Burnet girls basketball beats Salado, shows commitment to playing defense
CAPTION: Burnet senior guard Grace Gates and the Lady Dawgs made enough plays in the fourth quarter to beat Salado thanks to a desire to play strong defense. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School girls basketball team gutted out a 52-49 win against Salado Dec. 6 to add its second win in a row after a 50-39 victory against Millsap in its last game of the Granbury Tournament Dec. 3.
At the tournament, the Lady Dawgs (8-4) also defeated Dallas Inspired Vision 57-5 and lost to Abilene Wylie 37-34 and Hurst Bell 38-34.
Head coach Rick Gates noted the victory against Salado meant plenty to the program.
“It was a really big win because we trailed most of the game,” he said. “We were down eight at halftime and five at the end of the third quarter. But we were able to scratch and claw our way to victory. They shot the ball really well in the first half. We fought to get that win.”
Junior post MaeSyn Gay hit two free throws for the three-point lead and then held on for the win.
“They had two good shots and didn’t make them,” Gates said. “It’s a testament to our players to keep fighting, even when things don’t look good.”
Burnet outscored Salado 13-5 in the final quarter.
“Our defense was very good in the first half,” Gates said. “We were still able to put up 25 points in the second half. Our offense was steady, but our defense is what held them in the fourth quarter.”
Gay dropped in 14 points followed by senior guard Grace Gates with 13 and junior post Zaria Solis added 8.
The other important element to this contest was the manner in which every Lady Dawg contributed, the coach said.
“Our depth finally caught up with them,” he said. “We were subbing in different rotations and finally got one over the hump.”
As for the tournament, Gates said he saw plenty of positives from his players, particularly because they played during the day and began the event by competing in two games in one day.
“We competed well against Wylie,” he said. “We had our chances, and it just didn’t work out. We didn’t make enough shots. Against Bell, … we had our chances. It’s what makes the Salado game more important to us. I felt like we were fine defensively. We didn’t have enough offense to combat those guys.”
Burnet welcomes Canyon Lake at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, to The Doghouse.
Watch videos on Highland Lakes sports by going to Fierro’s YouTube channel and searching for The Broad Podcaster. Please like, subscribe and share.
