Above, Naomi Scott battles for a loose ball on defense during first quarter action against Palestine, Tuesday, Feb. 3rd. At right, Bret Ralson spins on the baseline to put up a short jumper during a 68-40 win over the Wildcats the same night. The Browsboro Bears and Bearettes both used second quarter runs coupled with stout defensive play to break open their contests against their Palestine counterparts during Tuesday, Feb. 3rd action.

The Bearettes began with the opening of the second quarter, starting a 21-0 run of unanswered points that stretched until the 4:41 mark of the third period.

And a 1-3-1 Bearettes zone defense held the Palestine Lady Cats scoreless throughout the second period.

The Brownsboro girls are state-ranked at No. 16 in Class 3A, according to the latest Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, posted Feb. 9 on the TABC Web site. District rival Crockett is ranked No. 15 in that poll.

Head coach Fred Griffin said the defensive effort keyed the early lead his squad posted in the first quarter.

Statesman photos/ Loyd Cook "I think that's the first time we played a zone defense the whole year," Griffin said. "I don't think (Palestine) ever adjusted, then we were way ahead and they couldn't come back."

During the 16-0 second quarter, all of the Bearettes points came from two sources; Senior point guard Naomi Scott, who scored 10 of her gameleading 15 points in the second period, and sophomore post Hillary Shaffer, who recorded six of her 12 points in the game during the pivotal period.

The game was never in question as the varsity girls built as much as a 30-point lead, a margin reached on at least three occasions, on their way to a 45-22 win over Palestine.

Others lighting the scoreboard for the Bearettes included: LeCandace Bell with 7, Sabrina Bradley with 3, and Jessie Dingler with 1 point.

Friday, Feb. 6th was an important match with the No. 15 Crockett Lady Bulldogs, with both they and the Bearettes entering play at 6-2 in district.

Crockett took the game by a count of 54-34, riding a fourth quarter surge where they outscored Brownsboro 19-5.

Free throws also played a part, as the Lady Bulldogs knocked down 8-of-9 shots from the charity stripe while the Bearettes only had four attempts in the entire second half.

Hillary Shaffer led Brownsboro with 10 points, while LaQuesha Cooper had 9. Others scoring for the Bearettes included: Megan Hain with 7 points; Chelsea Chambers with 6 points; and LaCandace Bell with 2 points.

Varsity Boys

Coach Jeff Hutchins' varsity boys squad put away their Palestine Wildcats opponent by the end of the third quarter, posting a 28-point home victory on Tuesday, Feb. 3rd.

The Bears fought off a small, second quarter Wildcats comeback as they finished the first half with a 23-point lead, a margin that would still be at 22 points at the end of the third.

"We jumped on (Palestine) early, then at the start of the second quarter they had that run," Hutchins said of the Wildcats opening the period on a 5-0 streak. "So we called a time out to stop it and get some energy. That was good timing since we got (the Palestine run) stopped and the guys were shooting pretty good after that."

Four Bears varsity starters finished with double-digit scoring, to the delight of Coach Hutchins.

Ryan Smith led all scorers with 16 points, while Jacob McCarthy "was dialing it up from long distance," Hutchins noted, as he recorded all 12 of his points on four, 3-pointers.

Tristain Warren and Zach Bailey were the other two in double-digits in the home game. Warren notched 11 points, while Bailey added 10 in the 68-40 Bears victory.

Others contributing to the one-sided win included: Kyle Price with 5 points; Seth Martin with 4 points; and Bret Ralson, Tyler Rogers and Adam Dingler with 2 points each.

Friday, Feb. 6th's game against the Crockett Bulldogs saw the Bears fall behind by 16 after the first quarter ... a hole Brownsboro couldn't climb out. Crockett took the victory, 78-58, as the rest of the game was played nearly evenly.

Ryan Smith led the Bears with 21 points, including two, 3- pointers. Others scoring for Brownsboro included Tristain Warren and Kyle Price with 8 points each; Zack Bailey with 7; Jacob McCarthy with 5 points; Bret Ralson with 4; Tyler Rogers with 3; and Adam Dingler with 2 points.

Junior Varsity

Boys and girls junior varsity squads matched their older counterparts as both defeated Palestine in home action on Tuesday, Feb. 3rd.

The Bears posted a 20- point win, defeating Palestine 62-42 after a slow start.

Deandre Taylor and Sir Shae Bowman led all scorers with 14 points each; Ryan Owens had 13; Cameron Warren and Corbin Duke had 6 points each; Kyle Faulkner, Scott Spearman and Kyle Yarbrough had 2 points each; and Jonathan Radford had 1 point.

The Bearettes junior varsity had a 16-point win, posting a 40-24 victory over the Palestine Lady Cats JV team, outscoring their opponents in each of the last three quarters. A 5-point lead at half increased to 14 after three periods, before the final tally was posted.

Tiffany Hurd led the Bearettes JV with 12 points; Bryanna Delgado had 8; Carley Smith and Chelsea Holcomb had 4 points each; Brittany Capps and Kashia Johnson had 3 points each; Krystilyn Woods had 2; and Haley Crist had 1 point.

The junior varsity Bearettes also fell at the hands of Crockett. The final score was 52-24, during Friday, Feb. 6th action.

Tiffany Hurd again led Brownsboro, in this game with 7 points; Kayla Winnett and Cashay Carter had 5 points each; Bryanna Delgado had 3 points; Haley Crist scored 2 points; and Chelsea Holcomb and Carley Smith recorded 1 point each.

Freshman

Editor's Note: There was only one freshman girls game and the scorebook was unclear as to the result.

The boys freshman squad was the only one to play on Tuesday, Feb. 3rd, since Palestine did not field a freshman girls team for the scheduled match-up.

The Bears freshman team completed the Tuesday night sweep of Palestine, posting a 12- point win over the Wildcats.

Nick Jones led all scorers with 29 points in the 63-51 victory.

Other Bears players scoring in the game included: Keuntis Thompson with 14; Trey Volentine with 6; Devon Johnson with 4; D.Z. Moss with 3; Brett Conner, Chris Bryant and Grayson Parker with 2 points each; and Dante Broussard with 1 point.

The junior varsity squad suffered a narrow, 2-point loss at the hands of Crockett on Friday, Feb. 6th. The final was 53-51 with the Bulldogs taking the win.

Keuntis Thompson led the Bears with 21 points; Nick Jones had 16; Trey Volentine scored 6 points; D.Z. Moss and Dante Broussard had 2 points each; and Grayson Parker had 1 point.