Burrell girls pull away from Highlands to stay undefeated

By: Dave Mackall
Thursday, December 12, 2024 | 10:19 PM

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Burrell has begun the girls basketball season with five lopsided victories, the latest a 51-25 decision behind 12 points each from Casey Brancato and McKenna Miller on Thursday night at Highlands in the WPIAL Section 1-4A opener for both schools.

It is the most points scored so far against the Buccaneers (5-0, 1-0), who opened their schedule by limiting three opponents to fewer than 10 points each before allowing 17 in a 24-point victory over Mt. Pleasant.

Highlands trailed by just eight points in the third quarter before Burrell pulled away to remain unbeaten.

“The nice thing about a game like this is we did some things bad that we need to work on,” Burrell coach Shaun Reddick said. “But when you come away with a 26-point win and you have to work on things, that’s a lot better than a loss when you have to work on things.

“From that perspective, we feel great about it.”

Burrell started slowly and ended the first quarter tied with Highlands at 9-9 before the Bucs used a 13-0 run to close out the second quarter and take a 26-13 halftime lead.

The Bucs’ Adriana Vogel scored seven points during the outburst.

Highlands (0-6, 0-1) rode Tyarah Woody’s seven straight points during a 7-2 run to open the third quarter and closed within 28-20 before Burrell finished the quarter on a 7-0 run of its own to stretch the lead to 35-20.

Mikayla Coury’s 3-point shot ignited the Burrell flurry, which also included back-to-back steals resulting in layups by Miller and freshman Allie McMahon that pushed the Bucs’ lead back to double digits.

“We weren’t being patient when we were running our half-court set,” Reddick said. “We were getting downcourt and we were letting it fly. Yeah, they were open shots, but we didn’t work the ball well. We could’ve found better seams in their zone if we’d have taken our time and worked the ball better.”

Reddick praised Highlands’ successful plan to slow down his team and force a slower pace.

“They did a really good job of keeping us in check, so we couldn’t get out and run,” he said. “They made us shoot in the half-court.”

Highlands, with three freshmen in the starting lineup after the Golden Rams reached the PIAA Class 4A playoffs last season, is rebuilding under first-year coach Dan LaGamba. He succeeded Shawn Bennis after several seasons at Ellis School, where he took the Tigers to the WPIAL Class A semifinals and PIAA quarterfinals in 2020.

Woody, the only returning starter, led Highlands with 17 points.

Despite the lopsided victories to start the year, Reddick cautioned against overconfidence. Burrell’s roster includes just two seniors.

“I do love where my team’s at,” he said. “We’re still young, we’re still growing, we’ve still got a lot of work to do, and we’re aware of that.”

Tags: Burrell, Highlands