Burnet girls basketball beats China Spring for bi-district title

The Burnet High School girls basketball team defeated China Spring 60-44 Feb. 12 to win a bi-district title.

The Lady Dawgs (28-8, 7-1 District 24-4A champions) now turn their attention to Houston Wheatley in the area round of the Class 4A playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, at La Grange High School, 820 S. Vail. Buy tickets here.

“It was a closer game than the final score shows,” head coach Rick Gates said of the bi-district win. “With two minutes to go, they started fouling quite a bit. At that point it was a six- or seven-point game. Thankfully, we shot free throws. We shot free throws down the stretch pretty well.”

Burnet let 14-8 after the first quarter, 27-22 at the half, and 35-29 after three periods.

But the Lady Dawgs attempted 23 free throws in the final stanza and connected on 16. Senior athlete MaeSyn Gay scored 9 of her game-high 18 points in the fourth period including connecting on 5 of 8 free throws. Senior center Zaria Solis added 12 points and was 6 for 9 from the foul line during the game. Junior forward Sierra Schaefer added 10 points by connecting on two 3-pointers and was 2 for 2 from the free throw line. Junior guard Sydney Lough contributed 7 points, while senior forward Alexis Leatherwood added 4, and sophomore guard Journey Denton, junior center Cydney Robison and junior forward Aubrey Mathews each finished with 3.

China Spring (10-24, 4-6 District 23-4A fourth place) was paced by junior guard Abby Norris with 19 points followed by junior guard Kirsten Jewell with 14.

“China Spring played extremely hard, and they played well,” Gates said. “We knew it was going to be tough going in. They had a good game plan. They played man-to-man defense, a soft man and packed the paint and collapsed hard on any penetration. They have a big post, and they didn’t pull her off. They had a good defensive game plan. Honestly, it wasn’t our best game. We had the lead but just couldn’t pull away until it got to two minutes, and they started fouling. They’re well coached.”

Burnet was 23 for 39 from the foul line for the contest.

“Early in the game we weren’t shooting free throws that well,” Gates said. “When the game was in doubt with two minutes, I was apprehensive. We had multiple kids they fouled. They went to the line and got opportunities and were able to stretch the lead.”

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