Burnet girls basketball is the runner-up at Leander Glenn tourney
CAPTION: Burnet junior Zaria Solis and the Lady Dawgs finish the Leander Glenn tournament with an impressive showing that included returning with another trophy. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School girls basketball team showed no ill effects from taking a few days off for the Christmas holiday as evident by the Lady Dawgs posting a 3-1 record at the Leander Glenn Tournament Dec. 28-29.
The Lady Dawgs (14-5) lost to Glenn 53-26 in the championship after beating Leander Vandegrift 52-42 Dec. 29. A day earlier, Burnet defeated Pflugerville Weiss 45-24 and Leander High 46-22.
“We did some good things,” head coach Rick Gates said. “We’re pleased. When you lose it hurts a little bit. Glenn is loaded and has really talented and skilled players with size. It was a tough loss overall. We had a good tournament.”
Glenn (16-4, 2-1) is a member of District 25-5A.
Vandegrift (6-15, 0-3 District 25-6A), meanwhile, featured multiple players as tall as Burnet juniors MaeSyn Gay and Zaria Solis. The coach commended his players for doing the important tasks that are often taken for granted.
“We played well in the tournament and did some good things offensively and most of the time, we were pretty solid defensively,” he said. “They have size and good shooters. We made adjustments to limit them. We did a good job of rebounding against them.”
The Lady Vipers led 14-13 after the first quarter and then had a player who hit a couple of 3-pointers in the second and third periods. Senior Christina Graves moved to defend her and kept her in check while Burnet found its offensive rhythm. The result was the Lady Dawgs outscored Vandegrift 20-10 in the second for a 33-24 half-time lead.
“Christina did a good job of limiting her in the last half of the third quarter and the fourth quarter,” the coach said.
Burnet didn’t give up easy buckets and took advantage of free throws, finishing 16 of 22 for the contest. Senior guard Grace Gates hit 10 of 12 free shots.
Her dad and head coach noted she and sophomore point guard Sydney Lough, as the primary ball handlers, welcome the demands that come with those duties.
“They did a great job of handling the pressure,” he said. “The ball wound up in Grace’s hands when they fouled.”
The Lady Dawgs didn’t rest on their laurels. They were back in the The Doghouse gym Dec. 30 where they did drills and lifted in preparation for the District 24-4A opener at Marble Falls at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6.
“We want to be physically ready to go in district,” Gates said.
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