It also served as a frustration for Belton, which forced Harker Heights out of its preferred style of play, but 2-of-20 field-goal shooting in the second half kept the Lady Tigers from making the run necessary to overcome the first-place Lady Knights.
Instead, Heights maintained its advantage and came away with a 44-32 win.
Heights (17-6, 5-0) remained atop the league standings, while Belton slipped to 9-13 overall and 2-4 as the Lady Tigers closed out the first half of their district schedule.
“Defensively, we did everything we wanted to do,” Belton coach Randy Bell said. “If we don’t foul at the end we’ve almost held them to under 40 points. All of our defensive goals were met.”
But a rash of turnovers and the inability to get point-blank shots to fall kept the Lady Tigers from building any momentum on the offensive end.
Down 20-16 at halftime, Cat Curry drove for a bucket on the Lady Tigers’ first possession of the second half. More than four minutes passed before the Lady Tigers registered another point. Belton missed its remaining eight field-goal attempts of the quarter.
Even with that kind of drought going on, the Lady Knights built only a 10-point lead during that stretch and led 31-23 going into the fourth quarter as Angie Harris, Gabby Guzman and Maeli Anderson all made free throws to keep the Lady Tigers in range.
Belton cut the margin to four in the first minute of the fourth as Aynsley Young hit a pair of free throws and Guzman went the length of the court off a steal for what became the final Lady Tiger field goal.
Young and Curry combined for the final five points - all from the free-throw line. Heights closed the game on an 8-1 run. The 12-point difference at game’s end was the largest at any time.
“We’re glad to win,” said Heights coach Lisa Hess, whose team will host No. 19 College Station A&M Consolidated (16-7, 4-1) on Friday for first-half supremacy. “We had balanced scoring, but we didn’t play our game.”
Jazalyn Harp led all scorers with 14 for the Lady Knights, followed by 10 from Shaquita Martin. Bell was pleased to keep Heights standout Bobbi Taylor in check. She finished with nine points, eight of which came in the second half.
Curry paced the Lady Tigers with 11, followed by eight from Young.
Belton has a bye on Friday before starting the second half of district at home against A&M Consolidated next Tuesday. Bell said the fourth district loss takes the Lady Tigers out of the district title conversation, but everybody can still talk about being one of the four playoff teams.
“Nobody is going to come out of this undefeated,” he said. “This was one that we let get away.
“If we play to our potential, we’re a playoff team. There’s also (six) other teams who are saying that, too, but if we defend our home court and pull off something on the road we’re a playoff team."
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