Burlington Central gets past Larkin

Trailing Larkin 28-17 at the half, Burlington Central guard Jordan Maisto and her teammates remembered something - they hate to lose.

That said, coming out of the break, the plan was simple. Switch to a zone defense and win the third quarter.

With 36 seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Rockets (14-11) capped off a 14-4 run with Maisto connecting from behind the arc to pull within one at 32-31. By the conclusion of the third, Burlington took a one-point lead into the final 8 minutes at 33-32 following a pair of free throws from Taylor Colby, and held on for the 41-38 nonconference victory on the road.

"With regionals coming up, we wanted to work on our zone defense," said Burlington coach Wade Maisto. "We talked about winning the third quarter at the break, and coming out we said we'd do what we had to do in the second half."

Not only did the zone defense erase a 17-4 first quarter effort from Larkin, but it also held the Royals to just a pair of second half field goals.

"Our defense was key in the second half, and our rebounding was much better," said Jordan Maisto. "We came out flat in the first. Our defensive effort late sparked our offense."

Maisto (5 steals, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) led the Rocket attack with 13 points including three from long-distance. Inside, Alli Settanni stepped up for 9 points and 11 rebounds while Colby chipped in with 8 points and 7 rebounds.

"I was real happy with the effort of our girls all night," said Wade Maisto. "Larkin had an excellent first quarter.

"They didn't miss.

Dominant early, Larkin (2-18) took a 17-2 lead in the first quarter scoring four times on second chances. Their rebound tally in the first 8 minutes nearly doubled Burlington's at 12-to-7, and ultimately resulted in 13 unanswered points.

"We've been talking a lot about defense and rebounding which the girls executed perfectly in the first half," said Larkin coach Amy Silverman.

"It was just the tale of two halves. We made too many mistakes in the second half. We were not patient on offense, and we let down on defense."

Via the put-back, Jessica Harris nabbed 10 first half points and went on to lead all scorers with 16 points. She recorded the double-double with 10 rebounds. Her 6 fourth quarter points accounted for all of Larkin's offense which trailed just 39-38 with 4 seconds left to play.

"Jess did a nice job keeping us alive the entire game," Silverman said. "Still, you have to play four solid quarters to win it."

Lindsey Casebeer crashed the boards for 9 rebounds, and Tatiana Holbert came off the bench to score 7 points for Larkin.

"Credit to Burlington," Silverman said. "They committed to the zone defense in the second half, and played it tight."