Burnet girls basketball loses to China Spring

CAPTION: Burnet senior guard Sydney Lough scores two of her 14 points during the loss to China Spring Feb. 10. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Burnet High School girls basketball team lost to China Spring 52-48 in a bi-district championship Feb. 10 at Copperas Cove.

The Lady Dawgs ended their season with a 17-16 record, 8-1 in District 24-4A play as the runner-up.

Though Burnet led 3-0, the Lady Cougars (18-16, 4-6 District 23-4A third place) hit three 3-pointers for a 9-3 advantage. While Burnet answered, the Lady Dawgs couldn’t quite keep the deficit to single digits. By the end of the opening stanza, China Spring led 24-13 thanks to nailing six 3-pointers.

“That was against a man-to-man defense,” Burnet head coach Doug Messer said. “It was like we were playing in their home gym.”

During the minute in between periods, Messer gathered his players and told them a truth.

“Hang in there cause they can’t keep doing that,” he recalled saying. “By the end of the game, they hit a total of seven 3-pointers. That’s one more the rest of the game.”

Meanwhile, the Lady Dawgs used their defense to help ignite their offense. The result was a 35-29 deficit at the half and a 39-38 deficit after the third period.

With five minutes left in the contest, Burnet led 41-40.

“Good by them. I don’t take anything away from those guys,” Messer said of the Lady Cougars. “We won the next two quarters. And we had the lead. I thought, ‘Here we go. We got it.’ But we got in foul trouble in the fourth quarter.”

That resulted in China Spring attempting 22 free throws. For the game, the Lady Cougars were 17 for 28.

“They had three buckets the whole second half,” the coach said. “We shot two free throws in the fourth quarter. We played OK. I didn’t think we played bad at all. We had plenty of opportunities and chances. We put four solid quarters together by my standards.”

He recalled being down by 12 points and his players couldn’t understand his demeanor.

“I’m not worried,” he told them because he knew what each Lady Dawg had inside her. “We’ll fight till every last second.”

Senior guard Sydney Lough led with 14 points followed by freshman post Emma Hashbarger with 12 points, senior center Cydney Robison added 10, junior forward Wrigley Mulhollan scored 8, and junior guard Journey Denton finished with 4.

“It was a great game,” the coach said. “It was two teams really fighting.”

The program says good-bye to five seniors — guard Kloe Shannon, forwards Aubry Mathews and Sierra Schaefer, Lough and Robison — who have left their marks.

“I think they’ve positively impacted it,” Messer said. “They go to work, they’re fun to be around. They’re cohesive. They put their arms around Emma and (sophomore forward) Breanne Hudgins. They’ve been dedicated to the program since they were young. It’s been a fun run. Those seniors left a legacy. They can walk off with their heads held high.”

CAPTION: Burnet senior center Cydney Robison played well in what turned out to be her final game in Kelly green against China Spring. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography