The Burrell girls basketball team was businesslike in its effort Thursday night in the Section 1-4A opener against undermanned Highlands at Burrell High School.

Three players scored in double figures, and eight put points on the board in a 64-16 victory over the Golden Rams.

The Bucs improved to 5-1 overall, and the Golden Rams fell to 0-7.

Burrell visits Connellsville in nonsection play Friday before returning to section action Monday at Knoch.

“I am very proud of the kids with how they come together and work hard every day,” Burrell coach Shaun Reddick said.

“They execute what we want them to do. You feel pretty good any time you can get a section win. I told the girls to enjoy this win, but they have to be ready for tomorrow and then Monday.”

Highlands hosts Oakland Catholic in section play Monday.

Burrell led 54-12 at the half, and the 30-point mercy rule running clock went into effect on the first inbounds pass of the third quarter.

Reddick started to get his reserves into the game at the midway point of the first quarter, and that continued throughout the rest of the game as all 10 players in uniform got into the game.

Highlands, with limited roster numbers to begin with, had just five dressed for Thursday’s game. Senior Kailah Jones fouled out with two minutes left, and the Golden Rams played the rest of the game with just four on the court.

Despite the adversity, first-year coach Nia Thomas, a 2017 Highlands graduate, said her players again showed a never-­quit attitude right to the final whistle.

“It says a lot about their character and how much they want to fight,” she said.

“It’s good to see that fight early. You can see their togetherness and how much they want to play for each other. We’ve only been going for about two months now, and I can confidently say they are sticking together through any frustrations when things don’t go our way. They rally together.”

Brooke Walker, a sophomore, led the Golden Rams with 12 points.

The Bucs jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead on three buckets from senior Casey Brancato and a 3-pointer and a jumper from freshman Chase Coury.

Coury canned three of Burrell’s six 3-pointers in the first quarter and had 11 points after the first eight minutes.

The Bucs, who came in averaging 60.6 points through their first five games, scored from everywhere to build a 29-7 lead after one.

“We want to attack on the run and push the pace to the basket,” Reddick said.

“Defensively, we want to make them work. You feel bad for Highlands because of their numbers, but we had to do what we had to do because we have the rest of the section coming up.”

Burrell’s prowess from long range showed as it hit eight 3-pointers as a team in the first half. The Bucs finished the game with 10.

Chase Coury led the Bucs with 17 points, Brancato finished with 16 and freshman Channing Miller drained four 3-pointers for 12 points.