The Taylor Ducks varsity basketball team snapped a seven-game losing streak Tuesday, defeating the Burnet Bulldogs, 51-48, on Feb. 3.
Senior Kadrien Deary returned to the lineup and finished with 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Junior forward Landon Coulter led the Ducks with 15 points, knocking down 6-of-11 shots from the field.
Taylor held off a late Burnet surge to secure just its second district win of the season, improving to 2-7 in district play. The Ducks built an 18-12 lead in the second quarter after a 3-pointer from senior guard Braylon Rivers.
Rivers finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
Burnet responded with a 13-7 run to tie the game at 25 heading into halftime. Taylor opened the second half with a 5-0 run to reclaim momentum and take a 30-25 lead early in the third quarter.
The Ducks pushed their advantage to 39-32 entering the final period, their largest lead of the night. Burnet clawed back with a 9-2 run to even the score at 41 with 5:50 remaining.
Taylor answered with an 8-4 run to go ahead 49-45 with under a minute left and was able to close out the game from the free-throw line.
The Ducks showed improvement offensively, shooting 40% from the field — their best performance since the start of the seven-game skid. Taylor also controlled the boards, outrebounding Burnet 37-28.
Taylor traveled to Marble Falls on Friday before returning home to host Salado on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m.
