Loss to Burroughs Leaves Quartz Hill in a Tie for Title

By VINCE KOWALICK

Feb. 15, 1992 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Were those the Boston Celtics blazing through the Quartz Hill High gym on Friday night or just members of the Ridgecrest Burroughs basketball team?

Quartz Hill found the resemblance frighteningly close.

Wearing Kelly green road uniforms, Burroughs jumped all over the Rebels from the opening tip, posting a convincing 64-48 Golden League victory before a crowd that included a large and vocal Burroughs contingent.

Three weeks ago, Quartz Hill escaped with a double-overtime 51-49 victory at Burroughs.

But this time--call it the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre--the result was a rout. The inspired performance earned Burroughs a co-championship with Quartz Hill in the final game of the regular season. Both teams finished with 8-2 league records.

“I thought this place would be rockin,’ ” Burroughs Coach Robert Campbell said. “But, my God, we had more fans here than they did. And they were playing for (the title) and we were playing for a piece of the pie. So, I think we may have wanted it more.”

Burroughs shut down guard Dan Prince, the league’s leading scorer, holding him to 10 points, five in the fourth quarter.

Prince was three-for-21 shooting and the target of taunts from Burroughs fans whenever he handled the ball.

“That didn’t bother me,” Prince said. “They did the same thing up there and we won.”

Burroughs center Travis McCollum (6-foot-9) scored 13 points, mostly on twisting inside moves. Guard Scott Hansen led Burroughs with a game-high 18 points.

Burroughs jumped to a 13-8 first-quarter lead and stretched it to 27-14 at halftime.

“Their fans didn’t bother us,” Quartz Hill Coach Steve Hurst said. “We didn’t shoot well and they’re a good team. We dug ourselves too big a hole to get out of.”

At times, it appeared the Rebels (15-8) almost would.

Ryan Beckstead’s three-point shot with two minutes to play in the third quarter narrowed the gap to 34-27.

Burroughs (14-6) stretched the lead to 44-29 early in the fourth quarter, only to watch Quartz Hill make another run.