Burnet boys basketball earns silver at Robinson tourney
CAPTION: Burnet senior power forward Eli Pickens “unlocked another version of himself” by making big-time plays for the Bulldogs. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Burnet High School boys basketball team finished as the runner-up of the Waco Robinson Rockets Invitational Dec. 11-13 thanks to going 3-1 at the event.
The Bulldogs defeated Robinson 59-49, West 66-52 and Marlin 74-41 before losing in the championship to Waco University 69-32. That result was on the heels of stomping Fischer Canyon Lake 58-35 Dec. 9 as part of a seven-game winning streak.
After taking care of West and Marlin in the pool play, the Bulldogs led the Rockets 16-10 after the first quarter thanks to two 3-pointers by senior guard J.J. Whigham and another from junior guard Gavin Oakley. But Robinson trailed 19-17 at the intermission thanks in part to 100 junior high kids, who showed up in the second period.
“They turned that into a true road environment,” assistant coach Carter Carruthers said. “If you’ve ever been around junior high kids, they started screaming and yelling, and they started doing that. It felt like a true road environment with a true student section cheering against you in a loud gym.”
Senior power forward Eli Pickens took over in the fourth quarter with the Bulldogs clinging to a 36-34 lead. He faced a 6-foot, 4-inch freshman who is still learning. That propelled him to scoring most of his 18 points in the final stanza. Burnet senior guard Jaxon Sparks led with 20 points.
Against Canyon Lake, the Bulldogs began the contest with a 12-0 run that led to a 16-4 lead though the Hawks scored four points to make it 16-8 going into the second quarter. Burnet led 28-21 at the intermission and the Bulldogs outscored the Hawks 30-14 in the second half for the comfortable victory thanks to a 10-0 run.
“I was fully confident at all points of that game that we were going win and I thought our kids were doing a good job of controlling what they could control,” Carruthers said. “We just couldn’t get as many shots to fall early in the game and then went in at halftime and told the kids that ‘hey, we’re not adjusting anything,’ like ‘everything we’re doing is fine. We’re just going to go put the ball in the hoop a little bit better than we did this half.’ And pretty much that’s what they did.”
The Bulldogs also forced the Hawks into turnovers they turned into points thanks to their transition offense.
“It didn’t really give them a chance to set, and then when they did set, we just did a better job of keeping the ball in front of us,” Carruthers said. “That’s what predicates good half-court defense. Obviously, you want to play good man-to-man (defense) and help and recover if you can. But if you never have to help and you can keep the ball in front of you, then you’re going to be a pretty stinking good defensive team, and I think we did a better job of doing that when we set them in the half court. But in the full court, we turned them over a little bit and that helped us out.”
Pickens dropped in at least three 3-pointers en route to scoring 27 points to lead the way.
“He unlocked a different version of himself – the version that we think he really can be all the time,” the coach said. “They came out and made shots and Eli played really well there, and it really carried that into the weekend because he played very well at the tournament as well. Eli can score inside and outside, but the bulk of his production is coming inside and then also getting fouled. And he’s getting to the free-throw line and making free throws – that’s the big part of it ”
Carruthers said coaches believe Pickens is among the best players in District 24-4A.
“Eli’s a dude,” the coach said. “He’s very athletic, he can score at all three levels, and he’s starting to do that. And he’s rebounding the way we know he can. He’s a freak athlete, and he’s starting to fine-tune things. Eli is doing those little things while letting his athleticism take over. And he’s made it really, really fun to watch.”
Another Bulldog who is getting the job done is senior guard Jaxon Sparks.
“We did a good job in second half of dictating the pace and speed of the game,” Carruthers said. “It went through Jaxon. He was going to make sure that he was in charge of what happened on the court, and that’s what we want from him because we know he’s really, really talented. And he has the ability to just lead.”
Burnet is at Brownwood Tuesday, Dec. 16, with the subvarsities playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity at 6:15 p.m. and at Wimberley for a 3 p.m. varsity contest Friday, Dec. 19. The Bulldogs welcomes Liberty Hill Legacy Ranch Monday, Dec. 22, with the subvarsities playing at 10 a.m. and the varsity to follow at 11:15 a.m.
