Using their frenetic full-court pace with fluid substitutions, the Lady Tigers turned a first-quarter deficit into a 60-37 rout of the Class 2A Mart Lady Panthers in the opening round of the Dr Pepper Chisholm Trail Classic on Thursday night at Tiger Gym.
Belton advanced to play Waco at 10 a.m. today at Mary Hardin-Baylor’s Mayborn Campus Center. Another Lady Tiger victory would put them in a 7 p.m. game today at Tiger Gym. A loss would force a 2:30 p.m. game at UMHB today against San Antonio Taft or Brenham.
“Once we get our defense going we could get to them and just make little easy (shots),” said Belton coach Randy Bell, whose team is 2-0. “It was our defense. We scored 60 points, but I still thought our offense played terrible.
“There were only a few times when we ran the offense that we got what we were trying to get,” he said. “But that’s a result of how we’re trying to play. We’re playing hard.”
Mart, the final entrant of the 32-team field, came out as if to prove it wouldn’t be a first-round pushover. The Lady Panthers led most of the first quarter. A driving layup by Celeste Hefelfinger with two seconds left gave Mart a 15-14 lead through the first eight minutes.
Hailey Rosebrock gave the Lady Tigers a spark off the bench, pumping in six first-quarter points and working relentlessly on the boards. Rosebrock was the only one of the 10 Lady Tigers who scored in double digits, with 13 points.
The Lady Tiger press kicked into gear in the second quarter as they outscored Mart 23-4 to take a 37-19 lead into halftime. Belton reeled off 13 consecutive points, with Brystal Holcombe getting inside for a couple of baskets and Aynsley Young converting a three-point play.
The Lady Tigers scored the final 10 points of the half, with Kimesha Scott collecting half of those. Belton, which shot under 30 percent from the field from the game, was 10-of-15 in the quarter.
Belton continued to add to the lead in the second half despite not shooting particularly well by simply getting more opportunities off steals and rebounds. Belton led Mart 67-51 in shot attempts. The Lady Tigers were 12-of-30 from the free-throw line to Mart’s 2-of-11.
“We’ve got kids who can shoot it,” Bell said. “I think once we get into a solid routine and rhythm of the season that will come around.”
Young and Scott contributed nine points apiece for the Lady Tigers. Kayla Brown led the Lady Panthers with 10. Mart dropped to 0-2 and will play Hutto at 1 p.m. at UMHB.
Bell expects to formidable test from Waco, a team the Lady Tigers scrimmaged last Saturday.
“Waco is much-improved,” he said. “To be honest, they put it to us (Saturday). They seem to be more organized and they’ve got some 3-point shooters."
