After early struggles, Burrell girls showed improvement late in season

By: William Whalen
Monday, February 28, 2022 | 9:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Untimely injuries, young players stepping into starting roles, tough calls late in games, buzzer beaters and losing streaks weren’t enough to break the will and determination of the 2021-22 Burrell girls basketball team. All these struggles did was build character and light a fire moving forward.

“It was a tough season,” Burrell coach Shaun Reddick said. “Obviously it started in about the worst way possible in losing Olivia Watts; she was expected to come back and did not play.

“We lost Allison Fisher to injury, so we had a lot of girls get thrusted into starting roles immediately. We were really never out of any games; we just struggled to get the points when we needed it.”

The tough-luck Bucs finished the season tied for fifth place with Derry in Section 1-4A. Burrell (4-15, 4-8) struggled out of the gate but managed to keep itself in the postseason picture with a strong second half of the season. After starting the season with eight straight losses, the Bucs earned a 56-51 home win over section rival Freeport.

The 47-45 buzzer-beating loss to Deer Lakes weighed heavily on the Bucs. But, it was the last loss Burrell would post during the season. The Bucs channeled that energy into the form of a three-game winning streak to close out the regular season.

The Bucs found themselves playing their best basketball during the last week of the regular season.

“It just felt really good to us,” junior Riley Sterlitz said. “Those were all really big games for us. It was unfortunate that we stepped up our game towards the end of the season.”

Sterlitz led the Bucs with 110 rebounds.

In addition to ranked section rivals such as Knoch and Highlands, Burrell had a grueling nonsection slate with teams such as Fox Chapel, Gateway, Kiski Area and Laurel.

“That is a significant level of competition to go into with girls that don’t have a significant amount of varsity experience,” Reddick said.

Once Fisher went down with injury, senior captain Hope Clark led the Bucs the rest of the way.

“I think losing Allison Fisher to injury, really shook the team,” Sterlitz said. “It took our team awhile to overcome the loss of her.

“A lot of people stepped up, like Hope. She was already a captain, but she really took hold of the team.”

Clark led the Bucs in scoring, averaging 11 points.

“Her leadership was clearly evident throughout the season,” Reddick said.

Hope’s younger sister, Anna Clark, led Burrell in assists. She also notched Burrell’s only double-double when she posted 15 points and 11 rebounds in the Bucs’ 59-30 win over Valley in the final game of the season.

Burrell will graduate five seniors, including three starters from this year’s team.

But the future is bright.

Reddick fully expects that the crash course on varsity basketball for his younger players will pay dividends.

“There were a lot of life lessons taught this year, and I think we’re all gonna be better for it,” Reddick said. “All the things you want to happen as you progress, I think happened throughout the year.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Burrell