Burroughs High girls’ basketball off to semifinals
BURBANK — A few moments after they achieved a program milestone, the members of the Burroughs High girls’ basketball took a lap through a victory tunnel formed by a throng of ardent supporters inside a noisy and packed home gymnasium.
Reaching the semifinals had been a long time coming for the Indians, who had come up short in their previous four attempts. Burroughs finally broke through that barrier in a big way Saturday night.
Behind 16 points and 10 rebounds from Davina Del Castillo, top-seeded Burroughs posted a 54-45 win against eighth-seeded Peninsula in a CIF Southern Section Division I-A quarterfinal contest.
Burroughs (30-2) will meet fourth-seeded West Torrance in a semifinal road contest at 7 p.m. Tuesday. West Torrance, which captured the Division II-A championship last season, posted a 76-46 quarterfinal win against 12th-seeded Newbury Park.
“It’s an exciting time and a big deal for our team,” said Del Castillo, a reigning All-Area first-team pick who finished with six points and three rebounds in the fourth quarter. “We were able to get some big rebounds and play tough defense against a very good team.
“Going into the fourth quarter, we had to be mentally tough because we were getting closer to moving on.”
Del Castillo made five of seven free-throw attempts to help the Indians, who have won three straight Pacific League championships, repel the Panthers (18-11). She made a pair of free throws to give the Indians a 50-43 lead with 2:12 remaining in the fourth quarter. Madison Lucci scored on a reverse layup to pull Peninsula to within 46-43 with 4:04 remaining.
Abbey Ibarra scored nine points for Burroughs and provided muscle to the lineup by playing fine defense and teammate Sienna Brown contributed seven points and 10 rebounds.
“They have a very good shooting team, so we knew coming in that it would be a good challenge for us,” said Ibarra, who made two three-pointers. “We had to keep it up by playing intense defense in the fourth quarter.
“It’s just an honor and an exciting time to go to the semifinals.”
Burroughs had to regroup instantly after falling behind to begin the contest. Burroughs Coach Vicky Oganyan called a timeout after Peninsula’s Sarah Baxter made a three-pointer to make it 9-0 with 6:18 left in the opening quarter. The Panthers held a 16-8 lead after the first quarter before Burroughs began to take charge on both ends of the floor.
The Indians took their first lead at 18-16 on a three-pointer by Chloe Takeuchi with 5:50 to play in the second quarter. Burroughs held a 27-26 halftime advantage.
Burroughs received eight points from Brooke Radcliff. Paris Lucci paced the Panthers with a team-high 15 points.
“They have so many great shooters and we knew we had to take away their strength,” Oganyan said. “When we got into the fourth quarter, we played good defense.
“We are basically a fourth-quarter team. We’ve got a lot of experience. Davina made some big free throws down the stretch. I can’t think of anything better than getting to the semifinals for the first time with this group.”