Hart Recaptures Top Form in Win Over Burroughs

Enough was enough.

After observing Hart High’s two recent lackluster performances--including the team’s first loss in a month and a half--first-year basketball Coach Mike May decided it was time to get back to basics.

Gone would be the flashy passes and ill-timed shots that last week led to blown opportunities. Instead, May implored his charges to return to what made them one of the area’s top-ranked teams: intensity, teamwork and defense--in that order.

The message was received loud and clear.

In what many members termed the team’s best overall performance of the season, Hart routed Burroughs, 82-69, Tuesday night in Foothill League play at Burroughs. The victory gave Hart--ranked seventh in The Times’ regional poll--its third consecutive Foothill title. Burroughs is in second place.

“We blew a lot of chances and we let things get away from us last week in the (65-61 Foothill) loss to Canyon, so we wanted to make sure we boxed out on the boards and made the extra pass on offense (against Burroughs),” said senior forward Matt Steffe, who had game highs in points (27) and rebounds (11).

“Coach told us to work the offense and play our game. We did our jobs.”

Said senior forward David Sanders, who scored 23 points: “Coach wanted us to concentrate on getting the ball inside, playing good defense and rebounding. Our offense was really working.”

Hart, which has two Foothill games remaining, improved to 16-6, 9-1 in league play. Junior center Cody Patterson also played a strong game for Hart with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Hart’s lone league loss to Canyon snapped the team’s 12-game winning streak.

“I told the kids we needed to concentrate on doing things the right way--hitting the boards and constantly making the extra pass--or we’d miss chances like we did against Canyon,” May said. “What I also liked was that the defense was back. Our defense was really solid.”

Hart held Burroughs (9-12, 5-5) to nine points in the first quarter while scoring 20. Hart took a 40-20 lead with 2 minutes 50 seconds remaining in the first half on a layup by Steffe. Hart led, 42-27, at halftime.

Burroughs was slowed because senior guard Gabe Colon could not find his shooting touch. Colon averaging almost 19 points, scored 17, but he was not a major factor.