Burnum returns to take Pierce back to the top
For Scott Burnum, basketball isn’t so much about skill than it is about heart and tenacity. It’s the way he’s coached hoops at Pierce High for the past twoplus decades, and his philosophy of how to play winning basketball isn’t going to change any time soon.
He expects hustle, hard work and dedication from his players, and more times than not, his simple approach to the game has led to success on the hardwood in Arbuckle. This year was no different. After coaching the Bears from 1997-2010 and leading the program to its only section title during the 2004-05 season, Burnum made a triumphant return to boys basketball this winter and guided Pierce back to the top of the Northern Section.
The Bears posted just one winning season and went 60-79 during Burnum’s six years away from the program, but this season, with a talented group of players who bought in to what their veteran coach was preaching, they quickly turned things around and the wins began to pile up once again.
Pierce went on to finish the year 17-7 overall, claimed a share of the Sacramento Valley League title and won two playoff games to reach the Northern Section Division IV championship game – the school’s first playing up in that division.
The Bears’ postseason run eventually came to an end with a loss to undefeated Corning for the section title before they lost to eventual state champion St. Patrick-St. Vincent in the opening round of the CIF NorCal Regional Tournament.
Even so, the turnaround was complete, and for taking Pierce from a 9-16 record in 2015-16 and to the brink of a section title in his first year back, Burnum has been named the Appeal-Democrat All-Area Coach of the Year for the third time.
“I didn’t expect the success we had. The first three or four weeks were tough. The kids weren’t ready to adjust to what I call Pierce basketball, and once they figured out that Pierce basketball has a set of rules and discipline, they liked it,” Burnum said. “We had a couple wins at the Dixon Tournament, and then a light clicked and we went on a roll from there.”
When Burnum talks about “Pierce basketball,” there is one word that comes to the forefront – defense. The Bears have earned a reputation for their aggressive in-your-face, man-to-man style of D under his watch over the years and he says it’s no coincidence.
While he can’t always teach his players every skill set in the allotted time they have at practice, Burnum can coach them up on defense and the results translate to game nights, where his teams often wear opponents down with unrelenting pressure.
“I talked to John Ithurburn and he always said to hang your hat on something, and we hang our hat on defense. It’s all about hustle, playing hard, being coachable and knowing your roles on the team,” said Burnum, whose squad held 12 of its opponents to 40 points or less during the course of the season.
“We always say that if we get to 50 we have a good chance to win, and holding them to 10 points a quarter is always a goal. One thing I can say I do a pretty good job at is scouting other teams’ philosophies and trying to stop what they’re trying to do, and offense usually comes with it. If you play good defense, it usually leads to easy buckets.”
Burnum, who is in his 23rd year as a government and world history teacher at Pierce, coached the Bears’ basketball team for 14 successful seasons before stepping down in 2010 to take over the school’s football program. He went on to post an overall record of 30-14 and reached the playoffs three times in four seasons on the gridiron, but stepping away from basketball was a decision he soon regretted.
“For some stupid reason, I wanted to coach football, but then I realized that’s not fun at all. The summer weightlifting, the spring weightlifting, harassing kids to get in the weight room, film sessions all week long – it just wasn’t fun. It hurt my gut,” said Burnum, the A-D’s Coach of the Year in football in 2011. “It just wasn’t me.”
Looking for another challenge, he coached Pierce’s varsity girls basketball team to a 36-10 record over the previous two years before finally finding his way back to the boys team this season.
Led by double-double machine and all-section performer Ben High in the post, the clutch shooting of sophomore Gabe Villa and the emergence of senior leader Angel Hernandez, the Bears beat county rivals Williams and Colusa during the regular season before knocking off defending section champion Gridley and Lassen to earn a trip to the title game as the smallest school in the division.
“It was a great run we went on in Division IV. We only have 450 kids, so it was good for the school and it let us know we can compete with those guys,” Burnum said. “It was weird how the whole season went. They just kept going and going. It wasn’t just me. Once the kids bought in and played hard, the success was theirs.”