Alhambra Handcuffs Burbank

The philosophy was simple for Alhambra High basketball Coach Jim Wetmore: To stop Burbank, his team would have to limit Mark Nielsen, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, to less than 20 points.

His theory proved true. Nielsen, playing with the flu, made just 3 of 11 field-goal attempts and finished with 10 points, six of which came in the fourth quarter when the outcome was no longer in doubt.

But even a better Nielsen rating probably would not have been enough to help Burbank as Alhambra cruised to a 71-59 Foothill League victory Tuesday night at Burbank.

“We have guys like Russell Warner that can score in place of Mark,” Burbank Coach John Downum said, “but Nielsen just has that little extra.

“He’s nice on defense and he has that leadership out there. He just didn’t have it tonight.”

Nielsen, who has been battling illness for two weeks, was shadowed by Alhambra’s Jeff Chiu in the first half and by Hong Hue after intermission.

“Jeff was too short to guard him, so Hong took over in the second half,” Wetmore said.

Mike Nash and Dan Shaw contributed the bulk of the scoring, posting season-high totals of 18 and 13 points.

After trailing by a point at halftime, Alhambra’s Cecil Yang, who played with a cast on his left arm, scored on a fast break to give the Moors the lead for good.

The turning point came later in the quarter when Alhambra extended a five-point lead into 13 points within a span of 21 seconds. Rick Febres-Cordeno made a pair of free throws for Alhambra and teammate David Agajanian stole the inbounds pass and made a layup. Burbank’s Dan Fairman drew a technical foul on the play for slapping the backboard and the Moors converted one of two free throws. Alhambra retained possession after the technical and Kent Wang made a three-point shot with 20 seconds left in the quarter to give Alhambra a 48-35 lead.

“We had made a four- or six-point run and that play just put the icing on the cake,” Wetmore said.

Wang finished with a game-high 23 points and Hue added 21 for Alhambra (18-4, 7-0 in league play).

With a win, Burbank (12-8, 4-3) would have almost assured itself of a playoff spot and a chance at a share of its third consecutive league title. Now the Bulldogs are just concerned with making the playoffs.

“If we had won, we’d have had a playoff spot sewed up, but now we have to take care of business and get into the playoffs,” Downum said.

After starting slowly, the Bulldogs led at the half, 28-27. Burbank turned the ball over on its first five possessions and committed nine turnovers in the half.

Russell Warner hit a three-point jump shot with :47 left in the half, to give Burbank its one-point halftime lead, after trailing by as many as six earlier in the quarter.

Hong Hoe hit a three-point shot to give the Moors a 20-14 lead midway through the second quarter. Mike Nash and Warner converted shots to bring Burbank to within one, and Dan Shaw tied the score, 23-23, when he stole an inbound pass and made a layup with 3:15 left in the half.