Hoover boys’ basketball holds off Burbank for league win
GLENDALE — With a 10-point lead in the final seconds of the third quarter in its Pacific League game with Burbank High on Monday, the Hoover boys’ basketball team appeared to be in control.
But with a little more than two minutes left in the game, the Tornadoes’ lead had completely been chipped away by the Bulldogs and Hoover looked like it might drop another game late, a trend it has known all too well this season.
This time, however, the Tornadoes didn’t wilt down the stretch. Instead, they shored up their defense late and held off a final Burbank push in a 52-50 home victory.
It was only the third league triumph for Hoover (5-16, 3-8 in league), which entered the day tied for sixth in league. Burbank (15-8, 5-5), came into the game in the fifth spot in league.
“It’s nice to be at the right end of one of these close games,” Hoover Coach Jack Van Patten said. “I thought that we hung in there, showed some mental toughness and we were able to show some energy at the end. I think the pace of the game was good for us and I was happy with the effort from the guys.
“All the pressure was really on [Burbank] because they have to win to get into the playoffs.”
The win avenged a 66-52 Tornadoes loss at the hands of the Bulldogs on Jan. 11.
Burbank had its problems Monday, including some inconsistent shooting and some ball-handling woes to the tune of 16 turnovers.
“I give credit to Hoover for coming out and defending their floor and being able to get the win,” Burbank Coach Jamayne Potts said. “But really we deserved what we got. I don’t mean that with any disrespect to Hoover, but I thought that we took them for granted ... and we deserved to lose this game.
“I just thought that we were very flat, offensively and defensively. Holding Hoover to 21 points in the first half was good, however we were only able to score 20.”
The Tornadoes were paced by Alec Pirijanyan, who had 16 points to go along with seven rebounds. Teammate Rene Deravanesian added 16 points and Simeon Hilby pulled down nine rebounds.
Hoover took a 37-27 lead with 18 seconds left in the third quarter on a three-pointer by Deravanesian and ended the stanza up by eight, 37-29.
Paced by Faraz Khandaker (18 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks) and Mike Woods (12 points, 11 rebounds), the Bulldogs were able to pull even at 46 after Khandaker sank two free throws with 2:11 remaining.
Hoover came back to take a five-point lead, 51-46, with 1:27 remaining after two Angel Mino (eight points) free throws. A basket by Khandaker and a steal by Levon Galstyan that resulted in two made free throws brought the Bulldogs to within 51-50 with 37.3 seconds remaining.
On the Tornadoes’ next possession, Pirijanyan was fouled with 16.8 seconds left and he connected on one to give Hoover a two-point cushion, 52-50. On what would be a final possession for Burbank, Khandaker lofted a three-pointer from the left side, but it missed the mark. Woods then went up for a shot, but missed, got the rebound and missed again as time expired.
“We really had nothing to lose in this game,” Pirijanyan said. “We just tried to slow down the pace, work for shots and take it to the rack and hope for fouls. We lost the first time against them, but we just pushed harder this time and got the win.”
Hoover jumped out to an 11-7 lead after one quarter and went into the half up by one, 21-20. The Bulldogs kept themselves in the game in the second quarter by converting nine of 11 free throws after making just two shots from the field.
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Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com
Twitter: @jefftsports
