By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

GOESSEL – Recovering from a sluggish start, the Elyria Christian girls rallied back and took Burrton into overtime on Saturday in the third-place game for the Bluebird Classic only to lose by four, 37-33.

As sluggish start is an understatement as the Lady Eagles finished the first quarter with zero points on the board while Burrton only put up four. While Elyria finally got seven points in the books before halftime, Burrton scored another eight and held a five-point, 12-7, advantage going into the break.

Coming out for the final 16 minutes of basketball, the Lady Eagles outscored Burrton 13-9 in the third to pull within one-point at 21-20 before playing even ball in the fourth and ending regulation play knotted up at 30-30. Burrton then outdistanced Elyria in the overtime by four to gain the final 37-33 victory.

“We had another night where we just could not get started offensively,” explained Lady Eagle head coach Greg Fields. “I need to do a better job of getting the girls ready for a game mentally. We are fouling way too much and turning the ball over from unforced errors. We haven’t really been able to get into a rhythm yet this season.”

Neither team lit up the nets as both Elyria and Burrton shot just 29% from the field. It was free throws that made the difference in the game as the Lady Eagles committed 24 fouls in the game giving Burrton 29 opportunities at the charity stripe where they made 15, while Elyria made just eight-of-fourteen.

Working the boards was a battle as both teams finished the game with 26 rebounds. It was ball handling that plagued the Lady Eagles as they committed 26 turnovers to just 18 for Burrton.

Ryland Hawkinson continued a solid week of play as she just missed a double-double by leading the Lady Eagles in scoring with 14 and grabbing nine rebounds. Kylee Penner had a good all-around game as she chipped in with nine points, seven rebounds, made three steals and dished out a pair of assists.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR the LADY EAGLES?

The loss drops the Lady Eagles to just 1-3 for the season as they now prep to host Sedgwick on Tuesday.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES vs. Burrton at Bluebird Classic

SCORING:        1          2          3          4          OT       FINAL

LADY EAGLES  0          7          13        10        3          33

Burrton            4          8          9          9          7          37

TEAM STATS:              LADY EAGLES  Burrton

Shooting                     11/38 (29%)    10/35 (29%)

3-Pointers                   3/16 (19%)      2/8 (25%)

Free Throws                8/14 (57%)      15/29 (52%)

Rebounds (Off/Def)    26 (7/19)         26 (14/12)

Assists                         5                      N/A

Turnovers                   26                    18

Steals                          12                    N/A

Blocked Shots             1                      4

Personal Fouls            24                    17

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLESA INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (33 Total Points): Ryland Hawkinson – 14; Kylee Penner – 9; Allie Stone – 4; Alexus Swenson – 3; Macy Reiff – 2; KiLynn Starburg – 1.  

Three-Pointers Made (3): Alexus Swenson, Kylee Penner, Allie Stone – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Ryland Hawkinson – 9; Kylee Penner – 7; Allie Stone – 4; KiLynn Starburg – 3.

Assist Leader: Kylee Penner – 2.

Leader in Steals: Kylee Penner, Allie Stone, Olivia Clark – 3.

Leader in Blocked Shots: KiLynn Starburg – 1.