CENTER, Tx -- After getting off to their best start in years, the Center Lady Roughriders have fallen on hard times since the holiday break, losing three straight games, including a pair of district contests. The Diboll Ladyjacks visited Roughrider Gymnasium Tuesday night and came away with a physical 59-48 victory over the Lady Riders.
The final score doesn't tell the entire story, however.
The Lady Riders gave up an 11-2 run to start the game and the visiting Ladyjacks rode that momentum to a 17-8 lead at the end of the first period. They continued to take advantage of Center miscues in ball handling and pushed their lead to 34-20 at the halftime break.
The third quarter was a different story, as the Lady 'Riders looked like a different team. The Center girls seemed to push themselves harder after some halftime adjustments by Head Coach Tracy Kincade. The result was a third period in which the Lady 'Riders outscored their guests 15-11 and trimmed the lead to 10 points at 45-35.
The Lady 'Riders continued to press and run the court, led by senior guard Kia Shepherd, and narrowed the Ladyjacks' lead to three points, 49-46, with only 2:30 left in the contest. That would be where the comeback would end, however, as sophomore forward Lacy Evans, who led all rebounders with 12 boards, fouled out, along with guard Kemi Cleveland, who finished with 12 points.
With those two on the bench, the Ladyjacks turned on the heat, outscoring Center 10-2 over the last two minutes of the game.
Kincade said he pleased with the second half performance by his team.
"Our kids are learning to take pride in their effort," the Center coach explained. "This league is tough and everything isn't going to go smoothly all the time. They are learning to deal with adversity and work through these situations.
"We are very young and Diboll is starting five seniors. But we can see improvement every time we hit the floor, and that is important."
Once again the Lady Riders lost the battle on the boards to a large presence in the paint. Diboll's 6-2 center, Kelsi Bryant, dominated the rebounding department, pulling down 15 boards. Nine of those were offensive, as she used her height advantage well, putting most of them back for baskets to finish with 24 points to lead all scorers.
Shepherd posted 21 points to lead the Lady Riders, while sophomore Cassie Bush added eight. Ashley Sigler and Lacy Evans scored three apiece.
Center dropped to 10-9 overall, 1-4 in District 18-3A. The Lady 'Riders will be at home once again Friday, when they host the Jasper Lady Bulldogs in district action.