The win streak for the No. 11 Brownwood Lady Lions reached 10 games Tuesday at the Brownwood Coliseum, and with it came a spot in Wednesday’s Girls Big School Division championship game.
The Lady Lions coasted by Georgetown East View, 57-26, to sweep Pool A competition as Brownwood (18-3) raced out to a 12-2 lead after one quarter, which grew to 27-9 by halftime and 44-19 through three periods.
“We came with our pressure and were able to get some layups early on,” said Lady Lions 17th-year head coach Heather Hohertz. “We went through some spells where we looked really good, and we had some spells where we still have a lot of work to do. When we ran our offense the way it should be, it looked really good. We moved the ball, we looked for cutters, and if we didn’t make a shot we crashed and got offensive rebounds.”
Brownwood converted 33 percent (20 of 60) of its field goal attempts, 19 percent (4 of 21) of its three-point tries, and 68 percent (13 of 19) of its free throw opportunities. The Lady Lions also collected 32 rebounds, with 17 coming on the offensive end, recorded 11 steals and committed 12 turnovers.
All Lady Lions that suited up scored as Icess Hall led the charge with 16 points, including 11 in the first half, followed by Nylah Hall with 11 points. Also contributing offensively were Jentry Coalson with seven points, Jade Morin and Trinity Roberts with six apiece, Abby Brasher and Jaidyn Hope with three points each, Cambree Jefferson and Demayah Hooker each with a pair, and Lanie Johnson sank a free throw.
“Nylah’s been big for us all year long and was able to hit some threes early on in transition and that really gets her going,” Hohertz said. “It was nice to see the ball go through the hoop for Icess, she’s been struggling from the three-point line. And Jentry continues to step up big with Hannah Deen out. She hit a couple of big three-pointers way past the men’s line, so she’s getting more confident in her shot. When the shots aren’t falling Jade’s in there trying to get the rebounds and putbacks.”
For East View (6-16), Jaiyona Williams scored a team-high nine points and Makenzie Guajardo added six.
The Lady Lions will next battle the Hereford Lady Whitefaces (15-6), which won the Girls Big School Division Pool B, at 5:20 p.m. Wednesday back at the Brownwood Coliseum.
“Hereford is a scrappy bunch,” Hohertz said. “They don’t have a lot of height but they run their offense very well, they can shoot the ball and they like to attack the basket. Our defense is going to have to be locked in and be able to move and keep the ball in front on us and get out to the shooters when we need to.”
