Burroughs girls’ basketball claims Pacific League for its own
ARCADIA — The Burroughs High girls’ basketball team had won its share of league games this season in dramatic fashion, including two in overtime, one by one point and one by two points.
So, it was only fitting that the Indians captured the Pacific League championship Friday with another thrilling performance.
PHOTOS: Burroughs vs. Arcadia league girls’ basketball
Jakarra Waddell hit the winning shot with 12 seconds left against Arcadia to lift Burroughs to a 51-49 victory on the road that gave the Indians their first outright league crown in three years.
Burroughs (20-6, 12-0 in league), which shared the league championship with the Apaches (17-7, 7-4) last season, has a three-game lead over Burbank (17-9, 9-3) with two games remaining.
“It feels great,” said Waddell, a senior, about the league championship. “It is something that we’ve been focusing on and something that we’ve been working hard for.”
The Indians were able to win the game despite having just one player in double figures (Brooke Radcliff with 10) and going eight of 23 from the free-throw line.
Those mistakes almost derailed the Indians when they fell behind by seven points in the third quarter and trailed by four with just more than four minutes remaining in the game.
“The whole time that we were down, when Arcadia made a run in the second half, it was like we really weren’t that uneasy and we didn’t feel bad about it,” Burroughs Coach Vicky Oganyan said. “Although out shots weren’t falling and we made some mistakes on defense, I thought our energy was good and they just came up big.”
In the fourth, Arcadia was able to take a four-point lead, 49-45, on a layup by Caira Benton with 4:14 remaining. But the Indians went on a 4-0 run and when Paula Galicia hit a jumper with 1:29 left, Burroughs had knotted the score at 49.
After both teams couldn’t convert on their next possessions, Arcadia had the ball with a chance to tie. But Burroughs’ Delaney Nicol stole the ball and gave the visitors a chance of their own. However, that chance almost evaporated when Galicia was tied up and a jump-ball was called. Luckily for the Indians, the possession arrow was in their favor.
Burroughs then called a timeout with 20.4 seconds remaining and only 10 seconds left on the shot clock. The Indians got the ball in Galicia’s hands on the right side, but she was quickly hounded by two Arcadia defenders. With nowhere to go, Galicia passed the ball between the defenders to Waddell who was waiting in the lane just inside the free-throw line. Waddell elevated and drained the shot to put the Indians up, 51-49.
“I was open and when I got the ball I thought I just had to go up with it,” Waddell said. “And when it went in I was so happy.”
The Apaches had one last chance, however, but Melanie Chen lost the ball out of bounds under the basket as the final buzzer sounded.
The Indians had a 15-12 lead after one quarter and went into halftime with a 30-23 advantage. But the Apaches outscored the Indians, 18-7, in the third and headed into the final stanza with a 41-37 lead.