Three of the Lady Tigers’ next four games are on the road, but they will be home at the right time. After a brief break to celebrate the new year, Belton is set to return to action Friday, when it will travel to play Robinson at 3:30 p.m. Then, on Tuesday, the Lady Tigers play at China Spring with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
On Jan. 9, however, Belton returns home for the first time since defeating Navasota 54-45 on Dec. 19, and the Lady Tigers will need all the support they can get as they open District 16-5A play against a state-ranked rival. No. 6 Lake Belton serves as Belton’s first opponent in its 10-game league schedule, and upsetting the Lady Broncos will not be easy. Although results from Lake Belton’s trip to the three-day Killeen ISD tournament, which concluded Wednesday, were unavailable, the Lady Broncos were dominant through their first 19 games. En route to an undefeated record, Lake Belton was rarely challenged, winning all but three games by double digits while averaging 62.8 points per game.
The Lady Tigers follow the contest by returning to the road with a trip to Waco University on Jan. 13. Belton concludes the first round with games versus Killeen Chaparral (Jan. 16) and Killeen Ellison (Jan. 20) and at Waco (Jan. 23) before repeating the series at the opposite locations.
The Lady Tigers have not qualified for the playoffs since 2022. There is reason to believe, however, the skid could end. After winning a combined 21 games during the previous three seasons highlighted by last year’s 13-20 showing, Belton owned a 10-8 record heading into the two-day Waco Midway tournament earlier this week. Results from the event were unavailable, but the Lady Tigers took a three-game win streak into the tournament, and they had won three of their previous five games.
Offensively, sophomore guard Isabella Warner has been instrumental to the team’s offensive success, averaging approximately 20 points to go with three rebounds, three steals, an assist and a block per game. Sophomore forward Emma Harvey and senior guard Emma Flory complement the production with 6.9 and 6.5 points, respectively. While the Lady Broncos are the district’s frontrunner to be crowned champion, following a 14-5 start, Chaparral appears poised to contend for the title as well, creating an intriguing race among the remainder of the field for positioning in the final standings.
