It wasn’t necessarily a thing of beauty, but after five consecutive losses, Indian Creek girls basketball coach Dan Burkman will gladly take a victory any way he can get it.
Despite committing 26 turnovers, the Braves got back in the win column Tuesday night by gutting out a 48-45 triumph against a gritty Hauser squad.
“We’re happy that we got the win,” Burkman said. “We needed something to feel good about, and we did a lot of good things out there.”
Though it never managed a comfortable lead, Indian Creek (4-7) maintained the upper hand from early in the second quarter on, and anytime Hauser (6-2) appeared poised to regain control, the Braves found a way to halt momentum.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryEarly in the third quarter, the Jets got within one, 25-24, on a pair of Hailey Lange free throws, but Addie Rund answered with a 3-pointer less than a minute later, starting an 8-0 surge that grew the Indian Creek lead to nine. When Hauser crawled closer again during the fourth quarter behind 3-pointers by Tori Chandler and Jada Asher, Stevye Gonzales kept the Jets at arm’s length by making four of four free throws in the last 19.2 seconds to ice it.
Rund led the Braves with 15 points, while Katie Burkman added 11 points and seven rebounds. Madelyn Gary frustrated the Jets at the defensive end, grabbing eight boards and blocking five shots.
“We played as a team tonight, and that’s what brought us home the win,” Katie Burkman said.
Indian Creek had the two biggest runs of the first half but was unable to create any separation, letting Hauser stay in the game by turning the ball over too frequently.
The Braves scored seven consecutive points in the middle of the first quarter, but the Jets finished the period with a 12-11 edge after forcing 10 Indian Creek giveaways. In the second quarter, Hannah Grider and Madelyn Gary each had a pair of buckets during an 11-0 run that spanned nearly five and a half minutes and gave the home club a 22-14 advantage, but Hauser scored six points in the final 1:22 of the half, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Chandler, to go into the break down by just five, 25-20.
“Mentally — and I’m sure the girls feel the same way — (another) loss, I’m not sure how they would respond to that,” Dan Burkman said. “We really needed that from a psychological standpoint.”
