Burrell girls basketball team eyes fast starts under new coach

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, December 14, 2017 | 10:48 PM

One of the things Burrell first-year girls basketball coach Meaghan Volek hoped to see from her team as it got into its early schedule was establishing fast starts to games.

However, the new-look Bucs, who lost a trio of key contributors from last season, took a little longer to get going than she had hoped in each of the first three games — a win over Highlands and losses to Shady Side Academy and Armstrong.

But Thursday in their Section 1-4A opener, a rematch with Highlands, the Bucs were able to come out firing and take control.

Burrell jumped out to a double-digit lead after the first quarter and maintained that advantage the rest of the way in a 56-46 home win.

“We were able to set the tempo and got a nice lead,” Volek said. “We were able limit turnovers. But Highlands stuck with us, kept fighting and gave us a game until the very end. We always talk about keeping that energy and fire throughout the whole game, no matter the situation. We are in a very competitive section. There are no easy games.”

Volek said next week's section slate will be a challenge. The Bucs (2-2, 1-0) will take on last year's defending WPIAL 4A champion and PIAA semifinalist Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic on Monday and Knoch on Dec. 21.

“It was a great feeling to get that first section win,” Volek said. “We always talk about getting a win and then focusing on getting the net one. With the teams we play in this section, we know how valuable these wins are.”

Senior Brittany Dunn, the team's leading returning scorer, has hit double digits in scoring in three of the four games so far. She scored 27 the first time against Highlands, a 61-42 win on Saturday, and 25 in Thursday's triumph.

Dunn, able to take on roles as an inside presence or an outside scoring threat, collected five 3-pointers Thursday. She had three 3-pointers and 11 points total in the Bucs' 22-point opening quarter.

“We just need to play our game all the time, no matter who we are playing,” Dunn said. “We need to be smart with our passing and make good decisions at both ends of the floor.”

Burrell collected 123 wins the past six seasons and is riding a six-year streak of WPIAL playoff appearances.

Junior Kaylen Sharrow also has scored in double figures in three of Burrell's four games. She tallied 16 on Thursday.

“We have the two big scorers in Kaylen and Brittany, and we're looking to get everyone else involved as much as we can,” Volek said. “(Junior) Grace Omecinski gives us a lot of minutes defensively, and (sophomore) Maia Ferra is settling into the role of our point guard and bringing the ball up the court.”

Renee Cebula paced Highlands (0-4, 0-1) with 20 points. She hit four 3-pointers and was 4 of 6 from the free-throw line.

Sara Sawhook added 15 points, nine coming on a trio of 3-pointers. She also was 4 for 4 from the foul line.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com.

Tags: Burrell, Highlands