The TexasBank Holiday Classic will essentially serve as the final tune up for the Brownwood Lady Lions ahead of District 6-4A competition.
The Lady Lions (13-6) have won five of their last six games heading into the tournament, including victories over Alvarado and Jarrell, along with Class 2A No. 16 Goldthwaite.
“Our girls are competing hard and finding a way out of their offensive slump and our defense is getting better as well,” Lady Lions head coach Heather Hohertz said of the team’s recent run of success. “Defensively, when the girls are locked in, it’s hard on teams to score on us. Our offense has also improved in that we’re more spread across the board on who is going step up and score for us.”
Hohertz added she’s been most impressed thus far by, “our overall team speed and how well we’ve been able to play man-to-man defense when it’s been needed.”
The Lady Lions will be competing in Pool A of the Girls Big School Division at the Classic with games against Breckenridge at 9:20 a.m. at Warren Gym, Waco Connally at 5:20 p.m. Thursday at Warren Gym, and Fort Worth Nolan Catholic at 6:40 p.m. Friday at the Brownwood Coliseum.
“We’ve talked to past week about the goal is to go 3-0 in our pool and put ourselves in position to be in the championship game,” Hohertz said. “Our pool will be very competitive. Waco Connally is very athletic and has good guards. It’s always a battle between us and Nolan Catholic every time we play. In the other pool, Lake Country has a good ball club and will one to watch out for.”
Comprising Pool B are Fort Worth Lake Country Christian, Abilene High, Hereford and Georgetown East View.
The Girls Big School Championship will be decided at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Coliseum – the last of 88 games among 45 teams over three days.
Regarding what Hohertz hopes to see from her team with only a Dec. 31 home game against Marble Falls left on the schedule after the tournament ahead of the Jan. 3 district opener at Mineral Wells, she said, “Overall we need to fine tune our offense and just be more consistent. Our defense is playing at high level right now and we just need to keep improving. This team is fun, a great group of girls who love to compete and play for each other.”
As for the importance of the TexasBank Holiday Classic to not only the program, but the community, Hohertz added, “When we talked about bringing the Classic Back and adding a girls division, Roland Soto and I had a vision that it would be one of the biggest Christmas tournaments in the state. I think we continue to prove that year in and year out. It’s amazing to see all the volunteers come together to help make it run smoothly and successfully. Bringing the tournament back has helped our community. Our hotels, our restaurants, they are benefiting from Classic and I’m just super proud to be part of it. I’m so thankful for the support from our sponsors and volunteers who help make it happen.”
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GIRLS BIG SCHOOL BRACKET SCHEDULE
Pool A: Brownwood, Breckenridge, Waco Connally, Fort Worth Nolan Catholic
Pool B: Abilene High, Hereford, Fort Worth Lake County Christian, Georgetown East View
Brownwood vs. Breckenridge, 9:20 a.m. Thursday, High School
Waco Connally vs. Nolan Catholic, 10:40 a.m. Thursday, Coliseum
Lake Country vs. Hereford, Noon Thursday, High School
Abilene High vs. East View, Noon Thursday, HS Old Gym
Nolan Catholic vs. Breckenridge, 2:40 p.m. Thursday, HS Old Gym
East View vs. Lake Country, 4 p.m. Thursday, HS Old Gym
Brownwood vs. Waco Connally, 5:20 p.m. Thursday, High School
Abilene High vs. Hereford, 8 p.m. Thursday, High School
Abilene High vs. Lake Country, 10:40 a.m. Friday, Coliseum
East View vs. Hereford, Noon Friday, High School
Breckenridge vs. Waco Connally, 1:20 p.m. Friday, Coliseum
Brownwood vs. Nolan Catholic, 6:40 p.m. Friday, Coliseum
Pool A 4th vs. Pool B 4th, 8 a.m. Saturday, High School
Pool A 3rd vs. Pool B 3rd, 10:40 a.m. Saturday, High School
Pool A 2nd vs. Pool B 2nd, 2:40 p.m. Saturday, Coliseum
Pool A 1st vs. Pool B 1st, 8 p.m. Saturday, Coliseum