Sports Roundup: Burbank boys’ hoops brings home CIF victory from La Quinta

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Burbank 65, La Quinta/La Quinta 59: Burbank began its postseason on the right note, picking up a CIF Southern Section Division III-AA first-round road win Wednesday.

Burbank (20-8) received 18 points from Faraz Khandaker, 15 from Michael Woods and 14 from Ben Chavez. Chavez made three free throws in the final 31 seconds to seal the win and move the Bulldogs into the second round at home against La Sierra on Friday.

The Bulldogs held a 49-47 lead through three quarters and began the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 56-49 lead.

“We stepped it up in the beginning of the fourth quarter,” said Burbank Coach Jamayne Potts, whose team finished fourth in the Pacific League. “We got some points and then we got some stops on defense.

“We were able to get our transition game going in the second half and we scored 23 points in the third quarter.”

Burbank, which traveled 140 miles to the Coachella Valley, trailed, 31-26, at halftime.

La Quinta/La Quinta (16-13) won the Desert Valley League title.

Santa Maria St. Joseph 81, Burroughs 67: Despite hanging in throughout, the Indians fell on the road in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA playoffs on Wednesday afternoon.

“They were just better tonight,” Indians Coach Allan Ellis said of St. Joseph. “We tried a couple of things defensively to slow them down, but they still got the offensive looks they wanted. We gave up too many lay-ups and had a hard time containing Walker off the dribble.”

With the defeat, Pacific League fifth-place Burroughs ended its season with a 13-14 record after earning an at-large berth to the playoffs.

Burroughs’ Tristen Hull tied St. Joseph’s JoJo Walker for game-high honors with 22 points, as the senior forward crossed the 1,000-point mark for his career. Ryan Castillo added 16 points and Zion Bazzell chipped in 12 points for the Indians.

Burroughs, which put together a CIF semifinal run last season, only trailed No. 6-ranked St. Joseph, 16-13, after one quarter, but was outscored, 23-16, in a pivotal second quarter to go down, 39-29, at the break. The Indians were outscored by four points in the second half.

Riverside County Education Academy 73, Lycee International of Los Angeles 70: The Lions couldn’t pull out the victory Wednesday evening on the road in Moreno Valley in a first-round game of the CIF Southern Section Division V-A playoffs.

LILA, which placed fourth in the International League, ended the season with an 8-6 record.

Riverside County Educational Academy (11-5) won a championship in the Warrior League.