes left.

Moments later, Astin Murray found Perkins for a 3-pointer that brought the Badgers within six points once again at 34-28.

But the home team could get no closer.

The trey proved to be Lampasas’ final points of the evening, as junior forward Billy Sherakas’ layup triggered a seven-point, game-clinching run for the Cavaliers.

Sherakas finished with a gamehigh 11 points for the squad that came into the night averaging more than 60 points per contest.

Perkins was the top scorer for Lampasas, posting seven points. He was followed by Ethan Byers, who added six points to go with seven rebounds, two steals and an assist.

Although the Badgers (8-13, 0-1 District 25-4A) were unable to win their district-opener, Harrelson believes the tightly contested game should garner the attention of Lake Travis head coach Jan Jernberg, who referred to Lampasas as “bottom feeders” prior to the game.

“I have a lot of respect for the man, and, you can tell by the way we had to play the game I have respect for the team he has,” Harrelson said. “I’m real proud of my boys. I hate to lose, but maybe we gained some respect.

“It’s easy to say [stuff like] that when you have players like he does. You can call people whatever you want, but I had a team that won 22 in a row in the NCAA, and I never talked about another team like that.

“I thought my players had a lot of class,” Harrelson continued. “They worked their butts off and gave everything they had. They left nothing on the court.”

Although Lampasas forced the issue late, it appeared as if the team’s offensive strategy might bury itself early.

The Badgers committed seven turnovers in the first quarter while trying to run the time-killing offense, and Lake Travis (21-3, 1- 0) jumped out to a 7-0 lead before going into the second period up by nine points, 12-3.

Senior guard Murray scored Lampasas’ lone points on a successful and-one with 1:51 left in the quarter.

“[I was thinking] ‘Uh oh,’ ” Byers said of the first-quarter performance. “We weren’t going to give up, but that was a rough start.”

The second quarter proved to be much more fruitful for Lampasas, as it outscored Lake Travis 8-4 on the back of a four-of-six shooting performance.

Perkins, Byers and Davila each scored in the period before sophomore Brandon Scott collected an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and scored right before the buzzer to bring Lampasas within five points, 16- 11, at halftime.

The Cavaliers padded their cushion with a seven-point unanswered streak early in the third period to go up 27-16.

Byers’ field goal in the paint, however, would initiate the Badgers’ run that brought them within six points at 29-23.

The Badgers travel to Marble Falls (14-10, 0-1 district) tonight for an important matchup that will help shape the playoff race. The Mustangs join Lampasas as two of the four teams fighting to finish in the top four behind the district’s two top 10 teams -- Lake Travis and No. 9 Killeen.

“We feel we can beat Marble Falls and Hutto, and shut down Hendrickson maybe,” senior guard and all-district football first-team member Aaron Reyna said. “The two teams to beat are Marble Falls and Hutto. We can win it [at Marble Falls tonight].”

If the football season is any indication, the Badgers should be victorious in both.

And make the playoffs.

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Both subvarsity teams failed to knock off Lake Travis Friday night as the freshmen lost 66-37, and the junior varsity fell by 16 points, 48-32.

Despite receiving a team-high dozen points from Cullen Singleton and six points from David Henry Straley, the Badgers’ freshman squad fell to 10-7 (0-1 district) on the season.

The JV (7-11, 0-1) was led by sophomore Secody Howard’s 11 points in its loss. Dalton Moore chipped in seven points.

***

The Badgers received a pregame pep talk from former player and current St. Louis Ram Keith Null.

In addition to giving the team some words of advice, the quarterback -- who is coming off his rookie season in the NFL -- was on hand at the varsity game against Lake Travis to present Sue Ellen Bumpus as the honorary coach of the game.

“[He told us] to keep at it, stay on a straight road and don’t have any distractions,” senior Byers said. “Having someone like that come and talk to us was real inspiring.”

The team’s head coach certainly believed his former player’s speech had an impact.

“It was really a treat to have Keith Null here,” Harrelson said. “[He is] a guy who has sat in that locker room, lost games and kept pushing. He knows the experience [of losing] and had a good talk with the boys about not settling and believing.”