Burnet girls basketball aims to continue winning ways

CAPTION: Burnet senior Sydney Lough returns to help the Lady Dawgs defend their district title. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Burnet High School girls basketball team will walk into Max Copeland Gym at Marble Falls High School with several familiar faces to begin District 24-4A play Friday, Jan. 3.

The varsity game tips off at 2:30 p.m.

The Lady Dawgs feature a veteran roster led by seniors Sydney Lough, Aubrey Mathews, Cydney Robison, Sierra Schaefer and Kloe Shannon.

The one change that happened during the offseason was at head coach.

Former head coach Rick Gates resigned during the summer. In finding his replacement, Burnet Consolidated Independent School District officials looked on Gates’ staff for the new head coach – Doug Messer.

Messer is more than familiar with the ebbs and flows of the program. He was an assistant coach on former head coach Mike Cavender’s staff two decades ago before taking the top job from 2013-16.

“For the most part, I love Burnet,” he said. “There are one or two who make it really bad and others who make it really good. Rick left in July, and it was a late hire. Those five seniors I felt like deserve some consistency. They devoted that time and effort the last several years.”

Messer said he conveyed to BCISD officials that if they found the right head coach, he was happy to return to being an assistant and coaching the junior varsity. In the end, officials believe that Messer is the right coach to help the Lady Dawgs continue adding chapters of success to its history.

When Cavender took over as the head coach in the mid 2000s, his objective was clear – to get the upperclassmen to return to the court. When Burnet was in Class 5A, the upperclassmen were playing the sport but quit after two years because of the losses.

That forced coaches to fill varsity rosters with underclassmen who were facing Pflugerville Connally, Marble Falls, Lake Travis and Dripping Springs.

In 2007-08, the Lady Dawgs finished the season with a 16-15 record, its first winning season in years, and the program celebrated like it won a championship. Meanwhile their neighbors at Llano, Marble Falls and Faith Academy of Marble Falls all qualified for regional and state tournaments.

But that season set the stage for what was coming – regional tournament trips not just in girls basketball but volleyball, too. And it culminated in the 2018-19 season when Burnet won the Class 4A Region III championship and advanced to the state tournament.

Now it’s expected the program not only compete and win district championships but have extended stays in the playoffs.

Knowing that, the Lady Dawgs continue to not shy away from tough competition.

“It’s been good,” Messer said. “It’s been a pressure cooker, for sure. This year’s schedule has been brutal. It’s prepared us for district play.”

The Lady Dawgs (9-13) participated in the Leander Glenn tournament Dec. 27-28 where they beat Leander High 46-33 but lost to Klein 48-31, Round Rock High 59-36 and Leander Vandegrift 58-39.

They began the season with five losses including to China Spring 56-53 and to Stephenville 36-24 before beating Wimberley 57-47.

“We’ve had some classic wins that I don’t know that we should have or not,” Messer said. “We have some building to do over the years, from the middle school all the way up. I’m about the kids and helping kids unlock their potential and succeed. With this schedule, they’ve shown me a lot of good. They’ve shown me guts, they’ve shown me grit. There’s an identity.”

It took a few weeks to find that, the coach said. That’s because Burnet High School’s 2024 class is among the best in athletic program history with district crowns in just about every sport during the 2023-24 school year.

While the trophies speak for themselves, Messer noted it’s the leadership that class, specifically MaeSyn Gay, provided that this year’s team had to find.

“We’ve had to figure out who we are,” he said. “MaeSyn has a beautiful voice. She wasn’t afraid to call people out and did it in a loving way. MaeSyn had a way of making you want to be better. That’s the sign of a great athlete.”

This year’s version of the Lady Dawgs also has terrific athletes with great hearts, the coach said. Top of the list is Shannon, an athlete who has battled season-ending injuries throughout her high school years.

In her final year, she is doing everything she can to put herself on the court.

“Tell me that’s not inspiring,” Messer said. “There are 10 district games and Kloe is saying give me a chance.”

This roster also features juniors Peyton Allen, Journey Denton, who might be the most athletic Lady Dawg on campus, Wrigley Mulhollan and Josie McDavid, sophomore Brianne Hudgins and freshman Emma Hashbarger.

The program looks to successfully defend the district title it won last season. But realignment didn’t do Burnet any favors. Gone is Lago Vista and is replaced with Salado and Taylor.

Messer said the district members have two common elements – talented players, who do the right things, and coaches who know how to scheme and call the right plays at the right time.

“People don’t realize how good the coaching is,” he said. “It’s tough, but it’ll benefit who gets out (and into the playoffs).”

With talent throughout every grade, Messer believes the Lady Dawgs are in prime position to keep the program at the elite status he and Cavender believed it could be at two decades ago. And he realizes it takes spending time at the other campuses where he can talk with the girls and their coaches.

“It’s important to keep it going,” he said. “It’s a special group (on the varsity) I’ve seen through the years. Some I didn’t get to coach cause they went right to varsity. They have grit and fight, and I like that. If you have that, you can have something.”