By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Despite a halting start to the new year, with little time spent in practice, the Rossville girls basketball team was sharp enough on defense to throttle visiting Valley Heights Thursday, 66-41.
Rossville sophomore Rylee Dick led the Bulldawgs with 18 points in Thursday's 66-41 non-league win over Valley Heights. [File photo/TSN]
Freshman Nora Burdiek (22) scored 17 points in Rossville's 66-41 non-league win over Valley Heights Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
Cancellations and snow days have prevented the Bulldawgs from hitting their groove 11 days into 2024.
They defeated Rock Creek last Friday but otherwise have spent precious little time on the court.
“It’s been a mess,” said Rossville coach Michael Bell. “We’ve practiced very little since the start of the new year. We’ve had a game cancelled. We were really glad to get this game in. But when it comes to practice time, being on the court, we are behind where we want to be at.”
Valley Heights came to Rossville 7-0 with two victories in the new year. But the Bulldawgs let their defense make up for any rust that had developed on the offense and shut down the Class 2A opponent.
The Bulldawg full-court press held the Mustangs scoreless in the second period to build a 27-10 halftime advantage.
“Sometimes the press doesn’t work at the start. But sometimes it gradually wears people out,” Bell said. “I think that’s kind of what happened tonight in the second quarter. They were breaking it a little bit in the first. But in the second it really started to mount on them.”
If there was a lack of offense in the first half, that all changed in a wild third period. After scoring just 10 points in the first half, Valley Heights caught fire for 20 in the third quarter. The only problem for the Mustangs was that Rossville raced to 30 points during that same period.
Once a running clock kicked in, Rossville, ranked No. 4 in 3A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, held on for the 66-41 win to improve to 7-1, their only loss coming at Silver Lake just prior to the holiday break.
“This was good for us because Valley Heights is a good team,” Bell said. “They have played some good opponents, and they are really well coached. They are long, athletic, and they are still young. They’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.
“So, it was nice for us to see a team that’s similar to us. I was very proud of how we played. We were aggressive. Loose balls, we were on the ground. It was a total team effort.”
Rossville sophomore Rylee Dick led the Bulldawgs with 18 points. She was followed by freshman Nora Burdiek, who added 17.
Bell said Burdiek has grown immensely from the start of the season, developing the confidence to be a team leader despite her age.
Definitely at first I was very nervous. But we have really good team leaders on the team, so every time you mess up, they pick us up,” Burdiek said. “They brought me in and now I feel like I’ve been here for a long time. I’m really not nervous anymore. I’m just excited. It’s just fun.”
Pacing Valley Heights was senior guard Maggie Toerber, who scored 16.
ROSSVILLE GIRLS 66, VALLEY HEIGHTS 41
Valley Heights 10 0 20 11 -- 41
Rossville 14 13 30 9 -- 66
Valley Heights (7-1) – M. Toerber 4-11 7-10 16, Murk 1-2 0-0 3, Steinfort 0-2 202 2, Smith 3-9 1-3 7, Vermetten 1-7 2-4 4, T. Miller 0-2 1-2 1, Skalla 2-3 0-0 4, A. Toerber 1-2 1-2 4, Gray 0-0 0-0 0, P. Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-38 14-23 41.
Rossville (7-1) – Perine 3-9 1-2 9, Mitchell 1-5 5-6 8, Dick 6-11 2-4 18, Burdiek 7-14 3-4 17, Speilman 3-5 2-2 8, Haehn 2-4 0-1 4, Porter 1-4 0-0 0, Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Lewis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-54 13-19 66.
3-point goals – Valley Heights 3 (M. Toerber 1, Murk 1, A. Toerber 1), Rossville 7 (Dick 4, Perine 2, Mitchell 1). Total fouls – Valley Heights 16, Rossville 20. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
