Hornets struggle before break
Recent tourney gives Louise trouble, goals for open week work
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley The Quick Dish After Sacred Hearts' defense collapsed around him, Cory Hajovsky faked everyone out with a quick pass for an open basket Dec. 11 in a 66-31 Louise win.

A win over Hallettsville Sacred Heart last week seemed to get the Hornets rolling well into a new basketball season, but trouble in the Goliad Tournament this past weekend dropped Louise to 4-6 on the season.

Louise hosted Sacred Heart Dec. 11 and dominated the Indians for a 63-31 win to move to 3-3 on the season.

The Hornets traveled to Goliad Thursday for their second tournament on the season and went 1-3.

They earned a win against Sacred Heart in the tournament, this time with the Indians closer at 57-46. Losses to Industrial (61-50), Karnes City (60- 48) and Ganado (62-42) have hurt Louise's momentum and put the Hornets in a situation they did not want to be in as the team approaches its semester break - facing a losing record.

After the first win over Sacred Heart, Louise Head Coach Joe Bill was praising his team's performance. The Hornets cruised to an easy win and never let the Indians close in the second half.

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Sky-High Jumper Wesley Branscum is a major post presence this season for the Hornets as one of the team's leading rebounders and scorers.

"At first, we were real sluggish when we were playing a zone defense," Bill said. "We got out of that zone, matched up with them and our kids just took off. We just jumped them. They couldn't handle the ball really well and we got some big steals from Chris Hicks and Cory Hajovsky. Everybody played real well. We moved the ball well, shared it well and got a few easy shots."

Bill said the tournament showing is a setback, but he expects the team to improve as the season continues.

While his team is practicing, they will likely continue perfecting their penetration. Frequently, Hornets guards will drive to the basket only to kick the ball out to an open man for an outside jump shot.

"That's one thing that we've worked on," Bill said. "We're trying to get some one-on-one and penetrate then dish it out when someone's open. Hopefully someone will collapse on them and we'll get an easy shot. They've done a good job with that."

Louise will resume play Dec. 27 in the Rice Consolidated Tournament. The Hornets will start district play Jan. 22 at Shiner.