By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
The star known as Ellen Stang continues to rise.
In an otherwise down year for the Burlington girls basketball team in conference play, Stang’s all-around performance helped propel the Lady Demons to a 58-55 win Jan. 24 at Southern Lakes foe Westosha Central.
Stang nearly recorded a triple-double, but one of the unconventional sort.
She paced the club with 23 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals.
From the opening tip, Stang dominated with 12 first-quarter points, which vaulted the Lady Demons to a 21-8 lead. Burlington never looked back from there and held on in the fourth quarter for the victory.
The Falcons, despite trailing by 15 points, rallied in the fourth quarter to take a brief lead. But the Lady Demons answered, thanks in part to balanced scoring in the final frame from Stang, Hailey Zwiebel, Ashlyn Barry, Ashley Derks and Tegan Rock.
Burlington hit enough of their fourth-quarter free throws (3-6) to hang on.
Coach Mary Parker was proud of her team’s energy and resilience.
“We came out with a lot of energy from the start,” she said. “We were able to get some easy baskets early from our press and in transition. I am most pleased that when Westosha came back, our girls did not miss a beat and continued to play our game and keep our composure until the end.”
Barry, a point guard, also had a solid all-around game. She scored five points, dished seven assists, tallied four steals and grabbed three rebounds.
Rock scored 13 points, and Derks finished with 11, including three triples.
“We had a lot of girls step up big tonight and make some great, clutch plays including crucial free throws when we needed them the most,” Parker said.
Burlington is now 5-8 overall and 2-4 in the SLC.
With another solid performance, Stang adds to her strong season totals. The senior averages 11.5 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game to lead the Lady Demons.
Stang is the only girl in Racine County averaging a double-double.
Derks is second on the team with 6.8 points per game, and Rock averages 6.1.
Allie Aldrich tallies 5.8 points per contest.
Barry leads the squad with an impressive 2.4 assists per game.
Burlington will look to start a win streak with another SLC tilt Friday at Elkhorn (2-9, 1-5 SLC).
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