After losing to Johnson City 56-51 January 7, the Mason High School girls basketball team crushed Center Point 82-7 January 10.
Head coach Alicia Cummings summed up the contest against Johnson City.
'They came out and started real well in the first quarter,' she said. 'We came out a little flat and dug ourselves a hole early.'
The Lady Eagles led 29-8 after the first period thanks to a shooting percentage of 84 percent.
'Those were three-pointers,' Cummings said. 'They hit several in the first quarter.'
The half-time score was 42-14.
'They shot real well,' the coach said. 'We shot well overall. We didn't execute well on offense. We missed some shots around the basket.'
In the locker room, Cummings had a clear message for her players.
'This isn't who we are and that's not the kind of basketball we play,' she recalled saying. 'We want to make sure we send a message to them. We're never really going to lay down. My message was fight. We need to come out in the second half and show them who we are.'
The Cowgirls trimmed the deficit to four points, and she applauded how hard they tried.
'They made a great effort,' she said. 'I was proud of our fight. You find out a lot about yourself in those types of situations. You make tremendous gains in tough times.'
Following the contest, she had another messages to her team, one that was on full display against Center Point.
'You have to be ready (to play) all the time,' she said. 'There aren't too many of those down games. I was proud of our kids for their comeback. We ran out of time. If we'd had four more minutes, we probably would have gotten them.'
The contest against the Lady Pirates was over soon after it began. That's because the Cowgirls got high-percentage shots thanks to their pressure defense that forced turnovers. They quickly turned those into baskets.
'We came out and pushed the ball in transition and got scoring opportunities,” Cummings said. 'We got a lot of easy buckets because of our pressure.'
Going into the week, Mason was tied with Johnson City for third at 4-2 in District 29-2A, while Goldthwaite and San Saba were each at 5-1.
'We took care of business,' the coach said. 'I was proud of the way we took care of business. We played sharp and well. Every chance we get to come out and play is an opportunity to get better. Our kids came out and played a strong game.'
The second round begins this week.
The Cowgirls visit Junction Friday, January 17, and host Harper Tuesday, January 21. The subvarsity takes the court at 4:00 p.m. with the varsity at 6:30 p.m.
