Glendale High girls’ basketball ousted by Arcadia

ARCADIA — Good starts to games have been a common occurrence throughout most of the season for the Glendale High girls’ basketball team.

The Nitros have looked to continue the trend in Pacific League play. Unfortunately for Glendale, it hit a major pot hole Monday.

Glendale mustered just 14 first-half points and suffered a 52-38 league road defeat against Arcadia.

“Usually, we begin games with good starts and are able to build off them,” said Glendale Coach Tania Adary, whose team dropped to 9-8, 1-2 in league. “We just came out super flat tonight and we couldn’t make any adjustments.”

Arcadia, which held a 25-14 halftime advantage, improved to 14-2, 3-0. Glendale began a stretch of three league games in five days.

Glendale didn’t get the start it wanted despite showing signs of improvement in the second half.

The Apaches held a 42-27 lead entering the fourth quarter. Glendale closed to within 12 points in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get any closer.

Adary decided to go in a different direction in the fourth quarter.

“I wanted to give some of my bench players a chance to maintain or narrow the deficit,” Adary said.

Kailyn Gideon paced the Nitros with 10 points, including six in the fourth quarter. The Nitros also received nine points from Natalie Kejejian and seven from Sylvia Vartazarian.

Gideon scored on a layup with 2:07 remaining in the fourth quarter to pull Glendale to within 48-36.

Kristin Shigemaga connected on a three-pointer to give the Apaches a 35-14 lead with 4:28 remaining in the third quarter.

Glendale, which began league competition with a loss against Burroughs before posting a victory against Pasadena, and Arcadia will meet again on Feb. 2 at Arcadia.

Glendale will next participate in another league contest at 5 p.m. Wednesday against visiting Muir.