Burlington Central blocks out Elgin
There's no question the girls basketball teams from Elgin and Burlington Central went through some first-game growing pains Tuesday night at Elgin's Chesbrough Field House.
In the end, the taller and visiting Rockets prevailed, 45-30, in the nonconference contest, and both coaches came away seeing some good things and, of course, some things to work on.
“First-game jitters,” said second-year BC coach Stephanie Smith. “All of the stuff we did (wrong) is fixable.”
The Rockets did a lot of things right, especially on the glass. Even though both teams' shooting was paltry at best they went a combined 24-for-110 the Rockets owned the boards and used their 55-38 advantage on the glass to hold off a pesky Elgin team that showed improvement from last season already.
“I see a lot of good things,” said Maroons' coach Dr. Nick Bumbales. “From where the program was a year ago, we're more fundamentally sound. Last year we got doubled up by halftime.”
And at halftime Tuesday, the Maroons were right in the game, trailing just 21-15 on the strength of an 11-8 advantage in the second quarter.
“We got into some foul trouble early but after the first quarter I thought we played pretty well,” said Bumbales.
Burlington Central jumped out to an 11-4 lead after one quarter as Bumbales had to go to his bench early with starters Amanda Haugan and Anna Edwards picking up two fouls each early on. But in the second quarter Elgin snuck back into the game due to a balanced effort and a 3-for-20 shooting performance by the Rockets.
Those shooting woes hit Elgin in the second half and the Rockets capitalized, despite the fact their own shooting didn't get much better. But 6-foot-2 junior center Brenda Thasavong came alive in the second half, scoring all 9 of her points and pulling down 15 of her game-high 20 rebounds.
“It's always been my role to rebound,” Thasavong said. “It's no big deal. I just do what I do.”
Senior Alli Settanni, who led the Rockets with 13 points, also hauled in 17 rebounds.
“Any championship team rebounds well,” Smith said. “That's all about heart. Brenda and Alli did a good job in there tonight.”
An 8-0 run midway through the third quarter gave the Rockets the distance they needed to hold Elgin off the rest of the way. Six of the points came on three straight putbacks, two by junior guard Catherine Kaynish and one by Thasavong. Kaynish added a strong 9 points, 6 steals and a blocked shot off the bench for the Rockets, who helped create 33 Elgin turnovers with 21 steals. Junior Sarah Nelson added six and sophomore Camile Dela Cruz had five.
“Kaynish is real feisty,” Smith said. “She's a tough hard-nosed kid.”
Junior Briana Hamilton led Elgin with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks.
“We're not a good shooting team yet,” said Bumbales, whose team was 10-for-38. “But we handled the ball better. Burlington Central's a good team. It was a tough opening game for us. They're well-coached and they were well-prepared. Coach Smith does a good job with them. It looked a little like a Chinese fire drill out there at times but I saw some good things.”
Smith did as well, she just wants to see her team harness it a little. The Rockets shot 14-for-72 from the field.
“I'm not looking to run and hurt us, I'm looking to run and be successful,” Smith said. “We have quick guards they're just real inexperienced and raw. They need to know when to put the brakes on.”