Lexington Girls’ Basketball Team Handles Burlington, 43-24

The girls’ basketball team beat Burlington High School 43-24 at Ralph Lord Gymnasium on Monday, improving to 5-3 on the season.

The Minutemen’s defense proved to be an unstoppable force against Burlington, as the Lady Devils found themselves making more than a handful of traveling violations. And Lexington’s pressure caused some sloppy passes for turnovers.

“Our defense is our energy source for offense,” said LHS coach Steve Solly. “So when the girls start to play real good team defense we feed off that and translate from the offensive end. So I think, you saw in moments today, when we kind of get sparked right from the defense, it opens up our transitions.”

The Minutemen opened the game with a 4-0 run. Lexington’s offense was on its game and Burlington’s less-than-stellar passing created turnover opportunities for the Minutemen.

“Anytime you can put pressure on the ball and get the ball back because they turned it over, whether it’s a travel or a (bad) pass, our girls gain confidence off that because they feel like they had a hand,” Solly said. “(Burlington’s traveling violations were) good for us.”

Lexington was up 11-4 at the end of the first quarter, with two fouls to Burlington’s five.

Lexington junior captain Cat Costello (15 points) sank a nice 3-pointer a few minutes into the second quarter for the Minutemen, but Lexington started committing turnovers and Burlington was making shots to rally.

The Lady Devils fought back in the second quarter, but Lexington was still ahead, 19-13, going into halftime.

During the break, Solly told his team they were working too hard on defense to turn the ball over on offense.

"Take pride and relax once you do cause a turnover, or get that rebound and take your time when we go on offense so we get a good possession," he said.

At the start of the third quarter, Burlington nailed the first two baskets to draw within two points at 19-17. But then Lexington scored on two shooting fouls in a row.

Shortly after, Minuteman senior captain Kelsey Fenn sank a shot. Then, senior Abby Hoffman (12 points) scored, stole the ball and added another basket, widening Lexington's lead.

Another offensive spurt put the Minutemen on top, 26-17.

“The girls went after it a little bit more,” said Solly. “I think they pressured the ball a little bit more and they just overall they wanted it, whatever it was. A rebound, a turnover; they wanted those things more in the second half.”

The Minutemen were ahead 30-19 around the 3:00 marker when Costello converted shots back-to-back, and grabbed a turnover.

“I thought she played well,” Solly said. “I was proud in a lot of ways. If she struggled shooting, other kids stepped up and were able to feed off her being a good passer and a good ball handler.

“And then obviously when (Costello) scored today it happened to be in bunches. She would score two or three in a row," he continued. “Again, her attitude, her energy is contagious to the other girls. So we feed off her even if she’s missing shots. But the girls need her on the court, they feed off her energy.”

Lexington was up 41-23 late in the fourth quarter and Burlington was continuing to have trouble with whistles for traveling.

Costello was on fire – stealing, scoring and grabbing turnovers. The Minutemen had possession with 24 seconds left, and looked to their passing game to run down the clock. In the waning seconds, Costello nailed the final basket, giving Lexington a 43-24 victory.

“Everything seemed a little more rushed in the first half,” Solly said. “The second half was a little bit more controlled.”

The coach said he thought Burlington played well, and gave Lexington a run.

“I thought they hit the boards pretty hard," he said. "I think they beat us 9-8 in that second quarter, and they played really well. Their effort was there and they battled with us. I commend them a lot.”

For Burlington, Erin Clark scored seven points and Sarah Hood added three.

Lexington hosts Arlington High School in a non-league game Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.