Neither team led by more than six points at any time, but the Belton Lady Tigers posted the final five in the last 27 seconds to come away with a 54-50 victory over Harker Heights on Tuesday night for their first District 12-5A victory.
Despite shooting just 33 percent from the field and 44 percent from the free-throw line, the Lady Tigers used some of their tenacity to keep the game close throughout and make the plays at the end.
“We had some defensive lapses and we didn’t shoot the ball well,” said Belton coach Randy Bell, whose team is 11-12 overall and 1-3 in district with a home date against Killeen Shoemaker set for Friday. “But hopefully the girls learned that you can still find ways to hang in there and win.”
The Lady Knights carried a 39-37 lead into the fourth quarter, but the score was tied four times in the last eight minutes. The last tie came after Heights went up by four, but a putback by Brystal Holcombe and two free throws by Hailey Rosebrock knotted things 49-49 with 2:09 to play.
Bobbi Taylor connected at the line for the last of her game-high 21 points to put the Lady Knights back on top at 50-49 with 42 seconds to go.
Kimesha Scott answered for the Lady Tigers by driving across the lane and making a running bucket to give Belton its first lead since midway through the third.
Belton’s Amber Peters rejected a scoring attempt by Brianna Golden and Meghan Braeuer hit a pair of free throws after an intentional hard foul called on Taylor. Aynsley Young added another free throw in the closing seconds to account for the final margin.
Rosebrock and Peters proved to be crucial both as interior defensive and offensive threats, leading the Lady Tigers with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Emily Bartek also was effective inside and added 10 points. Peters helped shut down the 6-2 Taylor - who scored 20 points in the first three quarters with the help of a trio of 3-pointers - in the final quarter.
“We just never found any rhythm,” said Heights coach Shirretha Nelson, whose team dipped to 4-17 and 1-3. “We got up by five and we started rushing and were impatient. It’s a tough loss. Belton played great and was aggressive.”
Belton scored 10 consecutive points to take a 13-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Knights came back to grab a 24-22 halftime advantage and led most of the second half.
“I’m proud of the girls for keeping their heads up,” Bell said. “They just kept plugging away."
twaits@temple-telegram.com
