Burroughs High basketball makes move in second half to defeat Flintridge Prep

PASADENA — It was a tiring day Tuesday for the Burroughs High boys’ basketball team.

The Indians began the day with a two-hour workout at school and that was followed by a win against Saugus in a La Salle Tournament game. Burroughs finished its day with a game against Flintridge Prep in the Maranatha Summer League.

For the Rebels, the game against Burroughs proved to be tiring for them as well, as the squad suited up just seven players.

Flintridge Prep played well in the first 20-minute half, but couldn’t keep that energy going in the second, as the Indians came on to earn a 39-32 victory at Maranatha High.

“I was tired out there, but I know a lot of the other guys were tired too,” said Burroughs’ Scott Decker, who paced the Indians with eight points. “But you just have to fight through it and just keep on playing. That’s all you can do.”

Burroughs Coach Adam Hochberg said his team has been on a challenging schedule during the summer, with the Indians often playing as many as seven games a week.

“In some tournaments or games you are a little more focused than usual and you tend to take them a little more seriously,” Hochberg said. “A game like this we shuffled a lot of guys in and out to give them the experience.

“I’ve gone both ways with it in regards of whether to play a lot of games in summer or not. But this group needs it. They need to play a lot of games and to learn what it’s like to play together. The summer is a chance for a player to get better, every single rep, every single possession.”

Missing some key players in the game, most of the Flintridge Prep athletes saw their share of playing time.

“I think our guys got a little winded in that second half,” Rebels Coach Garrett Ohara said. “Burroughs had a lot of guys on their bench and our guys were getting a lot of minutes. But we had three freshmen out here and two sophomores, and I was happy with the way that they played. This is good experience for them.”

The Rebels received 11 points from Kendall Kikkawa, eight from Chris Brummett and seven from Kyle Hamane. Teammate Miles Johnson had 12 rebounds.

The Rebels were able to overcome some early shooting struggles in the first half. Flintridge Prep missed its first four shots from the field and Burroughs went in front, 4-3. However, the Rebels turned things around, and when Brummett converted a free throw for a 4-0 run, Flintridge Prep enjoyed a 7-4 advantage.

The biggest lead for the Rebels in the opening half was five at 16-11 following a bucket by Johnson with 5:40 left. Flintridge Prep went into the half leading, 18-14.

“We held them to just 14 points in the first half,” Ohara said. “That was a pretty good showing by our defense.”

But Burroughs seized control in the opening minutes of the second half. The Indians embarked on a 10-0 run to start the stanza and enjoyed a 24-18 cushion after David Schwer fed Eric Allen under the basket with 15:26 remaining.

The Rebels did battle back and tied the score at 24 with 10:11 left. But again the Indians came rolling back, went back in front and never relinquished the lead.

“I thought it was a good effort for us,” Hochberg said. “When we had our starting guys back in there they were able to go on that run and get us the lead.”
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Follow Jeff Tully on Twitter: @jefftsports.