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They were Llano’s Big Three all season, and the 8-3A coaches thought they were standouts, also. Allie Rostron was named Offensive Player of the Year, while Ashley Schroeder won a place on the All-District team. Olivia Hutto was a second-team selection.

“They carried us most of the year,” head coach Jessica Jendrzey said, “and they conducted themselves well on and off the court. They’ll be sorely missed.” All are seniors.

Rostron averaged close to 15 points a game and seven rebounds a contest. Her superb achievements included 20 points, December 31, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, when Llano only managed 37 in a six-point win over Lampasas. She registered back-to-back double-doubles against Vandegrift and Liberty Hill in mid-January.

“You have to realize,” Jendrzey noted, “every time Allie touched the ball she was double-and-triple-teamed. She contributed in so many ways and expanded her play. She had a bad night or two, but never because of a lack of effort.”

The Allie File Continues: She popped home four threes and picked up 20 points, January 26, in a 47-38 loss to Burnet. Her all-time moment was a triple-double at Rouse, February 9: 24 points, 10 rebounds, and an unheard-of 11 steals.

“Ashley stepped up at times when she had to,” the coach advised, “and one of those was China Spring, our bidistrict game.” Ash had 16 points, half the Lady Jackets’ total in that 42-32 loss, and she hit the last three threes of her splendid career. She wound up with 49 in 32 games in 2009-10, while leading the squad at point guard.

Schroeder, who appears to love the game about as much as anyone, averaged close to 11.5 points a night, and punished Marble Falls with 16, December 17. She hit her final eight free throws, was 11-for-12 overall, and led a remarkable rally from down 31-20 after three quarters to a 44-37 triumph in overtime. On January 4, she put in the winning basket for a 37-36 upset of Dripping Springs.

“Olivia Hutto is a kid every team needs, a trash man,” said Jendrzey, with a smile on her face and praise in her voice. “With that long and lanky body, she was always hustling. She’d get a block, a big steal, an offensive putback, come up with a critical loose ball, and run the floor.”

The Big O, or Hut, didn’t need to be a big scorer with the crash-and-burn fear she could put on a foe’s face. She did, though, mail in two threes (along with two twos) in about a two-minute span late in the game, as Llano made a frantic, albeit unsuccessful, comeback at Liberty Hill. Nobody seemed to offer such a blur as Olivia; no one seemed to accelerate like she did or present such a thunderous race from one end of the floor to its twin 94 feet away.

The Other Guys

Burnet’s Shay Graeter was named Most Valuable Player for the district. Her teammate, McKinsey Cozart, and Liberty Hill’s Kourtney Bevers were chosen co-Defensive Players of the Year.

Our Other Guys

Seniors Alyson Shaffer and Taylor Francis received honorable mention as did junior Sarah Rucker and freshman Cierra Jordan.

2010-2011

There’s just not enough experience returning to call next season anything but a huge challenge.

“You play the hand you’re dealt,” 10-year-coaching-veteran Jendrzey acknowledges. “We’re losing seven seniors; we’ll have juniors, who’ve finished a year on the junior varsity. We may have freshmen and sophomores playing varsity.

“All you can do is practice a lot, play a bunch in the summer, hustle, and play one game at a time when the season arrives. We may be similar to the Rouse and Vandegrift teams (freshmen and sophs), and they competed well.

“I had this situation at Tilden my third year (seven years ago), and we had tears among the kids and frustration on my part. I learned you can only ask the players to do what they’re capable of doing. We won 8-10 games.”

There was no town meeting like in Hickory. There were no cries of a vote to oust the mentor, and no need for the trumpet to signal: “The coach stays!”

“After our last game at Tilden, the kids made a commitment to practice in the offseason, to work in the gym in the summer every day, and the following year we won 26-28 games and reached the region quarterfinals.” So, there’s hope? “There’s hope, yeah.”