Gilkison and Arnett honored on senior night; Lady Bulldogs fall to DCA
Lady Bulldogs with 2 games left before District Tournament
Burgin senior Madison Gilkison locks up on defense against DCA. (photo by Arpan Dixit)
Burgin senior Julia Arnett takes a jumper from the corner against DCA. (photo by Arpan Dixit)
Arpan Dixit
Herald Staff
sports@harrodsburgherald.com
Following their win over Riverside Christian, their sixth of the season, the Burgin Lady Bulldogs (6-15) returned home to take on new rivals, the Danville Christian Academy Lady Warriors (15-5) on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Despite the 53-19 loss, Burgin celebrated two of their seniors, Julia Arnett and Madison Gilkison.
“Madison moved to Burgin last year and she’s come a long way in the short amount of time she’s been playing. I wish she was with us sooner,” said Head Coach Keith Monson. “She’s been a great team leader and has done everything I’ve asked of her.”
Arnett, who has been in the program her entire high school career, was emotional during the senior night ceremonies.
“Julia has been playing since seventh grade and she broke her leg last year, which set her back,” said Monson. “She struggled to get back into form but I’m glad she was able to do that during her senior year. She’s been a great leader on and off the court for us. I love both Julia and Madison. I’ve got on them pretty hard a few times, but they respond and they are true team players.”
Burgin was given the tall task of stopping DCA’s Ruth Mbugua, who stands right around 6 feet tall, one of the tallest players in the 12th Region. The Lady Bulldogs struggled to score in the paint, and Mbugua went on 23 points, mostly in the paint.
“She (Mbugua) was a big factor. We over shot the rim tonight. We definitely struggled because of her long wingspan,” said Monson. “We came out a little nervous.”
DCA took a 31-9 lead at halftime, and cruised in the second half. Sophomore Ellie Jenkins was held scoreless, but was tied for the team lead in rebounds (5) and had a team high 4 assists.
The Lady Bulldogs travel to St. Patrick today at 7:30 p.m., and host Robertson County in their regular season finale on Friday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m.
They will take on the Mercer County Lady Titans in the first round of the 46th District Tournament next week and Monson said his team needs to stop making costly mistakes that cost possessions.
“We have to shoot the ball better but more importantly, we have to take care of the ball,” he said. “We rush our shots and we struggled with handling the ball. We did a better job in the second half but we have to do better throughout the entire game in order to compete.”
STATS:
Points – Turner 6, Cocanougher 6, Lewis 3, Thompson 2, Gilkison 2.
Rebounds – Turner 5, Cocanougher 5, Jenkins 4, Gilkison 2.
Assists – Jenkins 4.
Basketball and Band member Julia Arnett celebrated senior night with her parents, Matthew and Torey Arnett. (photo by Arpan Dixit)
Basketball senior Madison Gilkison celebrated senior night with her parents, Matt Gilkison and Amy Gilkison. (photo by Arpan Dixit)
Basketball senior Wesley Tyler, Madison Gilkison, Cole Mitchell, band senior Ethan Maynard, basketball senior Jacob Harlow and Julia Arnett were honored on senior night on Tuesday, Feb. 18. (photo by Arpan Dixit)
