The Lady Badgers (4-0) are off to their best start in seven years, although Tuesday’s game may not have done justice to that record.
“That was our worst game so far this year in terms of just our execution and what we were trying to do,” head coach Mark Myers said. “But the good news is we played very poorly and were still able to win the game. To me, that’s the mark of a good team.”
Lampasas beat Killeen High, a 6A team, 49-46, at home.
Despite some turnovers and missed inside shots, the Lady Badgers had balanced scoring, which shows their depth. Ten players scored, all ranging from two to eight points.
It was the Lady Badgers’ closest game of the four played this season. The Lady Badgers led at halftime, but the Lady Kangaroos stayed too close for comfort throughout most of the second half.
The Lady ’Roos pulled within two points before Kyliegh Ball broke a scoring drought near the end of the third quarter to give Lampasas a 38-34 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Killeen cut the Lady Badger lead to one-point (43-42) with a three-pointer and, shortly after a basket by Rebekah Pearce, tied the game at 45-45.
Payton Tatum made two free throws to put Lampasas back ahead. Cobie Chandler, who had five points in the final quarter, scored the last basket of the game with about a minute left. Killeen missed what would have been the tying three-pointer at the buzzer.
Individual scoring on Tuesday included:
Payton Tatum 8
Cobie Chandler 7
Rebekah Pearce 6
Addison McDonald 6
Kyliegh Ball 6
Morgan Lovejoy 5
Taylor Allen 4
Laurcy Bender 3
Bre Quarles 2
Jamie Ball 2
TGCA 4A STATE RANKINGS AS OF NOV. 16
1. Canyon
2. Hardin-Jefferson
3. Fredericksburg
4. Taylor
5. Spring Hill
6. Seminole
7. Argyle
8. Midlothian Heritage
9. Decatur
10. (tie) Celina
Glen Rose
Lampasas
Bandera
Athens
“I was really pleased with Addison there in the fourth quarter,” Myers said, referring to one of his senior team captains. “The whole second half, but really there in the fourth quarter … She knew that she missed several shots that she normally would make. She was frustrated, and we talked about it at halftime, and then she comes out and man, she played hard. She played the whole fourth quarter.”
McDonald “got rebounds, got blocked shots, made a basket, just did a lot of really good things for us,” Myers said.
Pearce’s fourth-quarter basket also was a high point.
“It was a nice powerful shot inside,” Myers said. “We really needed that. And then Payton’s two made free throws there were important, too.”
He also said it takes awhile for teams to get comfortable with each other and master their roles.
“That’s gonna vary from team to team,” the coach said. “Last year’s team, we peaked in December, and we were playing extremely well, and then we tailed off at the end. And then [2018-'19], that year with Diane [Hurst] and them, we peaked right at the end of the season.”
Hurst scored over 1,000 points in her career and helped the Lady Badgers win bi-district for the first time since 2001. She now is a sophomore forward at Dordt College in Iowa.
This year’s Lady Badger team has plenty of room for growth, but the outlook is bright with a 4-0 start.
The entire LHS girls’ basketball program is 9-0, with the freshmen and JV undefeated.
The Lady Badger JV beat Killeen 37-33. Leading scorers included Julia Andrade. 9 points; Maggie Fletcher, 9; and Hannah Perry, 7.
In the ninth-grade game, Lampasas dominated 69-5.
Individual scoring:
Morgan Bobo 17
Kelsie Taylor 14
Kenzie Roberts 10
Nattie Martin 7
Amelia Stanley 6
Janie Resa 5
Kalyn Mulcahy 4
Alyssa Spencer 2
Jenna Ball 2
On Nov. 20, the Lampasas varsity will play at Austin Crockett at 7:15 p.m., after the freshman game at 5:15 and the JV match-up at 6:15 p.m.
