MINERAL WELLS – The Brownwood Lady Lions secured a critical road victory and completed a District 6-4A sweep of the Mineral Wells Lady Rams with a 36-25 triumph Friday night.
The Lady Lions (19-11, 3-3), who finish district play against Stephenville (19-10, 4-2) and Graham (8-13, 1-4), own the tiebreaker over Mineral Wells (17-14, 1-5) should it be needed to determine postseason positioning.
“That was a much-needed road win, especially with the way we’ve struggled on the road,” said Lady Lions head coach Heather Hohertz. “I told the girls all we had to do was be up by one at the final buzzer and I thought my kids responded to that and played well.”
Down 8-3 midway through the first period, the Lady Lions ended the first half on a 20-2 run and held Mineral Wells scoreless in the second period to open a 23-10 edge the break.
“They responded after we got down and got some steals and rebounds that got us out in transition, which we’re really good at,” Hohertz said. “That really helped us get going a little bit. Defensively, we took out space with our hands and feet very well. The few fouls we got called on us, we got stagnant with our feet and didn’t watch the cutter come across. But overall, I thought we did a good job taking away what they wanted to do.”
The Lady Lions’ lead peaked at 17 points, 30-13, late in the third period and Brownwood carried a 30-15 edge into the fourth quarter. A 10-2 run by Mineral Wells shaved the Lady Lions’ lead to 32-25 with 3:09 left, but Brownwood tallied the final four points and held the Lady Rams scoreless the rest of the way.
Hannah Dean led the charge with a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds while Icess Hall chipped in 11 points and committed just three turnovers. Adyson Neel contributed six points on a couple of three-pointers and Kimber Green sank a pair of free throws.
“Hannah had a huge game for us, and that was much needed, and some of her buckets were real tough shots,” Hohertz said. “She knocked one down from the elbow in the fourth quarter when we were really struggling to score. Icess handled the ball well, only had three turnovers to go with 11 points, so those two played a crucial role in the victory tonight.”
Brownwood shot 27 percent (10 of 36) from the floor, 16 percent (3 of 16) at the three-point arc, and 65 percent (13 of 20) at the free throw line. The Lady Lions committed just nine turnovers, recorded eight steals and pulled down 26 rebounds.
The Lady Lions wrap up the home portion of their schedule at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday as they host Graham in a rematch of a 39-30 Brownwood road loss from Jan. 12.
“We’re going to have to come out and perform on Senior Night,” Hohertz said. “That loss is still on my brain and we’re motivated to get back in the gym and play them again. We’re going to have to shoot the ball from the outside with their zone, and we’ll have to be able to play man and zone to take care of their tall post players. But I think our kids will be ready to go for the last game of the season at Warren Gym.”