Burlington Central routs Crystal Lake Central

Burlington Central girls basketball coach Mark Smith was quite happy to see the difference between his team’s first and second games of the season.

A 43-point victory usually pleases coaches.

The Rockets shot over 55 percent and held Crystal Lake Central to just 9 points in the final three quarters to beat the Tigers, 59-16, in Pool A play of the Burlington Central Thanksgiving Tournament.

“We played so much more under control offensively,” Smith said. “We’re still trying to learn the rules in terms of the hand-checking but both second halves they were not in the bonus so were getting used to that.”

The Rockets (2-0) scored the first 7 points of the game and forced the Tigers into turnovers on four of their first five possessions. Those turnovers led to 9 points as the Rockets led 12-1 with 3:50 remaining in the first quarter.

“I think everyone gained more confidence,” Rockets sophomore Samantha Pryor said. “The first game back everyone is nervous. We came back (Thursday) and were ready to play.”

Burlington Central forced 9 turnovers in the first quarter and 32 for the game. The Tigers, who scored only 5 points in the second half, shot just 21 percent (6-for-29).

The Rockets had seven players score at least 5 points and all 10 players scored. Pryor led Burlington Central 11 points and 7 rebounds. Alison Colby, Kayla Ross and Shelby Holt each added 8 points.

“When we scout a team we’re looking for one or two kids that we have to shut down,” Smith said. “With the balanced scoring it’s nice so hopefully teams can’t focus on one or two kids and we get a lot of scoring out of that.”