Lady Dawgs battle through slow half for victory
SALADO — An important road game victory. That’s how Burnet High School girls head basketball coach Mike Cavender characterized his team’s 45-35 victory Jan. 21 against Salado.
The Lady Dawgs (14-12, 4-1) remain tied for the District 25-3A lead with Liberty Hill. "We came away with a big win in district play," Cavender said. "Salado has an excellent program, and for us to go on the road and get the win was huge for our kids."
Burnet suffered through an 11-5 first period and was unable to chip away at the deficit in the second quarter.
"We got off to a slow start offensively in the game, struggling to put the ball in the hole," Cavender said. "But as the game wore on, we began to heat up."
The Lady Dawgs took control of the contest in the third stanza, scoring 14 points and only giving up three for a 28-23 lead.
Cavender credited his squad’s stinginess for the result.
"We played another excellent game on defense with only a few breakdowns, which led to easy points," he said.
Burnet was 16 of 46 from the field for 35 percent, while the Lady Eagles were 11 of 32 for 34 percent.
The Lady Dawgs were nine of 17 from the free-throw line for 53 percent, and Salado finished 10 of 12 for 83 percent.
The Lady Eagles outrebounded Burnet 28-19 but committed 23 turnovers to the Lady Dawgs’ 11.
"We need to refocus on our rebounding," Cavender said. "(Friday) night was the first time in a while that we were outrebounded for the game, and rebounding usually goes a long way in determining the winner."
Burnet junior guard Kati Maldonado paced her team with 26 points followed by junior guard Leah Cotton’s 14.
Cavender said it would have been easy for the Lady Dawgs to give up, but they didn’t.
"I was really proud of how the kids continued to battle through the first half when we were trailing and things weren’t going right," he said. "Then they came out after halftime and turned it up a notch defensively and became the aggressor, and good things started to happen after that the rest of the way."
Burnet will play at Liberty Hill, 13125 Texas 29, at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25.