Providence basketball has trouble with its shooting
BURBANK — Had it been a regular-season game, there might have been some cause for concern.
While Providence High girls’ basketball Coach Andrew Bencze wasn’t elated with the way the Pioneers shot the ball Tuesday afternoon, at least it gave him a better idea of what the Pioneers need to shift their attention to.
Providence made just two of 23 shots from the floor and suffered a 42-17 defeat against Ribet Academy in a Burroughs High Summer League contest.
“We just had a poor-shooting game and it’s going to happen,” said Bencze, whose team missed all 15 of its first-half shots. “You have to give credit to Ribet Academy because they were aggressive on defensive and playing a half-court game.
“It’s summer, so you get a better idea of what things need to be addressed. You make adjustments and you learn from it. Then you try to fix it leading into the next game.”
Providence, which captured the Liberty League championship before reaching the CIF Southern Section Division IV-A quarterfinals last season, saw all its offense come via free throws. The Pioneers made seven free-throw shots and stayed within striking distance of Ribet at 17-7.
Providence didn’t make it first shot until guard Katia Dabbaghian, a reigning All-Area and All-CIF Southern Section pick, made a jump shot to pull the Pioneers to within 21-9 with 17:53 remaining in the game. Prior to Dabbaghian’s basket, the Pioneers had missed 16 straight shots.
Providence’s other basket came from guard Deanna Nazarian. Nazarian made a three-pointer with 12:30 remaining to trim the deficit to 30-12. Ribet had scored the previous nine points before Nazarian’s basket from the left side.
“I thought we played against a tough team,” said Nazarian, who finished with seven points. “Our defense kept us in the game, but we had a tough time on offense.
“We are using the summer to try to build chemistry.”
Ribet closed out the game on a 12-5 run.
Ribet jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Dabbaghian made the first of two free-throw attempts to make it 7-1 with 11:50 left in the first half. Ribet then went on a 10-0 run to take a 17-1 lead before guard Rachel Camonayan made a pair of free throws to end the drought and bring the Pioneers to within 17-3 with 2:50 to go in the opening half.
“I thought we had some good shots, but they just didn’t fall early on,” said Bencze, a former All-Area Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year selection. “You try to realize that the summer is a time to find a way to get better.
“We are here to make progress. We just took a step back today.”
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Follow Charles Rich on Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich .