Sports
Lady Tigers down Bryan
Friday, 27 January 2012 by Chuck Kelly
Veteran coach Brenda Gomez notched her first District 12-5A victory Tuesday night in Bryan with a 43-32 win in Viking Gym! Her young Lady Tigers gathered around senior guard Torie Henderson and her 16 points to play as a team.
Gomez, in her first season in Belton after five state titles, isn't used to losing and must have gotten the attention of her ladies after criticizing their play in the previous game, a 63-30 loss to Ellison, After that game last Friday, she commented "I'd say about 70% of our team didn't play hard...I guess some of the girls just don't care enough to give 100% all the time.
We were just standing still on defense."
The team (7-17, 1-5) responded and fought off the Lady Vikings to get out of the district cellar.
The Tigers didn't stand around Tuesday...they went to Bryan to play. They got off to a good start in the opening period and with contributions from the whole team built a 13-9 lead and then increased steadily with plays like Henderson's driving bucket in the second period to lead 23-14 at the halftime break.
Belton kept up the intensity in the second half, as they whittled away the time while scoring in the final period and ended the battle with a victory and a team-full of smiles.
"The defense had held Bryan to single digits in every quarter and the offense spread the scoring around.
Henderson was high-point player for the Lady Tigers but she received plenty of help. Sophomores Kinsey Williams and Emily Hugo and senior Lindsey Dunahoo each pumped in 6, Briana Ragland got 4 and Kenedy Fowler added 2 points.
It was a different team from the team that was destroyed by Ellison last week. They played "like they are capable of playing" and the Tiger defense stepped up Tuesday. In the Ellison game in Tiger Gym, the Eagles scored 12 points before the ladies ever got on the scoreboard. Halfway through the opening period, Fowler sank a 10 footer and Hugo nailed a three from the right side of the arc. The Lady Eagles responded with a trio of three-pointers to wrap up the opening quarter, allowing just one more Belton basket, Savannah Frick got a bucket off a pass from Dunahoo.
In the second period, Williams missed a pair of three point shots by "just that much"...she was just inside the arc on the first basket and had a toe inside the line on the second bucket at the halftime buzzer.
Ellison led 32-17 at the break.
The third quarter was a little better but the "D" still wasn't blocking out, didn't get their hands up and were, for the most part, ineffective. It was a performance that caught Gomez total attention. A performance that was to improve in Bryan Tuesday night.
Belton got just two scores in the fourth period....a three pointer from Fowler and a two-point putback by Dunahoo.
The challenge now is getting two district wins in a row Friday night when Belton hosts a very strong A&M Consolidated squad in Tiger Gym. An encouraging hometown crowd of fans will help.
