Lady Lions lose three close games at Texan Hoop Fest

Lady Lions lose three close games at Texan Hoop Fest
Lockhart looks towards district play this Friday against Elgin

Lockhart vs. Halletsville

The Lady Lions traveled to Wimberley to take part in the Texan Hoop Fest last
Friday and Saturday.
For the first round, the Lady Lions were matched up against defending District 27-3A Champion Halletsvil

le in an early morning tip-off.
Returning from a year ago with their entire starting line-up, Halletsville got off to a quick start with five different players scoring.
After the first quarter, Halletsville took the lead 21-9, with Lockhart”s points solely coming from leading scorer Whitney Winn.
“Whit” came out ready to play this morning and was aggressive and finishing shots,” said coach Dave Johnston.
The Lady Lions dug in defensively and only allowed nine points from the Lady Brahmas during the second quarter. Senior guard SueRe”esa Williams led with three steals while sophomore guard Ka”Tina Green had two steals and three blocks. Senior guard Tara Chapman and Winn also had two steals each.
Offensively, however, the Lady Lions only managed six points, with two points scored by junior post Zenaida Rubio.
Halletsville kept the lead at halftime 30-15.
The Lady Lions came out aggressively for the second half and made a tremendous run to cut the lead down to six late in the third quarter.
Johnston lauded Williams for her ability to lead the team. “Sue really had a great game distributing the ball today, she had four assists. She has really stepped it up as far as being a leader this year for this team,” he said.
The Lockhart team, which had nine assists for the game, really started finding people in the first six minutes of the third quarter.
“We have been talking recently about 10-0, 8-0 runs that you know will come, but you just don”t know when. And in order to find out, you must keep playing the game until that final buzzer,” added Johnston.
Six different Lady Lions scored in the quarter, Chapman, Green, Rubio, Williams, Mariah Carter, and Winn. But, the Lady Brahmas were determined to get the momentum back and scored six unanswered points to extend the lead back to double-digits at 12.
Halletsville re-established their lead by going on a 6-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter as the Lady Lions only hit seven points in that final quarter. Halletsville scored 19 in the quarter and won 63-44.

Lockhart vs. San Antonio Burbank

In Friday”s second round game of the Texan Hoop Fest, Lockhart competed with San Antonio Burbank in a first quarter shootout where both teams combined shot 30 points. The teams had 5 different players put points on the board.
Chapman led Lockhart with six points, while Bobbi Schulle, Green, Williams and Winn all had two points each.
“Chappy really ran the floor well and got some transition buckets. A few possessions later she made a very nice move to the basket and hit a mid-range jump shot off the glass,” said Johnston.
The first quarter ended with the Lady Bulldogs on top 16-14.
After a few minutes of slow-down play, the Lady Lions went on a tremendous run to overtake the Lady Bulldogs by three to end the first-half, where senior post Winn scored 10 of her game-high 18 points during the run. Junior post Noelle Marquina also contributed a basket and a couple of boards while Rubio rotated in at the post position for some quality minutes. Williams added five of her 10 points and six assists for the game.
With a 31-28 lead to start the third quarter, Burbank began their run to gain momentum with 11 inside points.
The Lady Bulldogs then mixed-up defense plays, which slowed down the Lady Lions, who score only six points in the quarter. Mariah Carter and Green grabbed a few steals as the Lady Lions defense increased pressure, but Burbank ended the third quarter 41-37 with a small lead.
Lockhart rotated guards Adrian Carter, Andrea Carter and Bobbi Schulle to force turnovers, but the Lady Bulldogs would not relinquish the lead as the Lady Lions fell short with a 53-44 loss to the Lady Bulldogs.
“I”m proud of our girls for the effort and intensity they competed with in this game. We plugged away and got one of those offensive runs we have been talking about. We just could not sustain it,” said Johnston.

Lockhart vs. San Antonio Fox Tech

The final game of the tournament for the Lady Lions was against San Antonio Fox
Tech. The Saturday morning tip-off saw both teams ready offensively, which ended the first quarter tied at15.
Both teams got multiple scorers involved early as Green, Williams, Winn, Marquina and Mariah Carter paced the Lady Lions.
Fox Tech had an early lead until the Lady Lions took it on a drive down the center of the defense by sophomore guard Green. “Green has really worked hard and is playing tremendous basketball on the varsity level. She is very intuitive and that”s what you want from your point guards,” said Johnston.
Lockhart continued to increase their lead against the scrappy team, who battled back to cut the lead to six with just five seconds remaining in the quarter.
“Fox Tech mixed up defenses… zone, man and really played us physical on the blocks and collapsed on the ball,” explained Johnston.
Lockhart gained possession off of a Fox Tech turnover and coming out of the dead-ball situation, the Lady Lions went the length of the floor in three seconds a half-court pass from Marquina to Winn, then from Winn to Green, who sprinted down the side of the court. Green sent the ball cross-court to Williams, who sprinted down the other side of the floor and made a lay-up.
“The execution of our full-court play was brilliant. It was awesome to see it,” marveled Johnston.
The third quarter was not as kind to Lockhart as Fox Tech went on an unprecedented 28-4 run in the quarter and 11 of 14 from the field with 4-4 from the 3-point range.
Although the Lady Lions played the Lady Buffaloes even in the fourth quarter
9-9, the scoring barrage put the Lady Lions at a 58-42 loss.
“Fox Tech got really hot and we could not recover,” said Johnston.
“One quarter can be enough sometimes. I think this is one of those
games you just say… hats off to “em for knocking down shots,” said
Johnston.
District games open tomorrow, with the Lady Lions hosting Elgin at the Lion”s Den at 8 p.m.
(Courtesy of David Johnston)