Struggles in keeping possession of the ball hurt the Lehman Lady Lobos basketball team in a 62-35 nondistrict loss to the Georgetown Eagles Monday at the Lobo Den.
A physical Georgetown (6-5) defense caused a plethora of Lobo turnovers and prevented Lehman’s (3-7) offense from getting into a rhythm throughout the game. Lehman High head coach Brad Taylor said one of his team’s key issues so far is taking care of the ball and limiting opponents’ second chance points.
“In this game, we gave up a bunch of second chance points and we turned over the ball,” Taylor said. “In the third quarter I know we had eight turnovers, that’s something I’ve been harping on, talking to the kids about taking care of the ball because at the end of the day, it’s killing us right now.”
After struggling in the first quarter and only scoring four points, the Lady Lobos bounced back with a strong effort in the second frame due in part to sophomore point guard Kayla Presley’s eight points. Lehman cut the Eagles’ lead to eight points by halftime. However, turnovers and issues with transition defense and rebounding got the best of Lehman in the third quarter as Georgetown jumped out to a 43-22 lead.
“That’s kind of the issue we’ve been facing because they know we only have one legit ball handler and what they try to do is to try and get the ball out of her hands,” Taylor said. “We just have to learn how to relax under pressure and just find the open person. If two people are on you, then someone else is open.”
Georgetown caused 17 Lehman turnovers as opposed to the Eagles’ 10.
While the turnover margin isn’t overly large, the Eagles were able to capitalize with fast break opportunities, while Lehman was unable to convert on most of the turnovers they created. Taylor said the Eagles out-hustled the Lady Lobos on transitions, which led to Georgetown’s second half success.
Even in a blowout loss, there were bright spots for the young Lehman team. Presley finished the game with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals, and showed off her shooting range with multiple three pointers in the fourth quarter. Junior forward Bridgette Ramirez contributed 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block.
For Georgetown, senior Jaelyn Knight and junior McCall Hampton dominated the paint for all four quarters. Hampton finished with 21 points and four rebounds, while Knight ended the game with 16 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist.
Taylor said he took away some positives from his team performance, despite the outcome.
“I saw some good things, after I kind of chewed their tails a little bit,” said Taylor. “They started talking a little bit more and I started seeing people blocking out on the defensive end.”
Lehman will look to bounce back this week in the Hays CISD classic tournament which runs from Nov. 29-Dec. 1.
