Bulldogs capture bi-district title

BELTON — What began as a tight contest had turned into a blowout by the end of the third quarter. Which is how the Burnet High School boys basketball team likes it.

The Bulldogs’ goal was to advance past the first round of the playoffs, and they did so with a convincing 64-42 thrashing of Glen Rose Wednesday.

“Ever since the beginning of the season, we knew we’d go farther,” senior Kory Everts said. “This is the beginning. We’re proud of it.”

Next up is Burkburnett 7:30 p.m. Friday at Weatherford High School.

“It’s about three hours for both teams in Region I,” Burnet head coach Roy Kiser said.

Ironically, Burkburnett eliminated the Bulldogs from the Class 3A football playoffs in November.

Against Glen Rose the Bulldogs used a solid inside-outside game to gain their advantage, which is something they wanted to do.

Glen Rose led, 13-12, late in the first quarter. But when Burnet took a 15-13 lead to close out the period, the Bulldogs never trailed again.

If the Tigers concentrated too much on senior post Chaston Hall, he made them pay by finding an open teammate, who buried outside jumpers to bury Glen Rose. The Bulldogs didn’t care who scored as long as the ball went in, Kiser said.

“We were hoping to do that,” he said. “They said as long as we get the W. They concentrated heavily on Chaston, doubling and triple teaming him at times. He’s well-schooled at what to do when that happens. He got the ball to the guys and let them score.”

Sophomore guard Grant Cole scored nine of his 12 points in the period.

The Tigers pulled to within four early in the third. But that’s when the Bulldogs went on an 11-0 run to take a 47-31 lead headed into the fourth.

“We just got stops on defense, got layups and hit a few threes,” Hall said.

Once the outside jumpers began to fall, Hall was able to go one-on-one on the low block.

The result was Hall finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds.

“It gives me an opportunity to score,” he said.

Senior guard Stuart Berg finished with 13 points, while senior forward Ben Cardozo dropped in 10 and Everts scored nine.

As a team, Burnet was 25 of 48 for 52 percent from the field and seven of 14 from the three-point line.

“We basically gave it our all,” Hall said.

Rebounding is one area Kiser would like to see his team improve on, noting that in the first half the Bulldogs had the advantage in offensive rebounding.

“But it was close,” he said.

Burnet outrebounded Glen R

ose, 27-20, overall. But the two teams grabbed 11 offensive boards.

One reason the Bulldogs were able to outscore the Tigers in every period was because of their defensive presence.

“We were telling our guards one pass away,” Kiser said. “Find the ballhandler and look for his moves.”

By doing that, Burnet was able to clamp down on Glen Rose, he said.

Kiser compared Burkburnett to Liberty Hill.

Burkburnett will press full-court with athletic players and will want to have an up-tempo contest, the coach said.

With only one day to prepare because weather forced the bi-district game to be moved from Tuesday to Wednesday, the plan was to put the Bulldogs through a light workout, he said.

“The snow was beautiful and my kids enjoyed it, but it didn’t do much for our practices,” he said. “We’ll adjust on the fly and hopefully be ready.”