GIRLS BASKETBALL
Lockport counting on a healthy Burke
Lady Lions tall on talent
LOCKPORT — When Lindsey Burke tore her ACL playing AAU basketball in late May, she didn’t just turn to her older sister for support. Big sister had been there, done that.
Bridgette Burke lived through her own ACL nightmare four years earlier while playing basketball for Lockport in December of her sophomore year.
After a total of four surgeries, both girls are back on their feet. Lindsey is a senior for the Lady Lions while Bridgette is a sophomore playing at Daemen College.
While Lindsey spoke, a trainer was wrapping an ice pack around her right knee following last week’s win against Lewiston-Porter.
“My sister helped me a lot because I saw her go through it and I knew it was possible to overcome it. So I feel like it’s almost brought us closer together that we both kind of have this thing for knees. We try to joke that it’s genetic.”
Burke was coming off a junior season in which she was named second team All-Western New York. After sharing the Niagara Frontier League title with Kenmore East, Burke carried the Lady Lions to the Section VI Class AA final, where they fell to Jamestown.
The last thing she wanted was a slow start to her senior year. The five months of rehab robbed her of the remaining AAU season, the Empire State Games and her senior season of volleyball. She finally began practicing basketball after Thanksgiving.
“I really think of both of my knees as equal. I feel like I’m as healthy as I’ve ever been,” she said.
As Burke works her way into shape, Lockport has a team looking to reach new heights. The Lady Lions have had some memorable post players over the years, including two-time All-Western New York first teamers Allison Depp (2002) and Geraldine White (1996), but this year there are new kids on the block.
“We can put five 6-footers on the floor. And we’ll probably experiment with that,” coach Bill Shaw said. “We’re still kind of looking for combinations. Every practice we’re getting better and better at it. That’s what I’m liking about this team.”
Front-court players Burke, freshman Marisa Guyton, senior Amy Johnson, freshman Emma Sobieraski and sophomore Lea Sobieraski will all make beating Lockport this year a tall order.
Kenmore West, Grand Island and Kenmore East are among the challengers in the always- tough NFL.
The league has one of Western New York’s top athletes in senior Jenna Rickan of Kenmore West. The 5-10 forward was second-team All-WNY last year and this fall was All-WNY first team in soccer. Three games into the season, she’s 18 points shy of becoming the all-time leading scorer at West, surpassing Loretta Kavanaugh’s career total of 928 points.
“I haven’t seen a player like her come around in a while,” coach Mike Licata said. “She’s an enjoyable kid to watch play, she does so many things with the basketball. She has the ability to do things on the way to the hoop that is special.”
East’s lineup includes junior Joelle Pollak, a three-year starter, sophomore Jordyn Broas, who started last year, and sophomore Katie Blanch, who like Burke, is coming off ACL surgery.
Grand Island is a scrappy, quick and aggressive team that will trap and pressure the ball for 32 minutes.
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