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Burlington Central has easy time in opener

After finishing fourth in Class 3A a year ago, the Burlington Central girls basketball team knows in order to make it back to Redbird Arena it will have to be firing on all cylinders by the end of the year.

Call Tuesday's win over Crystal Lake Central in the Burlington Central Thanksgiving Tournament a successful test run.

The Rockets forced 13 turnovers and went on a 17-0 streak in the first quarter alone before cruising to a comfortable 66-17 win in the season opener.

It was defense turning into offense for the Rockets as they ran a full-court press from the very start, getting 10 steals, 23 total turnovers and forced the Tigers into sporadic shooting from the field in the first half to get out to a big 40-5 lead.

"We think we have some kids that can play like that, and I know the girls enjoy playing like that," BC coach Mark Smith said of his team's press. "Kayla Ross set the tone well early and I think the pressure worked really well so we stuck with it until we got up big."

Without last year's leading scorer Sam Pryor, who was on the bench with an injury, the Rockets turned to Ross, a junior, to get the offense going early.

Ross had 10 points in the first quarter and 16 for the game despite not playing in the final quarter. She also had 5 rebounds and 2 assists to round out her night.

"I think this is a really good start to our season," Ross said. "We have a really good defense. We all can play so if one of us needs a sub we have someone who can go in without missing a beat."

In the second quarter it was more of the same on the defensive side while Alison Colby and Becca Gerke took over on offense. Colby scored 8 of her 12 points in the quarter while Gerke added 6.

Shelby Holt and Aly DeTamble, fresh off her run with the Rockets' conference and regional championship volleyball team, also scored in the double digits. DeTamble, one of four seniors on the team, took over in the third scoring 7 of her 10 points while Holt led the way in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 for the night.

Smith knows that having such a wealth of experience on the team can only help down the line.

"We have a lot of senior leadership on this team with four seniors," Smith said. "We've all been together now for three years and a lot of those juniors have played varsity since they were freshmen so the girls know each other very well. It's a very cohesive unit."

Although the Tigers (0-1) forced several turnovers of their own late in the game, they still gave up the ball 45 times on the night and made just 6 field goals. Led by Maddy Lerum with 8 points, no other CLC player finished with more than 2 points.

  Burlington Central's Kayla Rafferty shoots over an attempted block by Crystal Lake Central in the first quarter on Tuesday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Burlington Central's Jackie Collins shoots over a block by Crystal Lake Central's Molly Steffen in the first quarter on Tuesday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Burlington Central's Rebecca Gerke shoots for the hoop over Crystal Lake Central's Maddy Lerum in the second quarter on Tuesday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Burlington Central's Kristina Ahlers grabs a rebound and is sandwiched between Crystal Lake Central's Natalie Freund, left, and Maddy Lerum in the first quarter on Tuesday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
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