“In this district you have to find a way to win on the road no matter,” Hohertz said. “It wasn’t pretty, Glen Rose was ready, but we just found a way tonight. That just tells you about their grittiness and their will to win and how much they want to be successful this year. I couldn’t be any more proud of my kids.”
Icess Hall paced Brownwood with 12 points followed by seven from Nylah Hall, six apiece from Hannah Deen and Jentry Coalson, and two points each from Trinity Roberts and Jade Morin.
Glen Rose was sparked by 12 points from Cailey Harwell, five from Mallory Young, three each from Addison Treppa and Emery Brantley, and two points apiece from Emma Davis and Kitty Bell.
The victory wasn’t without its challenges, as the Lady Lions (22-3, 2-0) trailed Glen Rose (16-2, 1-1) by a 9-7 count after one quarter, were tied at 16 at halftime, and surged in front, 26-24, with eight seconds left in the third period on a three-pointer by Nylah Hall.
“What a tough game,” Hohertz said. “Glen Rose did a really good job and that’s what we expected them to do, give us zone. We didn’t handle it very well to start the game. We knew what they were going to do offensively to us with the high-low, with the screens, but we didn’t adjust very well. We had to go to some man-to-man and our speed, and that’s what got us going there in the second and third quarters.”
Clinging to a 27-25 advantage with late in the contest, and satisfied with milking the clock, the Lady Lions continuously passed the ball around the perimeter until Nylah Hall was able to break free for a back door layup, which increased the cushion to two possessions, 29-25.
“That possession where we put the game away, that might have been as patient as we’ve ever been as a team,” Hohertz said. “A lot of times this year when teams have given us zone we’ve struggled to put points on the board. We want to spread it out and not force anything, so I told them not to shoot unless it was a layup. We moved the ball and moved the ball and caught them standing and Nylah was smart enough to cut back door there and make the layup.”
Glen Rose didn’t score the rest of the way, meanwhile Brownwood converted all six of its free throw attempts in the final minute – two each by Icess Hall, Nylah Hall and Deen. The Lady Lions sank 8 of 10 free throws overall.
Deen, in just her second game back after a six-week absence due to illness, surpassed the 1,000-point mark in her career during the victory.
“I’m really proud of Hannah and the hours she’s put in to get 1,000 points,” Hohertz said. “She was out for a while and she’s slowly getting back her conditioning. I thought she was pretty big for us off the bench tonight, especially with her rebounds and getting to lob passes for us.”
Hohertz added, “I thought Icess was big for us as well. She controlled the game, she hit some big threes for us. She’s on a mission and I saw that in her eyes tonight. Jojo (Demayha Hooker) was also big off the bench. She didn’t score, but she changed the outlook defensively and rebounding-wise.”
The Lady Lions are back in action at 11:15 a.m. Saturday as they host Stephenville (16-8, 1-1), which defeated Graham (8-15, 0-2) Tuesday night, in their third 6-4A outing.
“This win tonight won’t mean anything unless we go 2-0 for the week,” Hohertz said. “We took care of Game 1, now we have to take care of Saturday.”