The Lady Brahmas varsity basketball team defeated Laredo Cigarroa 45-39 this past Friday and moved their District 31-4A record to 2-7 (10-12 overall).

Kaylie Hahn led her team with 15 points and Jasmine Richardson scored 13.

H.M. King took a hit early in the game when Hannah Peterson left with an ankle injury during the first quarter.

“It was a tight game the whole time,” Head Coach Ann Callis said. “After Hannah got hurt, the rest of the kids picked up their part and we were up 23-22 at halftime. We had a 12 point third quarter and Cigarroa only scored ten so our defense held up.”

The Lady Brahmas rallied late in the contest as the remaining ticks on the clock dwindled.

“The entire team stepped up and contributed,” Callis said. “We were down by two points with 2:21 remaining in the game and the girls kept their cool while becoming more aggressive and outscored Cigarroa by three points.”

The Lady Bulls also shrugged off a couple of offtarget freebies.

“We missed some freethrows in the fourth quarter that could have helped us, but we were able to get three key steals with our press defense that gave us a chance to take the lead,” Callis said. “We finished with baskets from Leila Barrera off a perfect inbounds pass from Veronica Garcia, who later contributed a steal with 11 seconds remaining, and Hahn hit two buckets in the last 2 minutes.”

One of the biggest flaws H.M. King has consistently whittled at this season is turning over the ball.

“We have turned the ball over less as the season has gone by,” Callis said. “Every opponent in this district is tough and their defense is right on, but we have been able to cut down on our turnovers by two and three a game which gives our opposition fewer possessions to score on us.”

With five games remaining in their district season, the Lady Brahmas now focus on playing spoilers.

“We are going to play with the same intensity as we did in the first half of our district season when we were in the playoff hunt,” Callis said. “We are looking to upset the remaining teams we face. While we may not be in the playoff hunt, there are other teams who are and our goal now is to be that shocker, to come in and surprise somebody.”