Burlington C. shoots past Hampshire in a hurry

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Burlington Central is leaving no doubt it's in a league of its own in the Big Northern Conference East Division.

In a matchup of the top two teams in the BNC East standings, the Rockets completely manhandled rival Hampshire from the opening tip in a 59-36 blowout win Saturday.

Central (11-4, 3-0) scored the game's first 24 points, pitched a shutout in the first quarter, didn't allow a field for the game's first 11:38 and never led by less than 20 points after the opening period.

The dominant performance marked the Rockets' 13th straight BNC East victory, and that streak shows no signs of stopping considering Central's three conference wins this year have come by an average of 24.3 points.

"Last year we were undefeated in conference, and we want to do that again," Central senior Jake McNutt said. "The goal is to just dominate the BNC, and I think we've done that so far."

The Rockets buried the Whip-Purs with a barrage of 3-pointers from the start. Central's first eight shots came from beyond the arc, and six went in as it opened an 18-0 lead with 3:34 left in the first quarter.

McNutt drained three treys in the opening in quarter, and Mike McCurdy -- who finished with a game-high 30 points -- added a pair of 3's during the onslaught.

In addition to the blistering offensive start, the Rockets were equally impressive on defense.

Hampshire misfired on its first 12 shots and trailed 21-0 after the first quarter. The Whips finally tallied their first point when Evan Brenner sank a free throw with 7:00 left in the second quarter to make the score 24-1. Hampshire's first field goal came at the 4:22 mark in the second quarter on a Mike Kozenczak basket that made the score 29-5.

"We really stressed our defensive pressure, and I think that's what got us going," Central coach Chris Payne said. "It seems like when we pressure people, we seem to shoot the ball better for whatever reason. Defensively, that (first quarter) was probably the best quarter we've played all year."

The game's torrid start was almost a carbon copy of the first meeting between the teams last month. In that game, Central scored the first 14 points and led 24-10 after the first quarter en route to a blowout win.

For Hampshire (8-9, 3-2), the loss snapped a five-game win streak and marked the Whips' fifth straight defeat at the hands of the Rockets. Both of Hampshire's league losses this season came against Central, and Whips coach Bob Barnett isn't sad his team doesn't have to play the Rockets again.

"When we play Central, our minds go haywire," Barnett said. "I don't know what it is. I wish I did because I'd correct it. (The players) are the ones that will have to correct that. I'm just happy to be done with it."

T.J. Burzak led the Whips with 11 points and eight rebounds, scoring nine of his points in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach. Kozenczak added nine points for Hampshire, which finished 12 of 39 (30.8 percent) from the field and committed 18 turnovers.

The defeat continued the trend of struggling at home for the Whips, who will play five of their final seven games on their home court.

"We're 0-3 this year and we were 2-12 at home last year," Barnett said. "I know it's different teams, but something's got to give and it's got to give soon."

In addition to his 30 points, McCurdy also hauled in a team-best seven rebounds for Central. McNutt tallied 13 points and Jason Wagner added seven.

The Rockets, who led by as many as 33 points in the third quarter, finished 10 of 19 from 3-point range and 21 of 45 (46.7 percent) from the field for the night.

"I think a lot of our success was good looks," McCurdy said. "I think (Hampshire's) idea was to keep us out of the lane because we're a pretty good penetrate-and-kick team. But if they're shying off of us we'll take the shot all day."