Huge fourth quarter spurs Glendale High girls’ basketball to tournament win
BURBANK — After beginning the season coming off the bench, Sylvia Vartazarian has fit in nicely as a starter for the Glendale High girls’ basketball team the past week.
A few more similar outings like the one she had Tuesday might keep her status as a starter intact.
Vartazarian finished with a career-high 27 points and had nine rebounds to propel Glendale, which scored 27 fourth-quarter points, to a 68-53 victory against Leuzinger in a fifth-place semifinal game of the West Coast Holiday Festival at Burroughs High.
PHOTOS: Behind Vartazarian’s 27 points, Glendale notches semifinal win over Leuzinger, 68-53
Glendale improved to 8-5 and will meet Notre Dame Academy in a final tournament matchup at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Burroughs. Leuzinger fell to 8-7.
Glendale, which won despite making just three of 17 three-pointers and 17 of 35 free throws, outscored Leuzinger, 27-13, in the fourth quarter.
“I’ve wanted to be a starter, so I’ve been going hard after it at practices,” said Vartazarian, who fouled out with 2:37 remaining in the fourth quarter and Glendale protecting a 58-48 advantage. “It feels good to be starting now and you have to keep getting better.
“We started talking more to each other in the fourth quarter and were able to get the win.”
Glendale held a 41-40 lead entering the fourth quarter. The Nitros had missed on their first 11 three-point shots before Karla Periyan made one from the left side on the first possession of the quarter to make it 44-40.
The Nitros appeared to become more comfortable following Periyan’s basket.
“I think once we got that shot, we got more energized,” said Periyan, who registered 12 points (10 in the fourth quarter). “You make that first shot and the confidence starts to build.
“We had a real good fourth quarter.”
Periyan later made a three-pointer to give Glendale a 56-44 lead with 4:40 to play.
The Nitros also got a big performance from Kailyn Gideon, who notched six points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
“It came down to a battle in who could keep composed and play basketball,” Glendale Coach Tania Adary said. “We switched some things around and did a better job in the fourth quarter.
“Sylvia can give us a spark coming off the bench, but we wanted that spark from her as a starter. Since we put her in the starting lineup a few games ago, she’s been real comfortable under the basket.”
Vartazarian scored on a layup to give the Nitros a 25-9 advantage with 4:08 remaining in the second quarter. Leuzinger then closed out the half on a 17-4 run to pull to within 29-26.
Leuzinger received a team-best 21 points from Tyhanna Cooley.
