Junior Shayne Cofield attempts a shot during the Badgers’ game against Burnet on Tuesday night at Badger Gym. PHOTO BY NICK FORRESTER Lampasas’ game against visiting Burnet on Tuesday evening felt just like deja vu. The only difference was the color of the paint on the ends of the court.

In the Badgers’ first game at Burnet earlier this season – a 52- 30 Bulldog victory – Lampasas struggled to get any open looks from the floor, despite playing well defensively.

In Tuesday’s 46-34 loss to Burnet, Lampasas once again struggled to score against the Bulldogs’ physical defense.

“It’s a tough defensive style, and it just grinds on you after awhile,” Lampasas coach Rob Shivers said. “You’ve got to hit shots, and we had that long stretch where I feel like we didn’t hit any, and most of that was their physicality.”

Lampasas also struggled to get to the free-throw line, as the team attempted only six free throws compared to Burnet’s 37 – just like in the first contest where Burnet shot close to 40 free throws, while the Badgers were able to attempt only nine.

“Well, it’s simple. They move their feet, get good position and body up; we don’t move our feet, we reach and foul,” Shivers said.

In Tuesday’s game, Lampasas (16-10, 3-3) bounced back after falling behind 9-2 to begin the game and cut Burnet’s lead to 14- 13 shortly before halftime.

But right from the beginning of the second half, Burnet made sure Lampasas was not going to be able to come back into the contest. They opened up a double-digit lead – a margin the Bulldogs held for the remainder of the game.

“They played physical, played tough, and they pushed us out of a lot of things we were trying to do tonight,” Shivers said of the opponents. “They make you take a lot of tough shots, and we didn’t do what we needed to on offense [to combat that].”

Sophomore Shonderius Howard led the Badgers with nine points, while senior Secody Howard and junior Cullen Singleton scored six points apiece.

The loss sends the Badgers into a two-way tie with Salado for the third and final district playoff spot. The Badgers host Llano tonight before traveling to Taylor and Salado next week. In the first round of district action, Lampasas defeated all three of those teams.

“The whole thing is that we’ve got to go win the next three,” Shivers said. “We still control it [our own destiny] as long as we do that. But if we go anything past that, well, then you’re looking at a bunch of possible scenarios.”

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For a photo gallery of Tuesday’s game, please log onto lampasasdispatchrecord.com.