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Alex Beckerson of Burgin pulls down a rebound during the first quarter of the Bulldogs' 50-24 victory over Kentucky School for the Deaf on Thursday. (Mike Marsee / December 14, 2012) |
BURGIN — Brian Kirk’s offense wasn’t operating on high Thursday night, but the Burgin coach still made the most of an opportunity to reinforce some of its principles.
The Burgin boys are still learning the fast-paced system their first-year coach is employing, and they got to execute it at a slower tempo in a 50-24 victory over Kentucky School for the Deaf.
“We really stressed trying to make sure we go through everything like we’re supposed to, and while this may not have been a game that would be as up-tempo, we really tried to make sure that we kept our energy up,” guard Jared Powell said.
Burgin (3-3) scored the first 21 points of the game, affording Kirk some time to teach.
“Tonight was a teaching point,” Kirk said. “KSD played us hard in spurts, and you cant take anything away from them, but I told the boys, if we could build a lead, tonight was one of those nights when we could work on some of our offensive sets against someone that didn’t know our sets.”
Burgin’s Alex Beckerson single-handedly outscored KSD for much of the night after putting up 16 points in the first quarter. He finished with 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting, and he had a game-high 11 rebounds.
“Obviously, we wanted to get out to a quick start, and we did that,” Kirk said. “He set the tone for us early, which is kind of what we were wanting to do, feed the ball down low.”
All but three of the Bulldogs’ 23 field goals came in the paint.
KSD (3-7) was shut out in the first quarter but finally got on the board 53 seconds into the second quarter on a layup by Dillon Maynard, who led the Colonels with 11 points.
The Colonels are a much younger team than they were a year ago, and as a result they have struggled on offense, scoring less than 30 points in half of their 10 games.
“I’ve seen improvement in some areas, but not scoring. And we’re holding onto the ball, not moving it around,” KSD coach Mike Yance said through an interpreter. “I¿expected that. They’re a young team. I knew it would be hard. Most of them haven’t grown up playing basketball or haven’t experienced it. I want to be patient in developing our team.”
Yance said he predicted before the season that KSD, which went 11-20 last year, would only win about three games.
“We’ve already won three this year, and all the players knew that I predicted three wins, so they’ve already proved me wrong,” he said.
They’re learning at Burgin as well, where Kirk said the Bulldogs have bought into their new system.
“We’re taking small steps. We’re getting better each and every day, I¿think,”¿he said. “I’m still learning a lot about them individually and as a team, how they work, and they’re learning a lot about me, so we’re just taking it slow. It’s a long season, and we’re playing for end of January and end of February.”
One player who was learning on the fly Thursday was sophomore John Price, who started at point guard in place of Mason Myers, who missed the game with an illness.
“That was a good experience for Price coming in. Obviously that is a position that he’s not dealt a whole lot with, and I’ve not worked with him a whole lot in practice on it, so I thought he did a great job coming in and filling that spot.
Price had seven assists and four rebounds for Burgin. Spencer Clark also had four rebounds for the Bulldogs, and Dylan Coulter had three steals.
Valdin Kudic and Adam Turner had four rebounds each for KSD, and Turner and Maynard each blocked two shots. Maynard also had four steals, and Corey Lewis had four assists.
Ky. School for the Deaf 0 7 10 24
Burgin 19 29 43 50
KSD (3-7) — Valdin Kudic 2, Adam Turner 5, Dillon Maynard 11, Corey Lewis 6.
BURGIN (3-3) — Nick Beckerson 6, Alex Beckerson 23, Jared Powell 4, John Price 8, Tommy Lopresto 2, Jake Osburn 3, Cooper Shearer 2, Tyler Freeman 2.
The Burgin boys are still learning the fast-paced system their first-year coach is employing, and they got to execute it at a slower tempo in a 50-24 victory over Kentucky School for the Deaf.
“We really stressed trying to make sure we go through everything like we’re supposed to, and while this may not have been a game that would be as up-tempo, we really tried to make sure that we kept our energy up,” guard Jared Powell said.
Burgin (3-3) scored the first 21 points of the game, affording Kirk some time to teach.
“Tonight was a teaching point,” Kirk said. “KSD played us hard in spurts, and you cant take anything away from them, but I told the boys, if we could build a lead, tonight was one of those nights when we could work on some of our offensive sets against someone that didn’t know our sets.”
Burgin’s Alex Beckerson single-handedly outscored KSD for much of the night after putting up 16 points in the first quarter. He finished with 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting, and he had a game-high 11 rebounds.
“Obviously, we wanted to get out to a quick start, and we did that,” Kirk said. “He set the tone for us early, which is kind of what we were wanting to do, feed the ball down low.”
All but three of the Bulldogs’ 23 field goals came in the paint.
KSD (3-7) was shut out in the first quarter but finally got on the board 53 seconds into the second quarter on a layup by Dillon Maynard, who led the Colonels with 11 points.
The Colonels are a much younger team than they were a year ago, and as a result they have struggled on offense, scoring less than 30 points in half of their 10 games.
“I’ve seen improvement in some areas, but not scoring. And we’re holding onto the ball, not moving it around,” KSD coach Mike Yance said through an interpreter. “I¿expected that. They’re a young team. I knew it would be hard. Most of them haven’t grown up playing basketball or haven’t experienced it. I want to be patient in developing our team.”
Yance said he predicted before the season that KSD, which went 11-20 last year, would only win about three games.
“We’ve already won three this year, and all the players knew that I predicted three wins, so they’ve already proved me wrong,” he said.
They’re learning at Burgin as well, where Kirk said the Bulldogs have bought into their new system.
“We’re taking small steps. We’re getting better each and every day, I¿think,”¿he said. “I’m still learning a lot about them individually and as a team, how they work, and they’re learning a lot about me, so we’re just taking it slow. It’s a long season, and we’re playing for end of January and end of February.”
One player who was learning on the fly Thursday was sophomore John Price, who started at point guard in place of Mason Myers, who missed the game with an illness.
“That was a good experience for Price coming in. Obviously that is a position that he’s not dealt a whole lot with, and I’ve not worked with him a whole lot in practice on it, so I thought he did a great job coming in and filling that spot.
Price had seven assists and four rebounds for Burgin. Spencer Clark also had four rebounds for the Bulldogs, and Dylan Coulter had three steals.
Valdin Kudic and Adam Turner had four rebounds each for KSD, and Turner and Maynard each blocked two shots. Maynard also had four steals, and Corey Lewis had four assists.
Ky. School for the Deaf 0 7 10 24
Burgin 19 29 43 50
KSD (3-7) — Valdin Kudic 2, Adam Turner 5, Dillon Maynard 11, Corey Lewis 6.
BURGIN (3-3) — Nick Beckerson 6, Alex Beckerson 23, Jared Powell 4, John Price 8, Tommy Lopresto 2, Jake Osburn 3, Cooper Shearer 2, Tyler Freeman 2.
