Pryor returns, Burlington Central pulls away from Byron
Burlington Central's girls basketball team thrives on tough competition.
The Rockets got some Friday night and they were up to the challenge.
Being seriously pushed for the first time this season, Central didn't panic and eventually pulled away from Byron for a 49-36 Big Northern crossover win on Rocket Hill.
"Nice win, very nice win," said a happy BC coach Mark Smith. "That was a great effort by the girls. That was a good team."
The Rockets (6-0), the No. 2 ranked team in Class 3A, welcomed junior leading scorer Sam Pryor to the floor for the first time this season and in playing about half the game she scored a team-high 16 points. Pryor had missed BC's first five games with a knee injury and came into Friday's game late in the first quarter.
"I've been out two months and I only had two days of practice so it was a challenge," Pryor said. "My teammates helped me so much. They really helped me transition back into the game. The biggest challenge was to trust my knee again."
The Rockets also got 11 big points off the bench, including three 3-pointers, from junior Jackie Collins as well as 10 points from junior Kayla Ross, who sealed the win by going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, not to mention playing her usual stellar defense on the opponent's best guard.
"We had some outstanding individual efforts tonight," said Smith. "It's nice to have Pryor back, and Jackie Collins is a kid who has kind of been waiting in the wings and she did a nice job tonight. And Kayla Ross was outstanding on 14 (Nicole Silvers)."
Central suffered through 8-for-25 shooting in the first half and had some trouble containing 6-foot-1 Byron senior Ellie Lehne, who scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the first 16 minutes.
Byron (5-2), the No. 9 ranked team in Class 2A, led 20-19 at halftime and after a tie and three lead changes the Rockets took a 29-27 lead into the fourth quarter. Collins hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the third, one to tie the game at 24, then to give BC a 27-24 lead, but Byron's Lexi DeVries answered with a game-tying 3. Becca Gerke's 2 free throws gave Central the 2-point advantage going into the fourth.
And that's when the experienced Rockets showed their mettle. Senior Aly DeTamble scored underneath and Collins hit a 2-pointer to give Central a 33-27 lead just over a minute into the quarter, to that point the biggest lead of the night for either team.
Byron did close to within 35-34 on a Lehne basket with 4:04 to play but the Rockets went on a 14-2 run from there to close it out. Pryor hit a 3 with 3:34 left to play to start the run and Ross scored the final 6 points of the game from the free throw line in the final 1:26.
"I thought we played much smarter in the second half," said Smith, whose team finished the game shooting 15 of 40 and outrebounded the Tigers 29-24, led by 8 boards from senior Alison Colby.
Byron went to the line 9 times in the first half and none in the second half, which was a point of emphasis for Smith at halftime.
"We were a little careless with the ball in the first half and we talked about that at halftime and we talked about not letting them get to the line. That was a good team, good competition. The second half tonight was outstanding for us."
The Rockets open defense of the Big Northern East title Tuesday night at Richmond-Burton, where they will be going for their 25th straight division win.