Burnet girls basketball defeat Jarrell for another district home win

The Burnet High School girls basketball team beat Jarrell 56-46 Jan. 16 to remain unbeaten in District 24-4A play.

The Lady Dawgs raced to a 12-4 lead in the first period and a 25-13 advantage at the half. They kept adding to their lead in the third stanza thanks to dropping in 16 points and allowing the Cougars to score 9.

In all, Burnet lead 41-22 headed into the final stanza.

“We did a really good job defensively,” head coach Rick Gates said. “We mixed up our defenses. We did a really good job of guarding the 3(-point shots).”

Jarrell freshman point guard Aniya Taylor, who had been scoreless throughout the contest, dropped in 19 of her team’s 22 points in the fourth quarter. She hit four 3-pointers, a 2-pointer and was 5 of 6 from the foul line. No other Lady Cougar was in double figures.

“Their freshman point guard got hot making 3-pointers,” Gates said, “and we fouled her. As we told our team, she’s capable of filling it up.”

He noted there were very few surprises from the Lady Cougars.

“Jarrell did what we expected,” he said. “Their guards are really fast and quick and athletic. I was proud of how we handled their pressure. They depend on turnovers and steals out of the press. We broke their press and scored more than they hurt us.”

Burnet senior center Zaria Solis, the district’s reigning Most Valuable Player, scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Leatherwood dropped in 13 points, while senior forward MaeSyn Gay, junior guard Sydney Lough and senior forward Sierra Schaefer each contributed 8, and sophomore guard Journey Denton finished with 2.

“Our strength is post play,” the coach said. “We went out with that mindset. We had a concerted effort to make it inside. We did a really good job of getting the ball inside. The shooting percentage was really good, 48 or 49 percent. We were 3 of 6 from 3-pointers. I was really happy with our offense other than not shooting it well from the free-throw line.”

The Lady Dawgs were were 11 of 23 for 48 percent.

Gates said he believes the experience will serve the Lady Dawgs.

“Hopefully that will help us,” he said.

Burnet, which won all three of its district home games, will travel to Lago Vista Friday, Jan. 19, to end the first round of district play. The junior varsity plays at 5 p.m., the varsity at 6:30 p.m., and the freshmen at 8 p.m. This is the first of four consecutive road games.

“We came into the district as the favorite, and we’re getting everyone’s best shot,” Gates said. “It was good to see us rise to the occasion and get those teams knowing we’re going to protect our house and did a good job of bringing energy. We’re just happy with the win and taking it one game at a time. We’re ready for (the road trips). We’re a strong team, and our expectations are high. The girls understand that and are ready to go and meet the challenges.”

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