Balanced Burroughs Beats Rio Mesa, 68-48

No member of the Burroughs High basketball team ever hogs the ball. Or even holds it for very long.

But several of the Indians have become quite skilled at passing. And that pleases Coach Ira Sollod, an equal opportunity employer.

Sollod was all smiles after Burroughs whipped Rio Mesa, 68-48, Tuesday night in a Southern Section 4-A Division quarterfinal game at Burbank High.

For the 10th time in the past 12 games, four players scored in double figures for Foothill League-champion Burroughs (18-6), which rolled to its 13th consecutive victory.

Burroughs will play Artesia, an 80-51 winner over Fullerton, in a semifinal game Friday at a site to be determined.

Senior forward Ray Velasquez, who entered the game averaging a team-high 17.9 points after scoring 22 on Friday against Redondo Union, was held to a season-low seven points.

But fellow starters S.J. Boldvich (15 points), Mike Rossiter (14), Doug Castaneda (14) and Marnie Calderon (11) more than picked up the slack.

Depth had done it again.

“Who do you stop on our team?” Sollod said. “We’ve got five guys who can score. We create things. You can’t run special defenses against us.”

Said Castaneda, who sank a pair of three-point shots: “All year long, we’ve had everyone involved. Everyone has been a threat, not just the starting five.”

Four Burroughs reserves combined for seven points while only three reserves registered in the scoring column for Rio Mesa (14-14).

Standout senior forward Eric Thomas, who will attend New Mexico in the fall, was the only Spartan to score in double figures. He had 15 points to tie for game-high scoring honors and also had five rebounds.

Stopping the 6-foot-6 1/2 Thomas--admittedly the Indians’ game plan, Sollod said--was Boldvich’s responsibility. But after Thomas scored 13 points in the first half--after which Burroughs led, 37-28--it was clear that Boldvich, a 6-foot-4 senior forward, needed help.

Burroughs switched to a shifting zone to contain Thomas whenever he touched the ball. Thomas’ basket to open the third quarter were his only points in the second half.

“We always had a hand in Thomas’ face,” Sollod said. “It was definitely one of our better games of the year as far as smarts.”

But Burroughs’ offense, Thomas said, was the difference.

“They have so many guys,” said Thomas, a four-time All-Channel League player. “You have to stop them and we didn’t.”

Burroughs led, 23-13, after one quarter but Rio Mesa, powered by two consecutive three-point baskets by Thomas, launched a 10-4 run to force a Burroughs’ timeout.