At some point, the Lady Broncos are going to start to hate seeing the number 29. It’s been in their scoring column in each of their last three games, including Monday when Boyd lost its home opener to Watertown 41-29.

Effort and execution weren’t an issue for the Lady Broncos as they battled the Purple Tigers for four quarters at home, but for the third straight game against a TSSAA opponent, the offense just couldn’t get the shots to fall. Boyd was coming off 70-29 and 53-29 losses to Grundy County and Rhea County, respectively, last week and once again were on the losing end after a cold shooting night.

“I’m very proud of our girls. They gave us everything they had until the final whistle,” said coach Tim Page. “I think we did good things on both sides – our driving and ability to get to the rim really stood out. It’s just been a tough stretch for us shooting and we’re hoping to break out of it soon."

Page continued, “We’re confident in all of our girls and they are doing a lot of unselfish things on offense. I think the averages will eventually come back to our favor when it comes to some shots falling.”

Boyd (2-3) fell behind 12-2 early, but the energy never lacked for the Lady Broncos. Krista Chisam, who finished with a season-high 11 points, had a huge 3-point play to spark the offense in the second quarter, while freshman Brooke Kesey was money on short jumpers throughout the night.

Kesey showed off her soft touch to the tune of 10 points against Watertown – her fourth time to reach double figures in her first five varsity games of her career.

Buzzer beaters wreaked havoc on the Lady Broncos though. Madison King hit a backbreaker to end the first half, sinking a 30-footer at the horn to make it 22-12 going into the locker rooms.

Watertown bit the final horn again in the third quarter, sticking in a putback layup off an airball just as time expired to halt a Boyd push. Chisam and Kesey had both got a pair of buckets in the third and junior Regin Grissom came through with a putback on a layup that cut Watertown’s lead down to six at one point, but the Lady Broncos never got closer.

The Purple Tigers were money at the line, hitting seven free throws in the final two minutes, to keep Boyd from making up any more ground late.

“Take away a slow start – where we’re down 10 early – and we really played them even. I thought our girls really executed our game plan well and made the adjustments after the break. We’re getting closer every night to putting together four quarters of solid play,” said Page.

Boyd took on Cannon County Tuesday (the score was unavailable at press time) and will take the rest of the week off before returning to the court next Thursday, Nov. 30 at Sewanee. Check Friday’s paper for more information on the Lady Broncos.

Boyd scoring – Chisam 11, Kesey 10, Grissom 2, Macie Bush 2, Kelly Bush 2, Paige Sweeten 1, Cydney Jane Perry 1