(Blaine Woodbury Photo) Jessica Green, shown here against Lampasas, tallied nine points, eight steals, three rebounds and four assists in a win over Burnet.

By Chuck Licata

Both the varsity basketball squads for Liberty Hill High School scored big road victories Tuesday (Jan. 24) at rival Burnet High School.

The Lady Panthers (6-0 in District 25-3A, 25-4 overall) took control of 25-3A by handling the Lady Dawgs, 47-34, and pushing Burnet (4-2 in 25-3A) two games back in district play with four games to play.

Meantime, the Panthers (4-0, 23-3) won the 25-3A Battle of the Unbeatens, handling the Bulldogs (3-1 in 25-3A) by a 47-24 count.

The following is a summary of the two games.

LHHS girls 47, Burnet 34

Kourtney Bevers scored 14 points and Taylor Russell hauled down 10 rebounds as the Lady Panthers worked through a low-scoring, physical contest to score a victory over rival Burnet.

“The effort we gave tonight may have been the best we’d given in three years,” stated LHHS coach Matt Kirschner. “This is the hardest we’ve come out and (played) against Burnet.

“I got a text message from one of the players today and it said, ‘Coach, believe in us, we got this.’ I’m really proud of the effort.”

“I think we came out hard and fighting,” stated Jessica Green, who tallied nine points, eight steals, three rebounds and four assists. “We were here to take care of business and we did it.”

As for the low score of the game, Kourtney Bevers (14 points, six steals, four rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot), “We have a run-and-gun system; if we’re missing layups and turning the ball over then it doesn’t look like we’re doing well. But, we’re still creating turnovers and building up a lead.”

The Lady Panthers created 29 turnovers and shot 66 percent (6-of-9) from the free-throw line. Liberty Hill shot 5-of-19 (26 percent) from beyond 3-point arc (Bevers and Green made two long-balls apiece while Lorrie Potts had one).

The Lady Panthers had an “interesting” 8-0 scoring run from the first through the second period. The run came over a span of 3:42 starting from the 2:05 mark of the first period. The slower game pace (a Burnet trait) kept LHHS to one free throw by Green, back-to-back 3-pointers Bevers and Green, and two free throws from Bevers. That put Liberty Hill up 18-5.

The Lady Panthers got two free throws from Russell (six points, three steals and three assists to go with the 10 boards) and a Green layup to take a 22-9 lead at halftime.

Other LHHS contributors included Jordan Redmond (nine points, six rebounds, two steals, two blocks and two assists); Potts (three points, two rebounds and one steal); Maddie Metzger (two points, three rebounds, one block and one assist); Stephanie Metzger (two points and two rebounds); Cera Dixon (two points, three steals and an assist); Macy Floyd (three steals and two assists); Chandler Christianson (two rebounds); and, Lauren Jackson (one rebound).

LHHS girls 47, Burnet 24

The Panthers had to be amazed at Burnet’s stall-game offense at various times throughout the second half.

That’s because Barry Boren’s squad led the entire game – the stall tactic by the Bulldogs, who chewed off minutes at a time trailing by as many as 12 seemed to be counter-productive.

Still the homestanding Bulldogs were within eight at the 4:55 mark of the fourth period (36-28). However, the Panthers launched on a game-deciding 10-0 run over the next 4:05 to open a 46-28 advantage.

Shane LaCaille dazzled the Bulldogs, scoring a game-high 27 points while knocking down two 3-pointers and hitting 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. Even more amazing, Stephen Graves – who averages 16.8 points per contest – didn’t score a single point.

That, in itself, makes a statesment of how much of a team effor the Panthers gave each and every game.

Behind LaCaille, who also tallied five assists, four rebounds, one steal and a blocked shot, was Blake Danielak (nine points, three highlight-reel blocked shots and one rebound); Corey McKinzey (four points and three rebounds); Tyeler Greenstreet (three points, fix rebounds, three steals and two assists); Blake Hare (three points); Robert Koepl (one point and two rebounds); and, Nik Crozier (one assist).