Hays has a way of mucking things up for the Lake Travis girls basketball team.

The Lady Rebels topped the Lady Cavs last Monday at Hays, 47-33, continuing to cast their spell over one of the more successful girls’ basketball programs in Central Texas. It’s always something when the two teams meet up, according to Lake Travis head coach Ted Dydalewicz.

This time, things got physical.

“It was a very physical and out of control style of play by [Hays],” Dydalewicz said. “When teams start playing like that, we tend to have trouble. The refs aren’t calling it, they let it get out of control and it got us out of our frame of mind.”

Two years ago in the playoffs, Hays and now Texas Tech Lady Raider Lindie Kimbro derailed the playoff hopes of one of the most promising Lake Travis teams ever. Last year, Hays gave the regional semifinalist Cavs fits, and this year, well, you know.

But it wasn’t just Hays that was working against Lake Travis Monday night, and Dydalewicz knew it.

“We just didn’t play a smart game,” he said. “And that’s something we’re working on with the younger players, and the older players who are in a leadership role now.”

To talk to Dydalewicz, the game sounded like a blowout, but the score indicated something a little tougher and closer.

“That was the funny thing about the game,” he said. “We hung close for a long time and kept battling early. But we let it get away from us.”

The road doesn’t get any easier for the Lady Cavs, as they travel to the first of three winter tournaments, at New Braunfels Canyon, starting today at 5 p.m. against Smithson Valley. So much for easy openers.

“They definitely didn’t do us any favors,” Dydalewicz laughed. “But we’ll be ready to go and it should be a good tournament for us.”

Lake Travis also played New Braunfels on Tuesday night, but that score was not available at press time.