Unlike a good sprinter, however, the Lady Tigers have had problems getting out of the blocks.
As is becoming an unfortunate trend, Belton stumbled out of the opening tipoff against Killeen Ellison and scrambled back late, only to fall short 65-58 on Friday night at Eagle Gym in the final night of District 12-5A girls basketball play before the Christmas break.
Belton dropped to 9-8 overall and 0-2 in district, while Ellison moved to 7-7, 1-1.
“You don’t come out as dead as we did and not execute and not defend effectively, give up 20 points and expect to win,” Belton coach Randy Bell said. “You see a lot of teams battle back from that, but they usually don’t win.”
A frantic fourth quarter gave the Lady Tigers a fleeting thought of doing just that. After Belton trailed 21-8 through the first quarter and still was down 32-20 at halftime in an unfriendly building, getting back into this one was a daunting task.
But the Lady Tigers kept chipping away. A 10-2 burst in the middle of the third quarter brought Belton back within seven at 39-32 before the Lady Eagles went back up 45-34 going into the final eight minutes.
The Lady Tigers trailed by 14 early in the fourth and still were down 57-43 before a furious 12-1 stretch cut the Ellison lead to three briefly with under two minutes to play.
Aynsley Young, who pumped in 13 of her 15 points in the second half, had eight of those points, including a 3-point shot to put the Lady Tigers in contention. Following Young’s 3-pointer, a quick steal led to a 3 for Brystal Holcombe for a 58-55 game.
The Lady Eagles answered, with Jallissa Williams getting loose for a bucket along with a layup by Alayshia Hunter.
Hailey Rosebrock cut it back to four with another 3-pointer, but the Lady Eagles sealed the game from the free-throw line and the Lady Tigers were unable to get any more shots to fall in the closing minute.
“Basketball is a game of runs and the object is to maintain one as long you can and cut theirs off as soon as you can,” Bell said.
It was a satisfying victory for Ellison, which feasted on a combined half-dozen 3-pointers from Jasmine Whetstone and Jasmine Washington. Whetstone erupted for three 3s in the first quarter and led her team with 14 points.
“We’ve got to be able to hit the outside shot,” Ellison coach Sherry McKinnon said. “We knew Belton would come back. Belton put more pressure on us. They do a great job there and you can’t let yourself get comfortable.”
Kimesha Scott led all scorers with 17 points, followed by Young’s 15 and Rosebrock’s 11. Ellison had four players in double digits, led by Whetstone’s 14. Williams scored 11, and Washington and Hunter chipped in 10 each.
Belton outscored Ellison 50-44 in the final three quarters, but that is little consolation for a team that is winless in district. Belton and Ellison resume play on Dec. 29 in Copperas Cove at the Bush’s Classic. The Lady Tigers’ next district game will be at home against Temple on Jan. 3.
“We’ve had a lot of that lately,” Bell said of the slow starts and fast finishes. “It was structure. We made attempts to do some things offensively, and defensively it was just effort."
twaits@temple-telegram.com
