Burbank boys’ basketball switches things up in win against Burroughs
BURBANK — Man-defense has been a staple for the Burbank boys’ basketball team this season. But Friday night against Burroughs, the Bulldogs switched things up.
Burbank came out in a 3-2 zone defense, which frustrated the Indians and hampered their offensive productivity.
It was that defensive effort that enabled the Bulldogs to roll to a 61-46 Pacific League win against Burroughs in the first of two cross-town rivalry contests this season.
“We haven’t been running that defense a lot this year,” said Burbank coach Jamayne Potts said. “We just started it and it’s been game by game depending on who we’re playing.
“They figured that we were going to come out in man and we threw a loop at them. We weren’t supposed to stay in it the entire game, but it was working and it slowed the game down a lot.”
Not only did the zone defense surprise the Indians players, but coach Allan Ellis as well.
“I was not expecting them to come out in a 3-2 at all,” Ellis said. “But I didn’t think our guys reacted particularly well to it. We didn’t get the shots that we wanted and the shots we were looking for. We just didn’t make shots.
“Teams that are in a zone, you have to knock down some shots. We had some great looks, we just didn’t knock them down.”
It was the second straight league win for Burbank (12-7, 3-4 in league), which defeated Crescenta Valley on Wednesday, 88-78.
The Bulldogs received 15 points and four steals from Tyrese Willis, 14 points from Xavier Davis and 13 points off the bench from Chance Van Hook.
Burbank got its offense rolling three minutes into the first quarter. The Bulldogs’ defense allowed Burroughs (11-8, 2-5) just six points in the opening stanza and held a 16-6 lead after the first seven minutes.
“We just wanted to look at this as just another game, not a rivalry game,” Willis said. “We all know it’s a big rivalry, but for me I just want to go out there and play basketball, no matter who it’s against.
“I think there were some things that we could have done better in this game, but we got the win and that’s all that matters.”
Burbank increased its lead to 21-8 with 6:16 left in the second quarter. Burroughs got to within 29-19 with 48 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs got a boost from Van Hook in the second half, as he scored all of his 13 points, including three three-pointers, in the third and fourth quarters. Burbank finished the third in front by 17, 47-30.
In the fourth quarter, the Indians went on a 7-0 run to trim the advantage to 51-40 at the 4:25 mark. But Burbank answered with an 8-0 run and Burroughs wasn’t able to answer.
Omar Searcy had 13 points and eight rebounds for Burroughs, while Carson Clarke added 11 points and.Amir Montgomery chipped in with 10 points, five rebounds and four steals.
Twitter: @jefftsports
