Cleburne cruises to big win over Burleson
Jan. 26—CLEBURNE — It was fast and furious from the opening tip for the Cleburne Yellow Jackets inside of Jeff D. Cody Arena on Friday night against a familiar district foe in the Burleson Elks. In the teams' two previous meetings both at Burleson High School (54-48) and in the Paris Holiday Tournament (50-48) a month ago in Paris, Texas, the Elks emerged victorious. This time, the Yellow Jackets raced ahead to a mammoth lead in the game's opening stages and never looked back in the Yellow Jackets' 65-34 victory.
"It's really sweet but it isn't about how bad we beat them, it's about how we've been hammering on these kids to do things right, and that's what it boiled down to tonight," Cleburne head coach Brian Harston said. "These kids executed and they did things right — we always felt like it was about us. I told them in the locker room before the game that there haven't been a lot of teams that have beat us this year, but we have beaten ourselves. We didn't do that today."
Not only did Cleburne score a 31-point victory in an important district game, but they did so in getting contributions across the board.
"I was so happy because sometimes we have our downfalls and our ups, but we were up all the way," Cleburne junior Erik Lucero said. "I'm proud of every single one of the guys, from Collin (Graeves) to Matthew (David) — everyone. We shared the ball, we drove and kicked the ball out and I think everybody scored tonight. "Even Corbin (Forrester) scored a couple of times and made us all happy. I love all these guys and want to just see where we can keep going from here."
Lucero beat the first-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer that gave the Yellow Jackets a 23-8 lead entering the second quarter. From there, the offense continued its fluidity and players continually gave the home crowd cause for cheer as senior Collin Graeve's and-one layup plus the free throw extended the lead to 34-10 with 4:28 to go before halftime.
"Offensively, I'm a film guy, so we watch a lot of film," Harston said. "This week, I did something a little different and had the players do the film breakdown — I thought it was important for them to understand what the coach goes through in preparing for a game. I watch eight to 10 hours of film on one team, and the players expect you to hand-feed it to them, but I told them they were going to do it themselves. It might be something we need to continue to do."
Lucero and Graeve led Cleburne's calculated charge, scoring the rock seemingly at will that ultimately pushed Yellow Jackets' lead to 44-12 at intermission, where former local coaching legend Jeff D. Cody and his family were honored at halftime.
Cleburne led most of the second half by 30 points over Burleson, which couldn't get closer than 24 points for the remainder of the contest. Even after the huge win, Harston wants to see his team continue to build on its most recent success.
"I really want to see them improve in everything, but the biggest thing I saw today was boxing out," Harston said. "Man, there were some beautiful box outs in there, and those guys were doing it together. Communication is huge, too. We've got to be better at talking to each other on the court. We've got guys wide open that expect you to see them but won't say anything. Throughout the entire program, we've got to do a better job of communicating."
Graeve led Cleburne with a game-high 21 points while Lucero scored 16. Senior guard Kade King netted seven points for the Yellow Jackets while C.J. Kensley and Forrester each had four points. Malachi Cunningham and Boston Bicknell each had three points for Cleburne as well. Burleson sophomore Treaton Hall led the Elks with a team-high 13 points.
"This win means a lot because we snapped a big losing streak," Lucero said. "This game gave us everything we needed. When we go play the next team, we're going to be spot on with our defense and communication — everything's going to be on point."
Up next for Cleburne is a road game at the Centennial Spartans, which will take place at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Elks will try to bounce back at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home against Joshua.
