TUNE UP
Bears stall against Liberty, Evans
By Anne Marie Kyzer Staff Writer

STAFF - ANNE MARIE KYZER Senior Mack Golden jumps above two Liberty County players to make a shot Friday night.

Despite a big win over Harlem High School last Tuesday, the Burke County High School boys (3-2) took hits from Liberty County and Evans high schools on the basketball court over the weekend.

The Bears defeated Harlem 79-57 on the Bulldogs' home court last Tuesday.

Senior DeVonda Lewis hit his mark all night, posting 32 points against Harlem. Senior Maurice Doyle put up 20 of his own.

On Friday night, Liberty County came out swinging, snatching up an early lead and never letting go. They were up 44-22 at the half and went on to win the game 82-54.

Lewis led the Bears with 25 points, and Doyle scored 17.

"Liberty County is a team that finished third in their sub region last season and returned a lot of kids from last year's team," Burke County head coach Purvis Dukes said. "They came out strong and we didn't respond."

The Bears lashed out at the Knights early on Saturday, retiring to the locker room with a 14 point lead at halftime. But Evans came back to outscore Burke County 45-26 in the second half and grabbed a narrow victory 68-63.

Lewis again led the Bears with 20 points, followed by junior Bobby Burum with 15.

"We got in our comfort zone after being up and you can't do that and beat good teams," Dukes said. "We had way too many unforced turnovers and bad shot selections."

Two losses in a row don't count the Bears out for the season, though.

"Last season, we had two twogame losing streaks and, hopefully, we'll bounce back," Dukes said. "This team is a solid team and athletically better than last year's version."

Dukes said the difference has been in their mindset, the way they understand the game and react in certain situations.

"We've got to be more mentally sharp as a unit," he explained.

The Bears play their next game Friday against Greenbrier High School, and Dukes planned to spend this week "fine tuning" his team physically and mentally.