Glendale High girls’ basketball sweeps Pacific League awards
Parity took center court in Pacific League girls’ basketball as a wild season produced three area squads that tied for a league title and four that finished within a game of first place.
In all, Glendale High, Burroughs, Crescenta Valley, Burbank and Hoover combined for plenty of honors on the All-Pacific League awards list, highlighted by Nitros senior Jillian Yanai being named the Pacific League Player of the Year and Glendale’s Tadeh Mardirosian being lauded as the coach of the year.
“When I found out I won the award, I was literally speechless,” Yanai said. “The past three years, the award has gone to very talented players and when I found out I won it, it just showed how far I’ve come since being a 13-year-old freshman point guard on the team.”
Yanai averaged 16 points, seven rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.3 steals per game for a Nitros team that finished 19-10 and 11-3 in league to tie for the crown with stalwarts Burroughs and Crescenta Valley. The league championship was the first for the Nitros since 1992.
As for Mardirosian, he was also recognized with a coach of the year award.
“We’re a very tightknit group of coaches and it’s a big honor being recognized by the league coaches,” Mardirosian said. “That’s pretty darn cool.”
As Glendale’s league crown came as a surprise, Burroughs also seemed nowhere near a title at the league midway point as the Indians were 4-3.
Yet, Burroughs rallied for an incredible 7-0 run over the second half with victories over Crescenta Valley and Glendale to finish the season 22-8 and 11-3 in league and forge a split of the league title. Burroughs also went 1-1 in the postseason.
For that effort, the Indians were the only league squad with two first-team selections in senior center Marin Grote and freshman forward Faith Boulanger.
Grote, who’s headed to the University of Washington to play volleyball, averaged 9.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.8 blocks, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
“For a team that was super young, we needed someone like Marin, someone who can give that experience and leadership on and off the court,” Burroughs coach Vicky Oganyan said. “She really changed the way we played defense and she was such a threat inside for us too.”
Boulanger tallied a team-leading 12.7 points per contest with 7.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.
“Any time a freshman comes into high school, it’s much harder and there’s an adjustment period,” Oganyan said. “With Faith, she did a very good job adjusting to the speed of the game. She also brought super calmness to a court that freshmen just don’t have.”
For a second straight season, Crescenta Valley claimed a portion of the Pacific League title as the Falcons finished 20-8 and 11-3 in league.
While an upset loss to archrival Arcadia, 57-47, in the season finale allowed for the three-way tie for the league title, Falcons coach Jason Perez was very much satisfied with his team given the circumstances.
“I don’t think it’s fair at all to say we stumbled,” said Perez when asked about the end-of-the-season hiccup. “For the second half of league, we were missing three starters for almost all of it. Yes, we finished 4-3 in the second half of league, but I’m proud of what the girls did. No other team in league would have done that.”
Falcons senior guard Rachel Dayag was her team’s catalyst and merited a first-team honor after averaging 11.7 points, 3.4 assists, 3.1 rebounds and three steals per game.
“I thought she should have been MVP of the league,” Perez said. “We lost (former league co-player of the year) Caity Bouchard to injury and Rachel stepped up and was the leader all the way.”
The last area first-team selection went to another dynamic player in Burbank junior Osanna Tirityan.
The guard was a bright spot for a Bulldogs team that ended the season 10-18 and 5-9 in league to place sixth and miss the postseason.
Tirityan led the league in scoring, according to maxpreps.com, and averaged 16.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.5 steals.
“She set the single-season mark in our school in rebounds and assists per game,” Burbank coach John Wells said. “As for the scoring, she’s scored the most points in a season in at least the past 20 years and turned in three triple-doubles. She did everything for us.”
Crescenta Valley senior guard Sarah Perez (9.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game) and junior guard Georgina Kregorian (7.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game) were named to the league’s second team along with Burroughs freshman forward Kayla Wrobel (5.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game) and Burbank freshman forward Jayla Flowers (6.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game).
Burbank’s Sofia Aslanyan (9.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game), Burroughs’ Dyani Del Castillo (5.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and one steal per game), Crescenta Valley’s Michelle Boghossian (5.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game), Glendale’s Lilia Vasghanian (4.2 points and 2.3 assists per game) were named league honorable mentions.
Hoover, which picked up a victory this past season, had Adrian Isajani (6.1 points and 1.5 steals per game) as its lone selection as an honorable mention.
