By Jennifer Eisenbart
Sports Editor
Last week, Burlington High School boys basketball coach Steve Berezowitz wanted his team to continue making progress in each and every game.
He also said the Demons haven’t played up to their ability yet.
While not everything was in line last week in the Honda Holliday Classic at Carthage College last week, Burlington showed it was for real.
After defeating Kenosha Indian Trail Academy Dec. 27 56-31, the Demons survived a huge push from Kenosha Tremper to escape with a 65-60 victory over the Trojans.
“In both those games, we’re realizing a lot of it depends on us,” said BHS coach Steve Berezowitz. “If we don’t have unforced errors, and we kind of dictate what other teams do, we’re pretty good.”
Tremper ended the tournament with one loss – to Indian Trail – but dropped both games in the tournament. Southern Lakes Conference powerhouse Wilmot downed the Trojans 49-47 in the first day of the tournament.
Burlington and Wilmot meet Friday night at 7 p.m. in what will be a critical SLC matchup. Both teams enter the contest 5-0 in the SLC and with just one loss overall.
At the Honda Classic, the Demons got ahead early against Indian Trail, and then outscored the Hawks in every quarter after.
Senior Carson Biedrzycki continued his hot scoring streak, putting up 23 points to be the only Demon player in double figures. He also had five rebounds.
Ty Dennis added eight points and six rebounds, while Jimmy Penzel also had eight points and Ben Geiger seven.
Against Kenosha Tremper, BHS led 24-10 after the opening quarter, but saw Tremper outscore the Demons 24-11 in the second quarter.
Tremper owned a 49-46 lead after the third, but BHS pulled away in the fourth to post the win.
“That first quarter and into the second is the best we’ve played all year,” Berezowitz said. “Conversely … they’re pretty athletic.
“We turned the ball over the second quarter,” he added. “Our turnovers in the second quarter led directly to points.”
He said his players knew what to do in the second half, in spite of trailing by five in the fourth quarter.
“We just kept plugging away. We had zero turnovers in the fourth,” Berezowitz said. “In the last couple of minutes, we were able to run some good offense.”
Biedrzycki proved to be a huge scoring force again – he hit 10 of his 16 shot attempts and finished with 26 – while Jake Reetz posted 12 and Penzel 10.
Reetz was held scoreless against Indian Trail, but in addition to his 12 points against Tremper, he posted 10 assists.
Penzel added five rebounds to go with his 10 points, but BHS’s leading rebounder was Jayden Essman, who had 11 rebounds in the contest.
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