Burroughs Tops La Canada as Murphy Lays Down Law

La Canada High was trailing Burroughs late in the semifinal round of the Crescenta Valley tournament and Coach Tom Hofman called a timeout to realign the Spartan defense.

When La Canada took the court, it was evident to Hofman that just 2 players had listened to his instructions. The other 3 might as well have had signs hanging from their noses reading out to lunch.

It was a familiar situation for Hofman. Though La Canada is laden with tall, talented players and was the tournament favorite, the team has shown the collective intensity of an air ball free throw.

So when La Canada was knocked off by Burroughs, 79-62, Friday, Hofman was not shocked.

“This is a bitter loss,” he said. “Our intensity is not nearly at the level of a championship team.”

By contrast, the emotion of Burroughs (5-2) spread as if carried by the Santa Ana winds.

Senior forward Dan Murphy, who was stymied by the Spartans early, scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half and had 14 rebounds.

Most of Murphy’s points were scored on off-balance jump shots in the key.

“I like jumping right over bigger people,” he said.

And Murphy does not mind letting those people know when they’ve been beaten.

With less than a minute to play and Burroughs leading by 13, Murphy drove for what appeared to be an uncontested layup. Instead, he was hacked from behind by center Greg Thompson. Murphy made the shot and Thompson wound up on his back.

Murphy punctuated the play by thrusting his finger in Thompson’s face. “It was so frustrating in the first half,” Murphy said, “it just felt so good to break out of my slump.”

Unlike Murphy, the Spartans could not break a slump. After jumping to a 5-1 lead, they cooled and fell behind by 10 midway through the second quarter. Burroughs never surrendered the lead.