Burrell girls overcome hiccup in rout of Apollo-Ridge

By: Michael Love
Thursday, January 11, 2024 | 9:18 PM

Ahead by 15 points in the second quarter of Thursday’s Section 3-3A matchup at Apollo-Ridge, the Burrell girls basketball team had designs on widening its lead and running away with a victory.

The Vikings didn’t make it easy on the Bucs and rallied to within three in the early stages of the third quarter.

But Burrell righted itself from that point on and pulled away for a 47-29 win.

“It’s great to be sitting at 3-1 (in the section) with the only loss being to Shady Side,” Burrell coach Shawn Reddick said. “This game helped us continue to build confidence and move toward the next game.”

The Bucs also improved to 9-3 overall and will return home Monday to face section rival Deer Lakes. Burrell won for the second time this week after consecutive losses to section leader Shady Side Academy and Class A powers St. Joseph and Aquinas Academy.

Despite the loss, Apollo-Ridge remained at the heart of the section playoff race at 2-2. The Vikings, 6-8 overall, will try to bounce back Monday at Mt. Pleasant.

“All year, our girls have been fully committed to what’s been going on and what we want to do with the program,” Apollo-Ridge first-year coach Jeff Zelonka said.

“They’ve been open to adjusting, to modifying and to improving. Whatever the situation might be, and we’ve been in a lot of moments where we’ve been down and also where we’ve been on the other side, the girls are going to give it everything they have. It was nice to see that energy when we pushed back and got close.“

Burrell was without second-leading scorer Anna Clark for the third full game in a row because of injury.

“She helps take the pressure off and is a great defender,” Reddick said. “That can be tough to overcome. She wants to get back pretty bad, and we hope to have her back soon. It was important for the other girls to continue to rally around her and each other, and they did that.”

The combination of Jules Fisher and Casey Brancato helped carry the scoring load in the win. Fisher had a team-best 18 points to go along with nine rebounds, and Brancato added 12 points.

McKenna Miller also was right there for the Bucs, finishing one point shy of double digits.

Fisher delivered 10 of her 18 points in the third quarter.

Apollo-Ridge opened the third on a 7-1 run to close to within 23-20. Fisher responded with a three-point play to put the Burrell advantage back to six.

From there, the Bucs used an 11-5 run to close the quarter and head to the fourth ahead 37-25.

They finished off the victory by holding the Vikings to four points in the fourth and forcing eight turnovers. Apollo-Ridge committed 29 turnovers for the game.

Burrell was not without its own struggles on the offensive end as it ended the game with 21 giveaways.

Vikings senior guard Sophie Yard led all scorers with 20 points. Joselin McCauley added five points and 12 rebounds.

“We knew Sophie was a really good player, and we had to mark her well,” Reddick said.

“We watched a lot of film on them, and they hadn’t gone to a 1-3-1 yet. They cheated a little off of that and leaked her out. We gave up some points from that.”

Yard hit a 3-pointer with 5 minutes, 46 seconds to go in the first quarter to get Apollo-Ridge on the board after the Bucs jumped out to a 6-0 lead.

Those was the only points for the Vikings over the first 12 minutes as turnovers and missed shots conspired against them.

Burrell, on the strength of eight points from Brancato and six from Fisher, led 18-3 before A-R started to force some turnovers and pick it up on the offensive end.

The Vikings, led by Yard, went on a 9-0 run to close the gap to 18-12 with 1:56 to go until the break.

Yard tallied eight points in the second quarter and finished the half with 11.

Apollo-Ridge starter Jaden Mull picked up three early fouls and took a seat with 3:46 left in the first quarter. She added a fourth early in the third but was able to finish the game on the court. McCauley fouled out with 1:44 remaining.

“Foul trouble is a common theme this year that we are trying to work through,” Zelonka said. “We’re trying to adjust our game play through practices and film study so we can cut down on the fouls. It is tough when you are shifting bodies around because of the foul issues.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell