Burns High School - Blazes Yearbook (Lawndale, NC)

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Lady Bulldogs captured third place in the South Western conference. The season had a rip-roaring start, defeating West Caldwell. It was a clean sweep of 62 to 24. ’’At the beginning of the season | had expected more, but as the season went on, | saw their potential and | was satisfied”’, commented Coach Tommy Pruett. After the win over West Caldwell they competed against their toughest rival, R.S. Central. R.S. won, 62 to 52. “It hurt us bad and | think we could have done better’, remarked Denise Thurman. Their third game was with arch rival, Crest. Burns wiped them out with a score of 51 to 35. After their last loss the bulldogs didn’t give up! “’I think this built their moral back up’’, said coach Pruett. The sixth game was also with arch BOTTOM ROW: Laura Champion, Elizabeth Hunt, Beverly Jackson, Donna Barnette, Carolyn Cody. ROW 2: Christine Webber, Beverly Wright, Denise Thurman, Sylvia Webber, Felicia Roberts, rival, Kings Mountain. The game started out rough and was a fight to the finish. “I think the team works well together and this is a game in which they used it’’, said coach Pruett. The ninth game was against Shelby. This game was very important to the student body as well as the team. There was a good turn out of the student body for the game. The team and students were psyched up and ready for anything! ‘’We played a good game, we could have done better’, remarked Denise Thurman. But the Lions took charge with a 46-43 win. On their eighteenth game, the Bulldogs met Shelby once again. The student council sponsored a lick em’ day in which representatives sold suckers. This game was held at Shelby. Again the Burns student body turned out for the game and again the lions Vickie Allan (Manager). ROW 3: Coach Tommy Pruett, Anne Whisnant, Lorna Withrow, Denise Williams, Annette Whitworth, Donna Spangler. won with a close score of 48-47. After two losses with the golden lions the bulldogs faced them in the semi-final playoffs. By practicing forty minutes before the game the lady bulldogs were prepared. ‘We felt better about the game, we were excited, and we were determined”, said Elizabeth Hunt. The bulldogs took off to an early nine point lead. They continued on up the scale and then they dropped back. The game become close at times, but the lady bulldogs kept pouring on the power. The game ended a great victory for the bulldogs with a 52-21 score. For the first time in school history both the bulldog teams were in the finals of the South Western Conference Tournament. Saturday, February 16, 1980, the lady bulldogs faced the undefeated R.S. Central. They played with close scores throughout the game. Burns led most of the time. ‘It was a tough game, and we had to stay on our toes the whole night’’, remarked Donna Spangler. Although the game was close the bulldogs came out on top with a score of 39 to 38. The girls were shocked by the tight defense shown by Chase. There was tension in the air. Burns trailed a lot the whole game. The lady bulldogs played ‘’good ball’’ until the fourth quarter, when they started dropping. The game ended with the bulldogs in second place. The score was 42 to 39. The team then faced the District Tournaments, in which they played Lincolnton. “| think we played a good game’”’, said Donna Spangler. This was a good win for the bulldogs. The bulldogs were then on the go. Next they played Chase and again, they won. So once again they faced the tough R.S. Central team. With a lot of work and precise timing the lady bulldogs defeated R.S. Central with the score of 56 to 52. “It feels good”, commented Beverly Jackson. Basketball 63

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62 Basketball B.. TOP LEFT: Senior Ann Whisnant (31) shoots as one of South Point's girls tries to block. ABOVE: Coach Tommy Pruett and the Lady Bulldogs discuss their strategy for the next play against Shelby. TOP RIGHT: A great jump shot is shown by senior Beverly Jackson (23) as Burns defeated the Shelby Golden Lions.

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J.V. boys team BOTTOM ROW: Keith Larson, Randy Sims, Eric Campbell, Roger Thurman, Thomas Herring. TOP ROW: Coach Atkinson, Charles Walton, Carl Haynes, Steve Johnson, Dennis Johnson, Ulysses Tuft, Scott Webber (Manager). 64 Basketball Guard, Ulysses Tuft drives in for a successful layup against Shelby. — Burns won the game 78-75. The J.V. boys team finished their season in second place. The most memorable games for the majority of the team were against county rivals, Crest and Shelby. Guard Ulysses Tuft scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the game against Crest. Ulysses commented, ‘“The team pulled together to defeat a really tough team.” Sophomore Charles Walton who played forward for the team averaged 14.8 points per game and 8 rebounds. Charles scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the Shelby game. Charles added, ‘’What influenced me to play basketball was watching it on T.V. and playing backyard ball with friends.” “Desire and determination are the two factors which led to a very successful season for our baby bulldogs”’, commented girls J.V. coach, Sam Homesley. The girls finished their season in third place. Coach Homesley added, ’’What the girls lacked in talent they made up for it in desire and really hustling’. One of the regular five starters, sophomore Pam Maddox commented, ‘One of the most memorable games for me was the Kings Mtn. game, because the team pulled together and enforced some really exciting tough defensive plays.’’ The girls won over King Mtn. 40-38.