Lady Lions stumble in pre- and post-holiday play

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

Slow starts and swift opponents plagued the Lady Lions over the holiday week as the varsity squad dropped back-to-back non-district games on Nov. 34 and Nov. 30.

Leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, the Lady Lions skipped down the road to Luling to face the Lady Eagles in the ages-old Caldwell County rivalry. Accord

ing to coach Katina Flournoy-Walker the game was “war from the moment the Lady Lions stepped on the floor.”

It was a war the Lady Lions fought hard and played fairly, but simply could not win.

The Lady Eagles took a 17-6 lead in the first period and did not let up. While the Lady Lions gained momentum in the second and third quarters, holding even with Luling in scoring, the damage had been done.

In addition, the Lady Eagles heaped on the pressure in the fourth, stacking up 21 points while only allowing the Lady Lions to score seven.

In the end, the Lady Eagles dominated the game 63-38.

“It was a tough loss,” Flournoy-Walker said. “We followed the rules, but we could just not get the calls to go our way.”

Alisha Officer led the Lady Lions in scoring with 10 points. Tory Hill pulled in nine and Desi Winn contributed 7. Isis Johnson added three points, while Shelby Kennedy, Cassie Schroeder, Andrea McKinney and Toiya Ghant chipped in two each. Kaela Amirkabirian rounded out the Lady Lions” scoring with one point.

Johnson led the team in rebounds, pulling down nine. Hill had seven and Officer got four. Winn and McKinney contributed three each, while Amirkabirian had two and Schroeder and Kariah Selby each contributed one.

The Lady Lions hit two three-point shots, out of 14 attempts, and landed 13-76 field goals.

“It would have helped if the ball fell in the hole,” Flournoy-Walker said. “It was as if there was a lid on the basket!”

The Lady Lions fared a bit better after the break when they hosted the Austin Travis Rebels on Monday evening, Nov. 30. Although they held tighter to their ground, the Lady Lions were unable to pull together a victory and fell 42-59.

“We tend to be in slow motion at the beginning of each game,” Flournoy-Walker said. “We did not help on defense and got out-hustled at times.”

The Lady Rebels scratched out to a 11-7 lead in the first period. The Lady Lions fought hard the whole game, and outscored their opponents in the second. However hot shooting from the Travis squad in the third all but sealed the victory, despite the Lady Lions attempts at a comeback.

Once again, Officer led scoring with 12 points, and also picked up five rebounds. Hill had seven points and four rebounds, and Johnson had four points and 12 rebounds. Winn and Selby each contributed four points, while Amirkabirian had three. Shavonda Hill and Samantha Duncan each scored two.

The Lady Lions hit about 31 percent of their field goals (23 – 74), and shot 28.6 (4-14) percent from the three-point zone.

“The bottom line is we have to make our layups and shots in the paint,” Flournoy-Walker said. “If we shoot less than 30 percent from the field, we will not win many games. We are still learning… Our time will come.”

The Lady Lions will travel to Yoakum to participate in tournament play this weekend, and will return on Tuesday, Dec. 8 to face the Yoakum Lady Bulldogs in the last pre-district game of the season. The team will open district play at home on Monday, Dec. 14 when they host the Hays Lady Rebels.