Burnet girls basketball shows improvement

CAPTION: Burnet senior guard Sarah Cullison is determined make a basket on a runner against Salado. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Burnet High School girls basketball team continues to play with great effort and heart as the Lady Dawgs prepare for three important contests.

First is a road trip to Taylor Tuesday, Feb. 3, followed by a home game against Jarrell Friday, Feb. 6, and a road game to Lampasas Tuesday, Feb. 10 in the regular season finale. The junior varsity plays at 5 p.m. and the varsity at 6:15 p.m. Taylor and Lampasas are doubleheaders with the boys.

Lady Dawgs head coach Kim Payten said she can see progress on the court.

“‘Overall, we have some really good quarters in basketball and we play well,” she said. “But we take quarters off and scoring has been an issue.”

She pointed out that in the 40-36 loss at Jarrell Jan. 20, the Lady Dawgs were clicking offensively. They had at least two players score in double digits and their long-range bombers were connecting from behind the arc.

She added that in the 66-43 loss to Salado Jan. 30, Burnet’s point total is typically enough to win.

But against the Lady Eagles, who are in first place in the district standings, it wasn’t.

“Against any other team, it’s going to be a close game and we’re gonna probably win it,” Payten said. “But we haven’t been able to score, and so I was really impressed against Salado that we were able to score in our first couple of quarters.”

Salado led by a possession after the opening stanza and at halftime.

“We stayed with them,” the coach said. “I was proud of the girls against Salado because the last time we played them, it was a 40-point spanking and this was only 21. So we cut that in half.”

She pointed out the same scenario against Marble Falls Jan. 28 in a game that was played a day later than scheduled because of icy conditions. Burnet trailed 11-7 after the first quarter and 25-17 at the break. At the end of the third period, the Lady Mustangs led 38-25 before winning 54-35.

“We had a rough third quarter, which is par for the course with us,” Payten said.

She added that the Lady Dawgs look terrific in practice where they’ve changed up the way they prepare.

“I think that’s helped immensely,” the coach said. “In practice we look really, really good.”

Since Salado doesn’t have a freshman squad, Payten suited up three junior varsity players for the varsity. She also added that the Burnet junior varsity won after losing to the Lady Eagles in the first game.

“That’s promising to me when you can do that,” she said.