The coach got her first victory with the Llano Lady basketball Jackets; the dismal start at Goldthwaite was dimmed, if not forgotten; one player recorded a personal career-high in points, and a teammate wrapped up a “routine” day in athletics by competing in her second sport. The first one had taken place several counties to the east.

“We got the first-game jitters out of the way,” Jessica Quintanilla said with relief, moments after Llano had rallied to beat Lampasas, 44-39, November 15.

Goldthwaite, where Jody Conradt averaged some 40 points a game in the late 1950s, whipped the Jackets, 53-33, Tuesday night, November 11.

In the Saturday matinee in Llano, the hosts led the Badgers, 23-22, but were down by three at the half, and the visitors remained in front the entire third quarter.

Kallie Johanson made one nice move to the hoop, and Ashley Schroeder authored a superb drive and then pulled up for two off the glass. That made it, 34-32, Lampasas with eight minutes to play.

“One problem,” Quintanilla declared, “was that we had shots at point-blank range and couldn’t finish. I kept on saying, ‘Come on, let’s go, let’s go, we’ve got to score!”

“Since we stayed so close there was no reason to lose our confidence,” Schroeder explained, “and coach Q’s decisions and support and the support of our fans helped a lot.” Ashley, the junior point guard, scored 16 points—her high in a varsity jersey.

With the Badgers up by one early in the final quarter, Schroeder used the board again for a basket, and the Black and Orange led 36-35.

With five minutes, 49 seconds left on the clock, Lauren Parker entered the contest.

Several hours earlier, another clock showed she had come in 41st out of a field of 108 in the Cross Country state championships in Round Rock.

Parker, a senior making her final run in the two-mile challenge, had helped her school claim a Silver Medal in the team scoring.

“She was an instant spark,” Quintanilla noted. “She did a great job defensively, and she will help offensively soon enough.”

Parker would come up with two steals, and she came ever-so-close to converting one into a basket. Q’s squad never trailed after LP was on the floor. Her thoughts after the game: “I won’t have any trouble sleeping tonight.”

And, no, she didn’t seek out a golf course or softball field.

With just under five minutes to go, Olivia Hutto found Caitlin Coffey, and she put in two of her 10 points. A Lampasas goal made it 38-37, Jackets.

Allie Rostron helped answer that with an assist to Coffey, and then with a minute still available, Schroeder passed to Kirsty Fogelberg who mailed the ball to Caitlin who got the last basket of the game.

“Our intensity improved, and we got some key buckets,” Quintanilla said.

“When they were ahead, we remained focused,” Schroeder advised. “We knew we could beat them, and we pulled it off.”