The San Saba Lady Dillos won their season opener as they downed the Lady Lions from Brownwood by a score of 55-43. Their “matchup” zone gave us some trouble but we settled down and made some plays down the stretch. We had a double digit lead on them a few times but could never really seem to put them away.

We gave them some troubles with our man press but got into foul trouble which led to several freethrows for them. I thought we played hard and did some good things. Putting them at the line for the entire second quarter was a downer but overall it was a good first game. We’re still not blocking out well enough but will continue to work on it in practice to get better.

Tarah Crosby shot the ball well from the outside and Haylee Oliver and Nicole Sears had good games inside for us on both offense and defense. All of our guards did a good job of harassing and pressuring the Lady Lion guards. This past Saturday we got an unexpected gift as Winters came here to play us. We were originally going there but a busted water main caused them to travel to San Saba.

Well, to be honest we didn’t play well early. We looked like we had been at a football game most of the night but so did Winters so we can throw that excuse out

the window. We were up two at the end of the first quarter but we “righted the ship” and scored thirty points in the second quarter. The biggest downer of the contest was that we put the Lady Blizzards at the freethrow line before the first quarter was over. I like our aggressiveness but we’ve got to be smarter. Haylee Oliver and Nicole Sears lead us in scoring with 19 and 13 respectively while Johna Reavis chipped in 10. Blocking out is still our achilles heel so we’ll keep working to fix it.

Well, if you’re a HOOPS FANATIC you can get your

fill of basketball this Thursday through Saturday as 20 Varsity and 3 Junior Varsity teams invade the county of San Saba. We’ve had to adjust our tournament a bit due to the football playoffs which is a great problem to have but it will all work out.

Teams that are entered are as

follows: Goldthwaite, Hamilton, Brady, Bridgeport, Georgetown JV, Burnet, Harper, Ingram, Breckenridge, Scurry Rosser, Bruceville Eddy, San Saba, Jarrell, Mason, Lockhart, Liberty Hill, Gatesville, Junction, Smithville, and Reagan County. The three junior varsity teams are San Saba, Brady, and Mason.

On paper I would have to

say that Burnet is the favorite. They have several kids back from a Regional Tournament team and are very scrappy and well coached.

Bridgeport was 32-2 last year but graduated lots but I’ve heard their JV was really good last year so they might just be reloading. Smithville returns several players as does perennial playoff team

Mason.

Goldthwaite is led by their great post Cheesy Neely and always plays well in this tournament. Liberty Hill returns and always has a solid program. They have a new coach in Matt Kirschner so we might see a different type of Lady Panther team.

Probably the most unique team

in the tournament might be Georgetown’s JV. They have a

player who is a move in who is supposed to be really good.

She’s around 6’4" and is being heavily recruited by many

college teams. Her waiver to play on the varsity was not approved by the UIL so that’s the reason she is playing on Georgetown’s JV. They play Burnet at 10:00 in the White Gym on Thursday so you might want to check her out if you have nothing else to do. Of course our Lady Dillos will hopefully be in the mix as well.

Nicole Sears and Haylee Oliver lead the Lady Dillo attack along with returnees Tarah Crosby, Jaena Edwards, Johna Reavis, Nessa Vasquez and Bianca Zepeda. A bracket should be in the paper for times, but the Lady Dillos open up the tournament on Thursday versus Bruceville Eddy at 8:30 p.m.

If we win we would play the Jarrell/Mason winner on Friday at 1:00 p.m. On Friday the last games will start at 1:00 and hopefully end around 2:30 so we can all head to Early, America for Round 2.

With that being said, let’s give it up for the Dillos and once again like I always say in the Lady Dillo

Report- “HOW BOUT THEM DILLOS BABY!!!” Man, what a game last Friday but better yet how about the crowd and Dillo

following? You guys were AWESOME. Let’s do the same this

Friday as well. We’re the visitors so you better get there early in Early if you want a seat. Let’s do like Mack Brown has said before- “Come Early, Be Loud, and Stay

Late!!!” Last week I went OFFENSIVE on the SHOUTOUTS so this week I’ll turn the tables and go with a foursome that made some great plays and hits last Friday night. The SHOUTOUT this week goes to the secondary lead by the

SHERIFF-Chase Key and the rest of the POSSE- Gary Gant, Chance Gotcher, and Diego Gonzales. This group had some big interceptions and some big hits to get the D SQUAD going.

I would also like to mention an injured group of the POSSE- Hector Jimenez. He’s done a great job all year and even though he’s not out there physically his sideline presence keeps this group focused and ready for battle.

Great job last week guys and KEEP ON KEEP’N ON!! Everyone knows that Cisco is good and that’s fine but here’s a newsflash for the State of Texas- so are our DILLOS!!! HUNKER DOWN BOYS AND KEEP IT GOIN!! There’s no doubt in this guys’ mind that we can win. Don’t doubt for one second that it can’t happen and Dillo Fans, you guys

do the same thing. Don’t hope for a win, EXPECT ONE!!! There’s something magical in the air these days in the County of San Saba so everyone load up and help cheer the Dillos to Round 3!!! Phil 4:13