Burrell girls answer early challenge to defeat Valley
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Tuesday, January 16, 2018 | 12:18 AM
The Burrell and Valley girls basketball teams played even over the first six minutes of Monday's Section 1-4A matchup at Valley.
The visiting Bucs then dropped the hammer.
A 15-0 run over four minutes bridging the end of the first quarter and the early part of the second broke open a tie game and sent Burrell on its way to a 55-30 victory.
“It was nice to see the hustle was there, and we were able to answer the challenge,” Burrell coach Meaghan Volek said.
The Bucs (4-8) won for the second time in section play and will take a 2-4 record into the second half of the section schedule. Burrell visits Highlands on Thursday in a rematch of a 56-46 Bucs victory Dec. 14.
“This was a win we definitely needed to have,” Volek said. “Hopefully, this carries over to Thursday. It will be tough next week with North Catholic and Knoch, but the bottom line is that we have to start putting wins together.”
Deer Lakes owns the fourth and final playoff spot from the section after Monday's victory over Highlands. The Lancers, 3-2 in the standings, finish off the first half at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Freeport.
“The girls understand they can't do anything about the tough losses in the first half (of section),” Volek said. “They can control what's ahead of them and getting better each day.”
Burrell senior Brittany Dunn scored 18 points and added 15 rebounds. She hit four 3-pointers in the first half, including two late in the first quarter that helped get the Bucs off and running.
“Brittany did what we expect her to do and took over in key moments of the game,” Volek said.
Grace Omecinski added double-figure scoring for Burrell with 10 points, while Maia Ferra had nine.
Kaylen Sharrow was held off the scoreboard over the final three quarters, but her seven points in the first eight minutes helped Burrell open a 22-9 lead after one. The Bucs held a 33-16 advantage at the break.
“Our defense in the first quarter was out of whack,” Valley coach Jason Kerr said. “It was a fast tempo, and we were keeping pace, but we couldn't get any stops.”
Auveonna Perkins paced Valley (2-11, 0-6) with seven points.
Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.
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