But the difference between the Bell County rivals stands in the form of Shantae Hewins.
During the last five games, the Tem-Cats (11-9) have discovered their identity and formed an attitude thanks to 5-8 senior Hewins stepping forward and accepting the leadership role.
That was a major reason Temple earned second place at Copperas Cove’s Bush’s Chicken Holiday Classic. At 7 tonight, Hewins and the Tem-Cats will look to maintain that momentum as they battle Belton (10-11) at Tiger Gym, with both teams in dire need of a 12-5A victory.
“It makes a difference because in the end you know who your go-to person is,” first-year Temple coach Tamarah Sanders said about Hewins’ leadership. “When I say go-to, that go-to person makes everybody else better and gets everyone involved.”
A three-year starter, Hewins has 75 points in the last five games, including 21 against College Station A&M Consolidated, and has averaged more than 16 attempts while leading her team in rebounds and steals.
With her taking control, Alisha Mosley has settled into a secondary role nicely, scoring a career-best 17 points in a 60-51 win against Tuscola Jim Ned.
Destiny Bell - who left Wednesday’s game against Cove with what likely is a broken finger - made a late steal and two game-winning free throws as the Tem-Cats nipped Killeen Ellison 47-45 in overtime. Post Maya Williams is a scoring threat on the baseline, while freshman point guard Loryn Goodwin has come off the bench and shown great poise.
“I think they’ve filled in perfectly,” Sanders said. “I think they realize they have a chance to make the playoffs and they know exactly what they need to do.”
Whereas Temple has Hewins to steer the ship, Belton still is searching for someone to fill that role.
The Lady Tigers have executed well offensively at times and looked completely stagnant in others.
They trailed Ellison 57-43 before turning it on late in a 65-58 defeat. Against Whitehouse, they held a 27-23 lead, only to go cold for the final 2½ quarters in a 56-34 loss.
“If we can apply defensive pressure and they (Whitehouse) can’t handle it, we were hurting them early,” Belton coach Randy Bell said after the loss to Whitehouse. “Then they settled down, started driving some gaps and hitting some 3s and not let that bother them. We don’t turn back around and say, ‘OK we need to execute offensively.’”
Senior Aynsley Young and junior Hailey Rosebrock lead the team in scoring, but just like the rest of the team, they haven’t been able to score when the Lady Tigers have needed it most.
Bell hopes someone takes charge soon. With Belton staring at an 0-3 league record, tonight would be a perfect time for someone to step forward against the Tem-Cats.
“We’ll have to do something to combat their speed, their athleticism and defensive pressure,” Bell said. “Whoever comes out of that game going into the solid stretch of district games at 0-3 is going to be in a big hole.”
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
