Burgin downs KSD

From: Advocate Messenger, KY - 11 Feb 2003

By MARTY WARREN
Staff Writer

BURGIN -- Burgin coach John Cooper hasn't been pleased with his team's defense all year, and he wasn't pleased again Monday despite limiting Kentucky School for the Deaf to 32 percent shooting and forcing 29 turnovers in an 81-41 over the Colonels.

"We didn't play defense worth a hoot," Cooper said. "I told some of the kids at the half that they couldn't guard our bench. I thought KSD held themselves to five points in the fourth quarter."

Still, the Bulldogs were able to put the game away because of a pair of double-doubles from Sean Bottoms and Zack Gross. Bottoms collected 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Gross added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Eric Lyons chipped in with 15 points and Jeremy Rowland 11 to give Burgin four double-digit scorers. Joe Harris grabbed 11 rebounds as Burgin outrebounded the Colonels 49-30.

Burgin (7-13) jumped out of the gate quick as Joe Harris scored four points and Zack Gross scored following a steal to give the Bulldogs a 6-2 advantage. KSD rallied to grab its only lead at 7-6 after a basket by Anthony Franklin and old-fashioned 3-point play from Kerry Helton. Burgin controlled the rest of the first period, finishing the quarter on a 15-2 scoring run as Gross scored five points and Lyons four.

Burgin scored the first five points of the second quarter to lead 29-11 before KSD rallied to score seven points as of its own. Helton knocked down a trey while Franklin and Austin Bradford scored to trim the lead to 29-18.

Strong finish puts Bulldogs up by 17 at half

Burgin once again finished the period strong by going on a 9-3 scoring run and led 38-21 at the half.

"Our boys played great in the first half, but we couldn't continue to do our jobs in the second half," KSD coach Paul Kulick said. "We may have still been tired from playing in the (Mason-Dixon) tournament last week."

KSD refused to go away easily as the second half began. Five points from Helton, a 3-pointer by Franklin and a bucket by Bradford enabled the Colonels to close the gap to 41-29 and that forced Cooper to call timeout.

"We have a tendency to hit droughts and did it again tonight," the Burgin coach said. "It's a combination of three things. We miss easy shots, commit silly fouls and have unforced turnovers. We made (Helton) look like an all-stater. We didn't put a hand in his face all night. The Franklin kid is really quick, and he just blew by us to the basket throughout the game."

Evidently, Cooper got his message across to his players. When they returned to the floor, they finished the final three minutes of the quarter on a 13-3 scoring run as Rowland scored nine straight points during one stretch while Bottoms added four and the Bulldogs led 58-36 after three quarters.

Franklin scored for the Colonels on a follow shot one minute into the final frame, but Burgin reeled off a 16-1 run over the next four minutes to put the game out of reach. The final margin of 81-41 was their largest lead of the game.

"I didn't realize the score was that lopsided in the fourth quarter," Cooper said. "I didn't think we were playing that well and things just got out of hand late."

Burgin connected on 25 of 64 shots from the field for 39 percent compared to 16 of 49 for KSD. The Bulldogs cashed 23 of 39 charity attempts while the Colonels went to the foul stripe only eight times and cashed five. Burgin committed 17 turnovers.

KSD (5-11) -- Anthony Franklin 14, Austin Bradford 4, Kerry Helton 15, Michael Hayes 5, Derrick Brewster 3.

BURGIN (7-13) -- Shane Trayner 3, Eric Lyons 15, Jason Gaddis 3, Joe Harris 6, Daniel Howard 4, Jeremy Rowland 11, Zack Gross 16, Ryan Steer 3, Sean Bottoms 20.

GIRLS

Burgin 55, KSD 16 -- Burgin outscored KSD 17-0 during one stretch and coasted to the win.

"It was good to get everyone a lot of minutes," Burgin coach Keith Monson said. "We tried to work on different defenses and push the ball up the floor on offense. It was just good to get a win. KSD played without their leading scorer and that had to hurt them."

"Our team played hard and I was proud of their effort," KSD coach Kevin Hamilton said. "We missed Rachel (Cornett) who was out with an injured ankle and Merry Jo (Lewis) played with the flu."

KSD (5-11) -- Merry Jo Lewis 4, Brunton 4, Maribel Rodriguez 5, Sonnie Smallwood 3.

BURGIN (6-13) -- Taylor Bottoms 4, Andrea Warner 9, Amanda Carey 10, Stephanie Stewart 9, Ericka Waggener 2, Meredith Lear 6, Bev Harris 5, Tiffany Shewmaker 1, Jessica Allen 2, Ann Harris 2, Michelle Myers 2.

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