Burbank Shoots 78% to Gun Down Hart From the Outside; Wins by 27

Burbank High, shooting a blazing 78% from the field, blitzed Hart, 81-54, in a Foothill League basketball game Friday night in Newhall.

The Bulldogs, who improved their league mark to 2-1, made 29 field goals in 37 attempts. Burbank (12-5 overall) missed four shots in the first quarter, then missed just four shots the rest of the game.

With no player taller than 6-2, the Bulldogs must do much of their shooting from the outside.

They may have never had a better night than Friday.

Tom Clansen opened the game with a jumper and the Bulldogs never cooled off. They made five of their first six shots to race out to a 10-5 lead.

But Hart, which fell to 1-2 in league, had some sharp shooters of its own. The Indians, with Mike Michelson sinking three shots, hit seven of their 10 shots in the first quarter to take an 18-16 lead.

The two teams continued to trade baskets until Burbank ran off a 9-1 streak to take a 37-27 lead seconds before the end of the quarter.

As the buzzer sounded, Hart’s Chris Chouinard tipped in the ball. After a momentary delay, the official signaled that the basket was good, sending the Burbank bench into a frenzy.

As the teams left the court, Burbank’s junior varsity coach, Ira Sollod, was hit with a technical, the second one on the Bulldogs in the half.

Michelson started the second half by making two free throws, bringing the Indians (8-10) to within six at 37-31.

The Indians got to within three a minute later when Michelson hit a free throw after a technical on Burbank’s David Van Dam. It was Van Dam’s second technical of the game. At that point, Hart trailed, 39-36.

But from that point on, the Bulldogs outscored the Indians 20-5 to assume a 19-point lead entering the final quarter.

Burbank made 8 out of 9 shots in the third quarter, bettering its effort of 7 out of 8 in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs cooled down in the fourth quarter, actually missing two of their eight attempts. But the damage had already been done.

Clansen, who had 12 points in the first half, finished with 20, as did teammate Brandon Beckner. Van Dam and Bryan Chandler each had 13 for Burbank, which had five players score in double figures.

Jim Baroni was high for Hart with 11, while Michelson and Troy Best each had 10.

What hurt the Indians other than Burbank’s hot shooting was the Indians’ poor shooting in the second half.

After making 10 of 17 (56%) in the first half, the Indians hit only 9 of 26 in the final two quarters. The third quarter was the undoing for Hart, as it connected on just 3 of 14 attempts.

BURBANK--Beckner 20; Manning 10; Van Dam 13; Clansen 20; Peters 1; Chandler 13; Velasco 4.

HART--Baroni 11; Best 10; Gilmore 6; Michelson 10; Bonds 7; Cooper 2; Chouinard 4; Ewing 1; Anners 3.