Copperas Cove kept sending the Lady Tigers to the free throw line, yet time and time again Belton threw up bricks.
Ice-cold free throw shooting and costly turnovers hurt the Lady Tigers mightily in their 57-48 loss to Copperas Cove at Tiger Gym.
“We couldn’t execute offensively and it had something to do with their defense,” Lady Tigers coach Randy Bell said. “You pile on top of that shooting free throws the way we did . . .”
Belton (9-7) shot a respectable 40 percent from the field but simply never got into any offensive rhythm thanks to 31 turnovers. Just as painful was a 17-of-37 (45 percent) night at the free throw line.
The turnover problems started early. Belton turned it over five times in the first four minutes and had already racked up 10 giveaways by the end of the first quarter.
“Until you get a seasoned team that can go down and execute against a good defense,” Bell said, “you’ve got to learn from it.”
Luckily for Belton, the Lady Bulldawgs (10-5) had trouble taking full advantage of those mistakes. Copperas Cove made just 28 percent of its shots, missing a whopping 46 attempts.
Even with all those turnovers and extra possessions, Copperas Cove led by just three at 42-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Bulldawgs’ defense tightened, holding the Lady Tigers to just one field goal and forcing eight turnovers. Three times Cove forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions.
“You’ve just got to figure out a way to win,” Cove coach Richard Herbst said. “When you’re not shooting it well . . . you just have to defend well enough where you find a way to win.”
Even with those turnovers, Belton had its chance to get back into the game. But the Lady Tigers made six of 14 free throw attempts in the fourth.
“It’s just frustrating because you know the kids work so hard at it,” Bell said. “To see it slip away from them because they’re not shooting free throws . . . everybody’s going to go through that.”
Belton’s Aynsley Young scored a team-high 15 points and Hailey Rosebrock chipped in 14. Copperas Cove’s Leslie Martinez also scored 15 points, Koye Hickson had 11 and Des Nelson had 10.
On Friday the Lady Tigers travel to Killeen Ellison, which lost 49-37 to College Station A&M Consolidated on Tuesday. The Lady Bulldawgs host Bryan, which beat Harker Heights 83-26.
“You’ve got to defend your home court to win a district title,” Bell said. “That puts us a little bit back, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t win it."
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
