advertisement

Next challenge for Burlington Central: Defending state champ Morton

Since the day postseason seeds were released the Burlington Central girls basketball team has played with a bit of a chip on its shoulder.

The Rockets, who were a No. 2 seed in their sub-sectional, have shown throughout the postseason that seeds are just a number on paper.

But now, Central will face its toughest test yet. After knocking off No. 4 Rockford Lutheran then perennial power Rockford Boylan to win the Rochelle sectional, the 10th-ranked Rockets (26-4) will hit the road Monday for the Class 3A Manlius Bureau Valley supersectional, where the opponent is defending state champ and top-ranked Morton (30-3).

Don't think all of that is going to intimidate Central, though.

"Before the season the girls made a commitment and they are determined to go downstate," said Rockets coach Mark Smith, whose team was fourth in Class 4A in 2014 after making a supersectional trip in 2013.

"In their minds this is just one more game to get that done."

BC played with confidence throughout the sectional, showing great resiliency after building leads in both games then withstanding comeback attempts by Lutheran and Boylan. The Rockets' defense has been at its best of the season, allowing just 32 points per game during the postseason. That effort has been spearheaded by senior Kayla Ross, who has consistently shut down the opponents' best scorer. She also averages 11.8 points per game and had a game-high 16 points in the sectional final. The point guard also dishes out 3.7 assists per game and averages 4 steals.

Many of those matchups, though, have been on players similar in size to the 5-7 Ross and that could change Monday night. Morton's top scorer is 5-11 junior Brandi Bipsing (14.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg).

"Bipsing is a nice player," said Smith, now 105-19 in his fourth year. "The thing that's a little different in this game is we won't put our best defender on their best player. The biggest challenge will be who is going to guard her."

Shutting down Bipsing will likely be a by-committee task, with seniors Sam Pryor (6-0) and 5-10 Becca Gerke. Pryor is also the Rockets' leading scorer at 15.5 ppg and she has 82 3-pointers on 48 percent shooting. She also pulls down a team-high 4.8 rebounds per game. Gerke averages 7.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game and has had a stellar postseason. Senior Shelby Holt, who has 52 3-pointers, averages 10.2 ppg. Pryor, Ross and Holt have all scored over 1,000 career points.

BC's other starter is 5-5 senior guard Samantha Cruz, who is the team's third leading rebounder and a steady ballhandler who can also knock down a 3 if needed.

"They've got a group of five seniors with a lot of experience," said Morton coach Bob Becker of the Rockets. "They have three 1,000-point scorers and a bunch of girls who have had a taste of Redbird and are hungry to get back. We'll have to bring our best game. We'll have to play good defense and rebound. It should be a good game."

Morton has allowed just 30 points per game in the postseason and scored an average of 40. The Potters are currently on a 10-game winning streak. Their losses have been to Class 3A supersectional qualifier North Lawndale in 4 overtimes at the State Farm Classic, to East Peoria and to Quincy Notre Dame. They beat Prairie Central and Washington to win the Galesburg sectional after knocking off Normal U-High and Peoria Notre Dame in the Bloomington regional.

The Potters lost their star player, senior guard Chandler Ryan, to an ACL tear on Dec. 15. Chandler, a Florida Gulf Coast recruit, was averaging 19.2 points per game when her season ended.

"We've kept the same expectations," said Becker, now 376-142 in his 17th year. "It was unfortunate to lose Chandler but they've rallied around each other and it's kind of been a next player up thing. It's a great group, I think we're deeper than last year even without Chandler and I don't think they're feeling any pressure. They're just going about things on a consistent basis every day and controlling what we can control."

Morton's other starters include senior Jadison Wharram (5-8, 7.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, game-high 19 points in sectional finals), 5-6 senior Kayla McCormick (5.1 ppg), 5-3 sophomore Josi Becker (6.3 ppg) and 5-9 freshman point guard Tenley Dowell (5.4 ppg).

"They look similar to us," Smith said. "They defend well and they're well-coached. They've been (to Redbird) before and so have we. It should be a good game."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.