Girls Basketball Update - Monday January 24, 2011

Injuries forced two senior starters out Monday night and Burlington looked to have their hands full with visiting Arlington. The Lady Devils were eager for revenge after a listless 20 point loss at Arlington in December. This night would be a different story for Burlington, however, as the team rallied from a 7-point deficient at the end of the third quarter for an exciting 40-34 victory.


Arlington took a one-point lead after the first quarter, but the score was deadlocked at 18 at the half. Burlington had six players score during those first two quarters as Kaitlyn Morneweck and Sarah Hood led the team into the locker room with 4 points each. Erin Clark and Katie Han added 3 apiece. Stacy Howe gave her team quality minutes, playing solid defensive and creating offensive opportunities for her teammates. Defensively, Clark held Arlington’s sharpshooter, Colleen Kane, to 5 points.

Scoring would become more difficult in the third quarter as the Lady Devils couldn’t find the bottom of the net. Aggressive offensive play kept them in the game as Burlington shot 5 for 6 from the free throw line. Without a basket, however, Arlington was able to build a 7 point lead fueled by Burlington miscues at the end of the quarter.

The Lady Devils came out with something to prove in the fourth as they tightened their defense and exploded for one of their best offensive quarters of the season. Arlington would only manage 4 points the rest of the way, including a hail-Mary, 3-point bank-shot with the shot clock winding down. Clark, Han, Christina Raso, and Jodi Han were all involved on key defensive plays, as the Burlington guards held the Arlington backcourt in check.

The Lady Devils kept their possessions alive by crashing the offensive glass. Kayla Coluci was unstoppable during this stretch, grabbing offensive rebounds and scoring 8 points in the rally. With about two minutes left Burlington was down by two, but once they took the lead Arlington was forced to foul. Katie Han added 5 points this quarter, including two key free throws at the end of the game. She ended the contest 6 for 8 from the charity stripe and Burlington’s lead scorer with 11 points. Her sister, Jodi, grabbed 4 rebounds at the guard spot, including one within the final minute that all but dashed Arlington’s hopes for a dramatic ending. Coluci added 10 points and 11 boards, as Morneweck totaled 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Raso added 4 assists, Hood grabbed 5 rebounds and dished 3 assists, while Clark, Han and Rachel Joyce each had 2 steals. Kelsey Carnell filled her stat sheet with only positives as the forward grabbed 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks and gave an assist. The Lady Devils shot 70% from the free throw line and had their third highest offensive output of the season. Seven Burlington players scored in all, while keeping each Arlington player in single digits offensively.