Burnet girls basketball team faces two top 10 opponents
Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School girls basketball team lost to Fredericksburg 63-47 Nov. 21 and to Goldthwaite 60-45 Nov. 20.
Fredericksburg (7-3) is ranked No. 6 in the latest Class 4A poll of Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, while Goldthwaite is No. 13 in the TABC’s Class 2A poll.
“We always try to play a tough non-district schedule,” Burnet head coach Rick Gates said. “Obviously as we’re playing through the season, we want to win games and we want to play good teams. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. You’re making adjustments as you go. If you’re winning all the time, you’re not questioning what you’re doing cause you’re winning all the time. In scheduling non-district games, we’re willing to make adjustments and do what’s best for our team.”
Fredericksburg and Boerne are expected to be at the top of the District 27-4A standings and are among the favorites to reach the Class 4A Region IV tournament.
The Lady Billies led 20-6 after the first quarter and 29-14 at the half. What helped Fredericksburg was its ability to play man-to-man full-court defense and then mix up the defenses to confuse the opponent.
“They hurt us a little bit more on the press,” Gates said. “They’re extremely fast and really skilled with a lot of team speed. They shoot the ball extremely well. They hit eight 3-pointers on us. They were really similar games.”
Burnet had 31 rebounds, 8 assists, 10 steals and a block. Fredericksburg had 19 rebounds, 14 assists and 18 steals.
Goldthwaite is among the favorites to win the District 29-2A crown and should be in the mix to reach the Class 2A Region IV tournament.
Burnet led 10-9 with about 2 minutes left in the first quarter. Goldthwaite took a 16-13 advantage early in the second that turned into a 24-10 lead at the half. The Lady Eagles extended their lead to 48-36 early in the fourth period.
“I didn’t think we played particularly well in the first half,” the coach said. “In the second half, we came out with a chip on our shoulders and did a better job scoring lay-ups against them.”
Burnet had 35 rebounds, 10 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks. Goldthwaite had 37 rebounds, 14 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks.
“Goldthwaite is really good this year,” Gates said. “They have several good guards. They shoot really well. Their post is really physical.”
He noted the Lady Eagles were 18 of 22 from the free throw line and dropped in eight 3-pointers, which contributed to the outcome.
“A lot of times when we got to close to them, they’d pull one of their 3s,” he said. “in addition to them shooting the ball well, we had some defensive lapses in the half court. We did a pretty good job against their press.”
Overall, Gates was happy with his team’s effort in both contests.
“I thought our girls competed,” he said. “We had a better game from our posts against Fredericksburg. Goldthwaite is a little more physical. Fredericksburg is a little bit faster. We’re just playing tough teams and couldn’t quite get the win. We’ll be better for it.”
Burnet welcomes Hutto Monday, Nov. 27. The subvarsities play at 6 p.m. and the varsity takes the court at 6:30 p.m.
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