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Second-half struggles lead to Providence boys’ basketball’s downfall

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BURBANK — Things began to unravel for the Providence High boys’ basketball team in the second quarter.

After a strong start in the first quarter, the Pioneers continued to play well in the early minutes of the second quarter and enjoyed a 13-point lead against Holy Martyrs.

But the Armens came on late in the second and trailed by just two at the half.

Unfortunately for Providence, things got worse in the second half, which allowed Holy Martyrs to come back and earn a 64-48 nonleague win, its first of the season, at Providence.

“Our guys have to understand that playing one good half doesn’t win you a game,” Providence first-year coach Brandon Lincoln said. “We have to be able to put two halves together to win games.

“We have weaknesses like any other team and we have to play the game for the full 32 minutes and be able to respond when teams get momentum against us and they try to disrupt us from what we’re doing.”

The Pioneers (6-3) had problems trying to neutralize a Holy Martyrs (1-6) team that predicated its offense on the outside shot. The Armens converted 13 three-pointers, with four coming from Patrick Aharonian (22 points) and five from Harout Nazarian (17 points).

“To make up for our lack of size, we shoot the ball a lot from the outside, and really that’s the only game that we have,” Holy Martyrs coach Koko Kaprielian said. “We also have to play good defense and trap when we can against other teams.

“When we got down early we never gave up. That’s a great thing about this team is these guys never give up.”

Providence, ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section Division V-AAA, received 14 points from Tevan Khudatyan and 10 points and six rebounds from Jordan Shelley.

Behind six points from Joe Whelan (eight points, seven rebounds) in the first quarter, the Pioneers held a 17-11 lead at the first break.

Providence played well in the early minutes of the second quarter and, when Shelley sank a basket with 3:29 remaining, the Pioneers’ lead swelled to 30-17.

But the Armens battled back and made it a two-point game at the half, 34-32.

“That team had a great game plan for us and that coach has a lot of experience,” Lincoln said of Holy Martyrs. “He had his guys ready to play, they were hungry and it showed.

“We didn’t quite respond to their intensity and I take responsibility for that.”

What followed was a second half in which the Pioneers converted just four of 20 shots from the field and were outscored, 32-14, against their former Liberty League opponent.

The Armens outscored Providence, 18-9, in the third quarter.

In the fourth, the Pioneers made just one field goal and were outscored, 14-5.

jeffrey.tully@latimes.com

Twitter: @jefftsports

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