Lady Panthers stay unbeaten with win at Hempstead

HEMPSTEAD - Two key third-quarter runs propelled the No. 21 Burton Lady Panthers to their 11th straight win on Saturday at Hempstead.

Burton pulled away from the Ladycats in a 60-41 result for its ninth win over a school in Class 3A or above.

The Lady Panthers (11-0) took charge in the third quarter by winning the period 19-8. All of their third-quarter points came in two scoring spurts after a first half of scrappy basketball inspired an urgent halftime message from Burton coach Chris Taplin.

“I was just trying to encourage them to focus and lock in because we played some tougher teams and I think we probably thought this one would be a little bit easier than it was, but Hempstead was ready to fight,” he said.

Hempstead opened the second-half scoring on a layup off of a Burton turnover. The Ladycats moved within five points of the Lady Panthers at 28-23 in the first minute of the half.

However, Burton put its collective foot down and played the rest of the half with added focus.

“We had to realize that this team was not taking us lightly,” Burton senior guard Aerynn Huntsman said. “We had to open our eyes and change our mindset.”

A mental shift allowed Burton to make its run to victory. Sophomore guard Leilah Ellis began a 10-0 run with a layup with 6:06 left in the third quarter.

Her layup began a five-possession layup streak for the Lady Panthers. Junior guard Valerie Hernandez coveted two layups while senior guard Aerynn Huntsman and freshman guard Mya Rodriguez both made their own layups. Rodriguez’s layup came on a fastbreak possession following a steal.

Hempstead went on a 6-0 spurt afterward by forcing three Burton turnovers.

Huntsman ended the Ladycats’ run and began another Burton scoring spurt on a layup with 1:50 left in the third period.

Her layup began a 9-0 Lady Panther run to close the third quarter. Freshman forward Harper Hodde followed Huntsman’s score with a 3-pointer off of a Hempstead turnover.

Ellis and Rodriguez also scored baskets off Ladycat turnovers.

“We got a little more comfortable with passing the ball, looking for open people on offense instead of playing hot potato, so that helped us out,” Taplin said.

On the other end, he was happy with his defense’s ability to react to Hempstead’s offensive decisions.

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“We got in passing lanes better and then we got in transition, which is what we like to do,” Taplin said.

Huntsman was a leading force for the Lady Panthers defensively. She stole seven passes, including three in the second half, to lead the team alongside her 11 points, five assists and four rebounds.

“(It was) just to get the ball and pass it to one of my open teammates because they were playing very defensive,” she said of her mentality.

Burton’s lead did not drop below 15 points in the final quarter thanks to steady offensive play. Ellis scored six points in the quarter to cap a team-leading 25-point performance.

She also brought in nine rebounds and tallied two steals.

“She has really helped the team out stepping up into that starting spot,” Taplin said. “She is another one that has good speed, great athleticism and can get out and get ahead of the defense in transition and get an easy bucket with somebody like Valerie or Harper or Amya (Nickerson) looking for her.”

Hernandez tried to get her fair share of points through an added volume of fourth-quarter shots, but ended with seven points for the afternoon. She also tallied five assists, three steals and one rebound.

Hodde scored seven points and led Burton with 10 rebounds. She also accounted for Burton’s only three blocks of the game as well as three assists and steals.

Rodriguez added eight points, five rebounds and five steals.

While the Lady Panthers remained unbeaten, Huntsman said her first reaction coming out of the locker room after a Saturday win was one of disappointment.

However, she is not going too hard on herself based on solid second-half tweaks in addition to playing days after Thanksgiving.

“We still had a couple mistakes, like we had a lot of missed open layups and passing problems, but overall, I think we adjusted well to how we played in the first and second quarter,” she said.

Burton will take the court again at 5 p.m. Tuesday against Granger. The Lady Panthers will play on their home floor in a site change made on Wednesday.

Taplin will look to iron out defensive shortcomings in the week ahead, which includes a trip to the Navasota tournament with a game against in-county foe Brenham on the schedule.

“We got to be able to adjust and get our defense to where we are able to deal with the overload and being attacked on the baseline,” he said. “Those are two things we have kind of been susceptible to throughout the season, and we got to get better at that.”