BANGS – The Brownwood Lady Lions will carry a three-game win streak into the Christmas break and next week’s TexasBank Holiday Classic as they outlasted a pesky Bangs Lady Dragons squad, 50-32, Tuesday night.
Down 5-4 just 1:41 into the contest, the Lady Lions (13-6) went on a 14-2 run to end the first period and start the second and create some breathing room between themselves and the Lady Dragons (9-8).
Leading 16-7 after one period, the advantage stood at 23-14 at halftime and 37-22 heading into the fourth quarter.
“Being on exam schedule throws off the rhythm a little bit and we came in flat,” Lady Lions head coach Heather Hohertz said of her team’s performance. “We had our spurts in the first half but I didn’t think we really came on until the second half. We got out and ran with energy, and being able to change defenses was really nice to see. We threw in some stuff defensively that we haven’t practiced and I thought they executed it well. But we still need to finish our layups and offensive rebounding, and when we get tired we have to finish off plays with rebounds. We got tired a little bit and stood and watched and Bangs did a good job crashing the boards. We didn’t take care of business when we got tired and fatigued and we can’t let that happen.”
Bangs head coach Chesney Neely said of her team’s effort, “We were fired up to go play tonight, but we started out with some jitters at the first of the game. Brownwood did a great job defensively to start and got us flustered a little bit. We came out and responded well in the third quarter and I saw a lot of good things there. It’s a great game for us moving into the Holiday Classic and then district on Jan. 5.”
Neely added she’s looking forward to what’s to come from the Lady Dragons the rest of the season.
“We have a chance to shake things up in district and make some big things happen,” Neely said. “We’ve grown so much this year, they’ve shown great progress. I think they’re excited and I know I’m excited to get that rolling to see what we can go do.”
Brownwood shot 38 percent (21 of 55) from the field, but just 9 percent (1 of 11) on three-pointers and 50 percent (7 of 14) at the free throw line. The Lady Lions, however, pulled down 36 rebounds and recorded 17 steals to overcome 19 turnovers.
Hannah Deen led the charge with a double-double of 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Lady Lions, while Kimber Green chipped in 11 points, including 10 in the first quarter alone. Icess Hall and Trinity Roberts each scored six points while Kate Tindol, Miranda Northcutt and Nylah Hall contributed three points apiece, and Adyson Neel finished with two points.
Bangs received 12 points from Joey Newton on four three-pointers, nine points apiece from Kasey Solis and Neeley Bradley, and two points from Cheyenne Rush.
The Lady Dragons crept within six points, 20-14, on a bucket by Solis with 2:12 left in the first half, but the Lady Lions stretched their advantage back to double digits, 28-17, at the 4:08 mark of the third on a jumper by Hall.
Brownwood’s lead peaked at 19 points, 41-22, following a layup from Deen with 6:01 left in the contest. Bangs again fought back and trimmed the deficit to 12 points twice, 42-20 on a three by Newton and 44-32 on a bucket by Bradley. However, the Lady Lions tallied the game’s last six points over the final 2:58 of the contest.