WINTER GARDEN — Bartow freshman point guard Queen Burch has trained for tough times.
She was even ready to take on the tall task of playing No. 2 seed Horizon High School in the FHSAA Class 6A, District 7 semifinal game Wednesday night on the road despite No. 3 seed Bartow going down 66-25. Burch in the contest scored 12 points, making her the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer once more, as she averages 19.2 points for the season.
The season is over for Bartow, but her toughness helped lead a Yellow Jacket team that finished 11-10 in the regular season — a complete turnaround from a 2024-25 campaign in which Bartow went 2-20.
“It went good. It was a pretty good season. We could have done better, but we are a young team, so next year we will be back at it and even better. We’ll have good preseason and get back in it,” Burch said after the game.
Burch has that glass-half-full mindset because she was built in the trenches in Bartow. She hearkened back to her time when her brothers, King Burch and Ezekiel Burch, played basketball with her and didn’t ease up on her just because she was their sister. King was a good football player for Bartow, while Ezekiel was a solid basketball player for the Yellow Jackets in the early 2020s. And even her younger brother, Emmanuel Burch, has been instrumental in pushing Queen to her limits. Emmanuel is a sophomore on the boys team — the No. 27 basketball team in all of Florida.
Some of her fondest memories of playing with her brothers were when they played together in the rain. Technically, her brothers taught her hesitation moves. Rain, sleet, snow, Queen is trained to go.
“It was really fun. Good memories (and) made me better every day — kept going no matter what,” Burch said. “…I’m very grateful for it. If I didn’t have them, I wouldn’t being playing basketball right now.”
Well, she did end up playing basketball. Out of Bartow Middle School, Burch stormed on the scene and immediately put on scoring shows while also averaging four rebounds a game.
Steering the ship is head coach Rose Wassef, who played five years at Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis before coaching in a semipro league, Excel Christian Academy and now Bartow. Wassef not only coached up Queen to do the little things, but key shooter and freshman Deniyia Davis, freshman guard Jayla Jenkins as well as junior small forward Larena Griffin contributed mightily, though Griffin injured her knee and foot, missing the last four games, including the postseason game.
Learning experience in postseason
It didn’t go the way Bartow wanted. The score was 11-3 after a barrage of full-court traps, turnovers and ineffective shooting, which put the game out of reach from the start because of Horizon’s sharpshooters, including Emma Andrulounis and Zoe Corjay, who hit three 3s respectively.
“We’re not on the same page. Turning the ball over. Not making the easy shots. Defensively we weren’t all together. We all weren’t on one string like we usually are. Usually we can add defensive pressure. But defensively we weren’t on the same page tonight,” Wassef said.
Still, Bartow’s roster is comprised mostly freshmen, so most of the team will be back for the 2026-27 season.
“Majority of my players will be back. And we’ll be right back at it next year. I’m very excited for this team. Last year, we went 2-20; this year we are 11-12. Be on the lookout for us. A lot of doubters. I love that. … But it’s okay. People don’t realize how far we’ve come. 2-20 to 11-12, I like that,” Wassef said.
Polk County postseason semifinal update
Winter Haven over George Jenkins because of forfeit
Lakeland 64, Lake Gibson 7
Foundation Academy 62, Ridgeview Global Studies 32
Lake Wales 57, Sebring 17
Fort Meade 50, Marathon 44
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Bartow’s Queen turns around girls b-ball season, falls short in postseason
Reporting by Robert Magobet, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
