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Championship bid ends semifinal short for Glendale girls’ basketball

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Even historic runs have conclusions.

Such was the case for the Glendale High girls’ basketball team Saturday evening.

The Nitros’ push toward a first CIF Southern Section championship appearance was denied by visiting Lawndale Leuzinger, 55-46, in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division II-A playoffs.

The defeat concluded a wonderful run for the No. 7-ranked Nitros, who finished with a 19-12 record after placing fourth in the Pacific League. Glendale picked up three postseason victories to advance to the program’s first semifinal appearance and second only semis visit for any Glendale girls’ sports team.

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Whether or not the season is over won’t be decided for a while, as the Nitros will await to see if they are selected to the CIF State playoffs. Pairings will be made available March 5.

Before then, though, Nitros Coach Tadeh Mardirosian needed a deep breath.

“The girls are resilient and we’re here for a reason, we’re in the semis for a reason,” Mardirosian said. “They never give up and we’ve come back from deficits and we kept talking about it. Our shortcoming today was 21 turnovers, but we tip our hat to Leuzinger and we’re grateful for a historic team.”

Sylvia Vartazarian scored a game-high 22 points and six rebounds for Glendale, while Merina Latu added 14 points, five assists and five rebounds and Jillian Yanai chipped in eight points.

Down by at least seven points for almost the entire second half, there was a moment when Glendale put a scare into Leuzinger and had a chance for a little more magic.

The Olympians (22-10) seemingly had the game in control, up 49-37, with 4:05 left.

That’s when Glendale made its final surge, which was aided by a bizarre sequence.

A free throw from Vartazarian brought the Nitros within 11 points before a foul against Latu with 2:46 remaining resulted in a double-bonus free-throw situation.

As Latu lined up to shoot her free throws, the officials blew the game to a halt and charged Leuzinger with a technical foul for an illegal substitution though Leuzinger’s player argued that she was whistled to be allowed on court.

The call resulted in four straight made free throws from Latu plus possession to Glendale, which resulted in a four-footer from Latu off a batted pass from Claire Yanai that suddenly brought the Nitros within 49-44 with 2:30 left.

Glendale then forced a defensive stop, but missed cutting the game to a single possession when a three-point try from the corner hit off the front of the rim.

Glendale eventually attempted two three-pointers that were missed and countered the other way on back-to-back lay-ups from the Olympians to put the visitors ahead, 53-44, with 1:30 remaining to virtually ice the game.

“Honestly, we’ve come a long way this team and we were focused, but we held our ground, tried our best and it is what it is,” Claire Yanai said. “It was super exciting to see a big crowd and we appreciate the school spirit. It’s helped us a lot.”

With the exception of the 5-foot-11 Vartazarian, Leuzinger towered over Glendale with four players 5-10 or taller. The Olympians also showed off their athleticism throughout.

Leuzinger nearly ran Glendale out of its own gym with a 10-0 start to the game as the Olympians led, 18-8, after one quarter.

The Nitros opened the second quarter with five straight points from Vartazarian, aided by two assists from Jillian Yanai, to close the deficit to 18-13.

Yet, Leuzinger pushed back and eventually took a 32-24 advantage at the half.

The Olympians led, 42-34, after three quarters and extended their lead to 12 at the four-minute mark in the fourth.

Precious Onwuka led Leuzinger with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Hannah Adams added 10 points and six rebounds and Brooke Scott chipped in nine points.

“The whole game I thought we had a chance, but we were stagnant on offense,” Vartazarian said. “I know we worked hard and, honestly, it doesn’t matter because we did our best. I’m so happy with this season, especially because it’s my senior year.”

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Andrew J. Campa, andrew.campa@latimes.com

Twitter: @campadresports

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