Nolan’s Handiwork Guides Palmdale Girls Past Burroughs, 61-43

Give Monique Nolan a hand. She can use one right now.

Playing with a heavily taped left wrist, which she sprained several days ago, Nolan sparked Palmdale High to a 61-43 victory over Ridgecrest Burroughs in a Golden League girls’ basketball game Thursday night.

With 18 points and seven rebounds, she played better than anybody with two good wrists.

The senior had six points and four rebounds while the Falcons, ranked No. 2 in the Valley area by The Times, built a 21-7 lead after the first quarter.

After Burroughs battled back to trail by one point late in the third quarter, Nolan scored eight points during a fourth-quarter surge in which Palmdale (16-0, 3-0 in league play) outscored the Burros, 20-8, and had them packing for the two-hour trip back to Ridgecrest.

Although the Falcons were not sharp, making only 29% of their shots, they made 24 of 35 free throws compared to two of 10 for Burroughs (12-7, 2-1), which made only 23% of its shots.

Nolan was 10 for 10 from the free-throw line.

“She gets better every game,” Coach George Corisis said of Nolan, a junior. “She’s turning into a real quality point guard.”

Nolan, who had 16 points and eight rebounds in a victory over Littlerock on Tuesday, knew Burroughs would be a problem. She remembered how the Falcons beat the Burros by more than 20 points at Burroughs last year but could only win by one at home.

“I know from last year that they come ready to play and we had to come together as a team,” Nolan said. “Even though I was hurt, I set the pain aside and wasn’t thinking about the hand.

“I knew I had to play hard and be there for my team. And we all could have played better.”

Nolan had help from center Kristi Rose. The senior bound for Utah on scholarship had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Margie Knott added seven points and 15 rebounds. Guard Casey Bledsoe had eight points, including a big steal and layup in the final quarter and two free throws that put the game out of reach at 53-41 with 1 minute 44 seconds left.

But Burroughs didn’t give in--even without 6-2 Allyson Drinnon and 6-1 Alexis Collier.

The Burros, with Drinnon, Collier and 6-2 Tiffany McCollum, had an imposing front line that figured to challenge Palmdale for the league championship.

But Drinnon, who averages 14 points and 10 rebounds, has missed eight games with a hip problem. Collier is out with an undisclosed illness.

That left McCollum, who was held scoreless by the Falcons and had only three rebounds.

Burroughs guard Kathy Chilbes, who scored 14 points, made two three-point shots and the Burros cut the lead to 36-35 with 1:14 left in the third quarter.

But the Falcons went on a 7-0 run to lead, 43-35. With Burroughs in foul trouble, Palmdale made 13 of 17 free throws in the final nine minutes.