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With a routine, 360-mile round trip behind them, the Llano Lady basketball Jackets can now enjoy the holidays and look ahead to district play. It begins December 30 against Fredericksburg. It will be the Billies’ first visit this season to the Llano gymnasium—and the Jackets’ second.

“We were a bit rusty at the start,” head coach Jessica Quintanilla said in reference to the 37-28 win at Abilene Cooper, December 19. “I think the girls were still feeling the stress of semester exams during the week.”

Llano’s offense may not have reminded anyone of the Celtics, but the defense was obviously superb—the Cougars scored two points in the second quarter, and this was the first time this year the Jackets have held a team to under 30 for a game. “We did a lot of pressing in the first half,” Quintanilla stated.

Kirsty Fogelberg had 11 points, and coach Q praised the work of the girls off the bench: Olivia Hutto, Kallie Johanson, Taylor Francis and Carli Clayton.

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“Our goal was to be at .500 before district, and we accomplished that,” coach Q advised. Her squad is 9-8 with four consecutive wins and five victories in its last six starts. “I think we’re right where we need to be.”

Times have really changed since a 71-39 loss at Early, December 2. The coach was quoted here as saying, “Everything that could go wrong went wrong.” The locker-room mood slightly heightened with a win at the Ballinger tournament (Dec. 4-6) and two respectable losses.

At Salado, Dec. 11-13: The Jackets rallied from 20 points down to lose to a fine Goldthwaite team, 53-49. Then they came back from trailing Lorena, 9-0, to win, 51-36, and they were looking at the wrong end of an 18-4 tally vs. McGregor before rebounding to triumph, 47-40.

“Yes, coach Q really gets down on us when we fall behind so much—but I guess it motivates us,” Fogelberg explained. She wasn’t able to explain how such starts were positive influences on fans’ heartbeat levels galloping toward three digits.

“Early was a huge wake-up call,” Quintanilla observes. “We’ve been focused, for the most part, since then, and I don’t think we’ll put ourselves in a position to repeat such a fiasco.”

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“Liberty Hill is the district favorite,” Quintanilla points out. The Lady Panthers won at Fredericksburg, 64-51, in their 8-3A openers, Dec. 19.

“Burnet has a head of steam, winning the Salado tournament,” and they whipped Wimberley, 57-32. “I don’t think such scores will be common among the top four or five teams in the district,” Quintanilla contends. In the other lid-lifter matchup in the league, Ingram conquered Canyon Lake, 74-47.

Did you Know? The Warriors were district champions in 1998—they haven’t won since.

Assistant coach Mike McIntosh attended the Billies-Panthers contest, and, “He thinks we’ll be fine, and we can beat Fredericksburg,” Q points out. The Billies have some height, and Robert Remschel isn’t afraid to play 10 or 11 girls.

Quotes from earlier in the season: Travis head coach Chante Crutchfield on the Jackets’ Caitlin Coffey: “She’s one of the best in the area; a college team will get a gem when they get her.”

San Saba’s Tony Taylor: “Llano will be fine; they look good with a new coach and virtually a new bunch on the floor; they played us tougher than the other district 8-3A teams did.”

Don Layton of Ballinger: “Llano played hard; I think coach Quintanilla does a great job, and they’re going to do well. I wouldn’t want to play them in January.”

Point guard Ashley Schroeder: “We can’t be too disappointed when things don’t go our way; we’ll stay strong despite some losses.”

“I’m excited, optimistic and nervous about district,” Quintanilla reveals. “We’re still going to be in the learning process the first couple of games.

“It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the game is close near the end—who will want the ball?

“I know this much: the girls will come out and battle; their mind set is where it should be, and all we’ve done to this point is preparation for district.

“We’ve been grinding it out, and we’ve found ways to win in the fourth quarter—that’s all you can ask for.”