Taylor Charles settling right in at Burlington Central with second straight big game to start season

CARY – Taylor Charles has certainly not wasted any time fitting into the Burlington Central girls basketball program.

Charles, a junior forward and transfer from Montini, scored 22 points with five 3-pointers and 10 rebounds to help lead the Rockets to a 64-35 win over Cary-Grove in Fox Valley Conference action in Cary Wednesday night.

“Taylor is a super social kid who fit right into the program,” said Burlington Central coach Collin Kalamatas. “She is extremely unselfish and is obviously a very good player.”

Charles is happy she transferred to Burlington Central.

“The girls were very accepting to me,” said Charles. “It has been a good fit so far. Everybody on the team knows their role.”

Four-year starter Elana Wells added 24 points with three 3-pointers and four assists for the winners.

“Taylor is a great fit for us,” said Wells. “She can score inside and outside. We lost a great player in Kat (Schmidt) but Taylor fills that role. Without a state tournament, we want to the win the FVC. That is our goal. We are really happy to just be playing.”

Led by Charles and Wells, the Rockets (2-0, 1-0) seized control of the game in the first quarter.

With Charles scoring nine points including two treys, Wells added seven with a 3-pointer and Avery Anderson scored five with a 3-pointer as the Rockets opened up a 21-8 advantage after eight minutes.

The Rockets connected on 8 of 12 shots for 66 percent and were 4-of-5 from 3-point land for 80% during the first quarter.

The Trojans (0-1, 0-1) could never slice into the lead. Leading 35-20 at halftime, the Rockets scored the first five points of the third quarter, all by Charles, to take a 40-20 lead with 5:52 left in the third quarter.

Second-year Cary-Grove coach Tony Moretti was impressed with Burlington Central as a team.

“They have a strong team and should be one of the best teams in the conference,” said Moretti. “Charles and Wells are tough to defend. They are so well coached.”

Emily Lukowski paced the Trojans with 17 points and a pair of 3-pointers.

“Emily had a great game,” said Moretti. “She is a tough kid and even a better person. "

Lauren Passaglia added 10 points with seven rebounds for the Trojans.

“I was very proud of our team,” said Moretti. “The kids played very hard. I think we can have a good season.”