Mason Cowgirls pass early test with road win over Ballinger

BALLINGER — The Mason Cowgirls and head coach Alicia Cummings know what it takes to build a top-level basketball team.

They just haven't done it together yet.

Cummings took over at Mason in the offseason after coaching against the Cowgirls for the last 10 years while at San Saba.

Nine games into her first season at Mason, things are slowly coming together.

Mason took another step in the right direction Tuesday, going on the road and beating Ballinger 47-36 in a matchup of two of the area's best girls basketball teams.

Mason improved to 5-4, while Ballinger dropped to 8-3.

"I feel like we are growing, but it's a process," Cummings said. "We talk about it all the time. There's still a little bit of inconsistency. We'll have games where we look really good, and we'll have games where we'll still come out a little bit flat. So we're still trying to grow through the process of them learning me, and me understanding them.

"But I do feel like if we can put the pieces together, there's a lot of talent there and a lot of good things, so hopefully that's what we can do."

Ballinger scored the game's first seven points, but Mason responded with the next 13, and the Cowgirls led 13-9 after the first quarter.

Ballinger then outscored Mason 12-10 in the second quarter to get within 23-21 at halftime.

Mason has a Division I signee in Tristin Keller, who will play at Abilene Christian University next year, along with an imposing 5-foot-11 post player in Lauren Olson, who had a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Considering what his team was up against, Ballinger head coach Jerry McSherry liked a lot of what he saw.

"I like the fact that we competed hard," McSherry said. "I felt like we didn't handle their defensive pressure sometimes as well as we could have. Their big girl (Olson) just tore us up early. We were trying to make some adjustments there, but it's hard to defend that because we don't have that. And they've got some good shooters outside. But for the most part, I felt good about the way we played."

Mason opened the second half with a 9-0 run to take a 32-21 lead, and Ballinger was never able to get closer than seven points the rest of the way.

"I think in the second half we picked our intensity up, and that definitely was the difference," Cummings said.

Keller led Mason's defense with five steals and a block, while Brooke Stockbridge had four steals. Offensively, Keller and Sterling Smith each had 11 points. Smith added six assists.

Ballinger's Jenna Battle filled up the stat sheet with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, seven steals and three blocks. Her teammate, Addison Martin, also had a strong all-around performance with eight points, five assists and four steals.

"I really think we're coming together," McSherry said. "The young girls are starting to understand what we want. We have two freshmen on the team and only one returning senior, Jenna. And then Tatum (Collier) is a senior that moved here and played with us a little bit during the summer. And then Addison is doing a phenomenal job at point guard for us.

"(Skyla Hostetter, Brianna Herrera and Mikaela Gonzalez) all played with us last year, and they came off the bench most of the time. They've stepped into starting roles, and Mikaela moved down in the post for us. She just scraps and gets after it and always gives 100%. So I feel pretty good about what we've got. Defensively, we scrap and do our best. I like coaching this team. They're fun. I just wish they were all three or four inches taller and about 10 pounds heavier."

Ballinger will host girls and boys tournaments Thursday-Saturday. For the Lady Cats, they'll host a 10-team field that included Sanger, the No. 13-ranked team in Class 4A, along with strong area programs like Veribest and Christoval. Ballinger will open play against Sweetwater.

Mason's next game action will be this weekend at the Fredericksburg Tournament, where the Cowgirls will open against Stephenville, the No. 14-ranked team in 4A.

This story will be updated.

Mason 47, Ballinger 36

Mason 13 10 15 9 — 47

Ballinger 9 12 4 11 — 36

MASON — Sterling Smith 11, Avery Brooks 2, Tristin Keller 11, Lauren Olson 17, Kylie Cockerham 6. Totals 18 8-12 47.

BALLINGER — Mikaela Gonzalez 4, Addison Martin 8, Skyla Hostetter 4, Brianna Herrera 2, Emma Perkins 3, Jenna Battle 15. Totals 16 0-0 36.

3-point goals — Mason 3 (Smith 1, Keller 1, Olson 1); Ballinger 4 (Battle 3, Perkins 1). Records — Mason is 5-4, Ballinger is 8-3.

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Mason girls basketball passes early test with road win over Ballinger