Boyd Buchanan School sophomore Lesley Burton was on a mission to dominate in the paint in Tuesday’s Division II-A East Region home basketball victory over rival Notre Dame.
There was no solution for Burton in the low block, where she gathered a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with 14 points and three key assists in the second half to help the Lady Buccaneers pull away to an impressive 51-36 victory.
“In practice I have really been going hard and staying in the gym,” Burton said. “I also have been lifting a lot with JT (Rankin) and that has helped me improve my vertical leap a bunch. That helps me get those tough rebounds and AND-1 putbacks. I am starting to believe I can go up on the boards with anyone and that has helped my confidence a lot.”
While drawing a great deal of attention in the paint, Burton showed how dangerous Boyd Buchanan’s offense can be when at full rhythm she passed back to junior Sarah Peyton Durham from deep beyond the top left wing. Durham’s knockdown 3-pointer created a double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter that the victors would not relinquish.
