JORDAN - Kyle Burton is making up for lost time in a big way.
Burton, a junior on the Jordan-Elbridge varsity basketball team, has exploded onto the scene with the Eagles this season. His team-high 18.7 points-per-game is good for fifth in the Class C Liberty Division. Burton also ranks fourth in three-pointers made with 38.
"Early in the season, I don't think other teams knew who he was,"said J-E head coach Tom Wilmot. "He was on the all-tournament team in the Coaches vs Cancer tournament, and then he scored 35 against Homer. So, he caught some teams off-guard. They know who he is now."
Burton may be new to the starting lineup in 2004-05, but he's not new to the Eagles. He's in his third year with the varsity program. As a freshman, Burton was a bench player on what was then a senior-laden J-E squad.
Between his freshman and sophomore years, Burton participated in the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball program, which brought him into contact with players from the Rochester area. Burton competed in games as far away as Ohio, and gained valuable playing experience.
Unfortunately, he would have to wait to put that experience to use. A broken vertebrae suffered during football season wiped out nearly all of Burton's sophomore hoops campaign. He played in only one game, but that was enough to give a tantalizing glimpse of what he was capable of. He scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
"I knew what we had with Kyle," Wilmot said. "Sitting on the bench as a freshman, he learned a lot practicing with those guys. He didn't get game experience, but he got better. You could see, watching him practice, that he was going to be a great player. Then last year, had the unfortunate injury and didn't get much game time."
Burton has quickly transformed from a relative unknown into the player that opposing teams focus their energies on stopping. Burton admits that the added attention makes scoring more of a challenge.
"It's definitely harder, knowing that you're not going to get many open shots," he said. "It's difficult, but it doesn't bother me very much. Really, I don't have a problem giving the ball off to teammates and having them score. As long as we win, that's all I really care about."
Wins have been a bit hard to come by this season. The Eagles play with intensity and have been competitive under Wilmot, who's in his first year as varsity coach after several with the junior varsity team, but they have managed only a 3-12 record.
"We're sort of young," Burton said. "We have three seniors, but we have a lot of sophomores that are going to be moving up. Our JV team is really good. We've had new coaches the past few years. Now we're getting used to Coach Wilmot and his coaching style on offense and defense. Hopefully, next year we'll be a lot better."
Burton has set goals for improvement on a personal level as well. He wants to work on his ball-handling, and expects to hit the weights in order gain more bulk. The Eagles are a smallish team, so Burton finds himself playing in the post quite a bit.
As one of the top long-range shooters in the league, shooting would appear to be one area where Burton could stand pat. Not so.
"My shooting, I practice it every day," he said. "Hopefully, I can extend my range even further."
The Citizen sports department can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 258 or at citizensports@lee.net
"Early in the season, I don't think other teams knew who he was,"said J-E head coach Tom Wilmot. "He was on the all-tournament team in the Coaches vs Cancer tournament, and then he scored 35 against Homer. So, he caught some teams off-guard. They know who he is now."
Burton may be new to the starting lineup in 2004-05, but he's not new to the Eagles. He's in his third year with the varsity program. As a freshman, Burton was a bench player on what was then a senior-laden J-E squad.
Between his freshman and sophomore years, Burton participated in the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball program, which brought him into contact with players from the Rochester area. Burton competed in games as far away as Ohio, and gained valuable playing experience.
Unfortunately, he would have to wait to put that experience to use. A broken vertebrae suffered during football season wiped out nearly all of Burton's sophomore hoops campaign. He played in only one game, but that was enough to give a tantalizing glimpse of what he was capable of. He scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
"I knew what we had with Kyle," Wilmot said. "Sitting on the bench as a freshman, he learned a lot practicing with those guys. He didn't get game experience, but he got better. You could see, watching him practice, that he was going to be a great player. Then last year, had the unfortunate injury and didn't get much game time."
Burton has quickly transformed from a relative unknown into the player that opposing teams focus their energies on stopping. Burton admits that the added attention makes scoring more of a challenge.
"It's definitely harder, knowing that you're not going to get many open shots," he said. "It's difficult, but it doesn't bother me very much. Really, I don't have a problem giving the ball off to teammates and having them score. As long as we win, that's all I really care about."
Wins have been a bit hard to come by this season. The Eagles play with intensity and have been competitive under Wilmot, who's in his first year as varsity coach after several with the junior varsity team, but they have managed only a 3-12 record.
"We're sort of young," Burton said. "We have three seniors, but we have a lot of sophomores that are going to be moving up. Our JV team is really good. We've had new coaches the past few years. Now we're getting used to Coach Wilmot and his coaching style on offense and defense. Hopefully, next year we'll be a lot better."
Burton has set goals for improvement on a personal level as well. He wants to work on his ball-handling, and expects to hit the weights in order gain more bulk. The Eagles are a smallish team, so Burton finds himself playing in the post quite a bit.
As one of the top long-range shooters in the league, shooting would appear to be one area where Burton could stand pat. Not so.
"My shooting, I practice it every day," he said. "Hopefully, I can extend my range even further."
The Citizen sports department can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 258 or at citizensports@lee.net
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