What we learned in West Burlington girls basketball victory over Burlington
Like a matador waving a cape in front of an angry bull, there is just something about the Burlington High School girls basketball team that seems to bring the best out in West Burlington junior Abbey Bence.
After pouring in 31 points in last year's win over the Grayhounds, Bence was at it again Saturday afternoon. This time, Bence scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Falcons to a 74-32 victory over the Grayhounds at West Burlington High School.
Whatever the reason, just seeing the Grayhounds on the court does something to bring the best out in Bence, who probably can't wait until next year's crosstown rivalry game.
“It’s a crosstown rivalry," said Bence, who knocked down 8-of-11 shots from the field and sank both free-throw attempts. "We haven’t played them in basketball for very many years. It brings out the town. You play with a lot of the girls in other sports. Everybody wants to compete.”
“She’s been playing well the last few games and she’s not 100 percent right now.," West Burlington head coach John Vandenberg said of his 5-foot-7 swing player. "We’re trying to baby her out there a little bit more than we normally would. You can’t baby Abbey. She’s just a physical specimen. She does a great job for us. Lately she’s just been playing at a different level.”
A victory, and a milestone
Barb Carter was a teacher and a coach at West Burlington when Vandenberg was a student-athlete at the school.
Saturday's win over BHS was the 77th in Vandenberg's five years at the helm, breaking a tie with Carter for the school's all-time wins in five-player history.
Vandenberg, who led the Falcons to the state tournament last season for the first time in 44 years, said being mentioned with Carter was an honor in and of itself.
“It’s good. But the big thing is knowing who had that record before me," Vandenberg said. "Barb Carter was my teacher. Just to be talked about in the same breath with her is great. She’s a great role model for kids. She’s been a great coach in softball and everything else here. It’s more of an honor just to be mentioned with her.”
“It’s awesome," Bence said. "He came in and our program had been struggling for quite a few years. He really turned things around, stepped up and took the team to state last year. He works with all of his players. I know he’s made me a better player.”
For the record, Delmar Walker holds the school record for wins. He had a 317-253 record, twice taking teams to state in the six-player era.
Young Falcons maturing
While the veteran players led the way for West Burlington — Bence, Kenna Marlow, Stacey Dzawo and Riley Richards combined to score 50 of the Falcons' points — the younger players continue to make strides.
Taryn Havener tossed in nine points, Lyndsey Logan had seven points, Isabella Blaufuss scored six points and Isabella Callison scored two points.
Those players' development is crucial to the Falcons' future success.
“The young kids are coming along," Vandenberg said. "I still wasn’t happy with our defense, but I’m never going to be happy with that. So we need to keep working and get better and make sure some of these younger kinds can help us out. They’re doing a great job.”
Grayhounds making strides
Burlington played by far its best half of the season in the first half.
Trailing 13-2, the youthful Grayhounds started knocking down shots. Myah Rehman scored all four of her points in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer. Sophie Brown scored seven of her 10 points in the first 16 minutes. And Saydee Plummer drained a pair of mid-range jumpers on her way to six points.
That took some of the pressure off Alexis Standard, the Grayhounds' leading scorer and one of just two seniors on the team. She tied Brown for team-high honors with 10 points.
“We started off really good. We just kind of played in spurts. Then we got down and that’s hard to come back from when you get down that much. But I thought the girls looked better today. They were sharing the ball more. They weren’t relying on Alexis as much, so that helped us out a lot," BHS head coach Dee Dee Warner said. “They looked really good. The ball doesn’t always have to be in Alexis’s hands. She’s my senior point guard and I do depend on her a lot, but at the same time the girls were moving the ball around and knocking down some good shots. That’s what we want. I told Sophie and Myah, ‘You guys are going to be it next year. You’re going to have the experience over the newcomers, so I want you guys to get that experience now and then go forward.’ Hopefully we’ll move up.”
On the horizon
West Burlington (9-2) plays host to Danville on Tuesday, then visits Central Lee on Friday.
BHS (0-9) hosts Ottumwa on Monday, then travels to play Fort Madison on Friday before hosting Mediapolis on Saturday.
By the numbers
BURLINGTON (32)
Myah Rehman 1-4 1-2 4, Sophie Brown 4-11 2-4 10, Emma Rohrer 1-4 0-0 2, Alexis Standard 3-12 2-2 10, Saydee Plummer 3-9 0-0 6, Josephine Blazic 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 12-41 5-8 32.
WEST BURLINGTON (74)
Kenna Marlow 7-14 2-3 16, Riley Richards 2-4 3-6 6, Taryn Havener 3-9 3-4 9, Abbey Bence 8-11 2-2 18, Stacey Dzawo 5-7 0-0 10, Isabella Blaufuss 3-4 0-0 6, Isabella Callison 1-4 0-0 2, Lyndsey Logan 2-5 3-4 7, Lauren Summers 0-0 0-0 0, Kyra Garr 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 31-59 13-19 74.
Score by quarters
Burlington. 13. 9. 4 6. — 32
West Burlington. 26. 20. 23. 10. — 74
Fouls: Burlington 12, West Burlington 11. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None. 3-point goals: Burlington 3-15 (Standard 2-7, Rehman 1-2, Rohrer 0-1, Blazic 0-1, Brown 0-2, Plummer 0-2), West Burlington 0-5 (Bence 0-1, Marlow 0-2, Havener 0-2).
Records: Burlington 0-9, West Burlington 9-2.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: West Burlington uses big second half to subdue Burlington
