BY GALEN WELLNICKI
Wednesday was a disappointing day for the Georgetown Lady Eagles.
Prior to the evening’s game-condition scrimmage with Pflugerville Hendrickson, coach Rhonda Farney learned that the team’s only returning starter — 6-foot-1 sophomore Emery Herman — would be foregoing the remainder of her basketball career because of a medical condition.
“I think today has been a little unsettling for the kids,” Farney said in reference to the loss of Herman after dropping a 40-28 decision to the host Lady Hawks. “We’ve got to look at new rotations and some new roles. We’ve got to figure things out and we’ve got good kids to do it with.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
For the Lady Eagles it was a combination of poor shooting from both the floor — especially inside — and free-throw line, inaccurate passing and defensive breakdowns. A smallish, but quick Henderickson team took advantage of the Lady Eagles’ play.
The Lady Eagles, coming off a season in which they reached the Region III-5A finals, will open the regular season on the road at 7 p.m. Monday when they play their traditional lid-lifter with Waco Midway. After playing the Pantherettes, Georgetown will compete in th 16-team Eaton Invitational in suburban Fort Worth on Thursday through Saturday. They will open tournament play against Azle at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Midway, which is picked to finish second behind Killeen in District 8-6A, opened its season Friday night with an 57-31 victory over Lancaster. The Pantherettes are led by 5-foot-7 senior “take it to the basket” guard JaNaiya Davis.
Despite its execution woes, the Lady Eagles only trailed Hendrickson, 16-14, at the half before the Lady Hawks took control, outscoring GHS, 15-4, in the third quarter. Both teams scored nine points in the fourth period.
Returnees Maddie Vickers and Jaelyn Knight led GHS with seven points each.
Knight, a 5-11 junior, who missed five weeks with a shoulder injury suffered in a summer tournament, was making her return after being on the shelf for five weeks and looked rusty at times as her shots wouldn’t fall.
Farney started a lineup of Vickers, Knight, Josie Weirich, Jade Smith and Kylie Ellsworth and substituted freely during the scrimmage.
“It was good to have Jaelyn back,” Farney said. “She hasn’t been able to play for quite a while.”
Georgetown posted one-side advantages in both the junior varsity and freshman scrimmages.
“I was proud of the way our sub-varsity teams performed,” Farney said.
The freshman and junior varsity games at Midway will begin at 5:30 p.m.
HENDRICKSON 40, GEORGETOWN 28
GHS (28) — Ali Isbell 0, Josie Weirich 3, Samari O’Brien 2, Kylie Ellsworth 0, Mackenzy Mouton 0, Jaelyn Knight 7, Maddie Vickers 7, Emili Harris 2, Jade Smith 3, McCall Hampton 4. Totals: 10 7-16 28.
HENDRICKSON (40) — No name in book 10, Makayla Ward 8, Alyssa Solis 7, Zoe Nelson 4, Gina Pastucci 4, Hannah Blair 3, Brooke Lopez 2, No name in book 2. Totals: 14 10-16 40.
Halftime: Hendrickson, 16-14. 3-point baskets: GHS, Weirich; PH, Ward, unnamed player.
Note: Complete statistics unavailable.
JUNIOR VARSITY
The Lady Eagles JV jumped to a 28-4 halftime lead and went on to post a 46-16 victory in the game-simulated scrimmage. They outscored the young Lady Hawks, 14-2 in each of the first two quarters. Georgetown’s largest lead was 32 points, twice early in the fourth quarter.
Sophomores Mercedes Robledo and Hailey Smith led the GHS scoring with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Other scorers were Keiana San Miguel 6, Kylee Sander 5, A’brielle Abrams 4, Maya Perry 4 and Alicia King 2. Hailey Hanson also played for coach Kellye Richardson’s team.
FRESHMEN
The GHS freshman talent pool took a 37-22 victory in their game-condition scrimmage with Hendrickson. The Lady Eagles led 23-13 at the half and outscored the Lady Hawks, 14-9, in the second half.
Graci Harris paced Georgetown with 13 points, followed by Skylar Nuegent, Leis Crissman and Abby Salinas with totals of eight, six and four points, respectively. Vyctorya Lehr, Lauren Woodard and Cheyenne Garcia added two points each.
The freshmen are coached by Kristin Curtis and Kevin Spruill.