Lane leads way against Bell-Jeff

Jim Riggio

It took three quarters for Kamen Lane to find his shot.

But once the Burbank High senior got going, he couldn’t be

stopped.

Facing a near upset, Lane led the Bulldogs to a come-from-behind

56-48 nonleague victory against host Bellarmine-Jefferson High Friday

night.

“I think our team picked it up and I fed off that,” said Lane,

who finished 30 points and hit five of his eight three-pointers in

the fourth quarter.

Burbank (6-5) snapped a four-game losing streak, as the Bulldogs

lost all of their games in the Las Vegas Prep Invitational.

The Bulldogs, who have lost four players to grades or injury,

struggled throughout the contest.

“Right now, we’re beaten mentally,” Burbank Coach Dave Goosen

said. “We lost four of our top eight players. I’m hoping that the

last five minutes [of Friday’s game] can get us rolling again.”

Bell-Jeff (6-7) took the lead with five minutes left in the first

quarter on a basket by Clarence Viray and didn’t relinquish it until

3:04 remained, when Michael Nelson scored after getting a steal.

Guards’ Coach Eli Essa said he the turning point in the contest

came when his starting center, Brian Alfaro, fouled out early in the

fourth quarter.

“I didn’t know until the beginning of the fourth quarter that

Alfaro was in foul trouble, and within 30 seconds he fouled out of

the game,” Essa said. “We panicked when they caught us.”

Lane’s five three-pointers in the fourth quarter came in the final

5:40, as the senior guard added a pair of free throws with 1:14 to

play, scoring 17 of his team’s 19 fourth-quarter points.

BOX SCORE

Burbank 13 12 12

19 -- 56

Bell-Jeff 16 13 12

7 -- 48

BURBANK

Lane 30, Maskell 11, Khudayan 7, Ballas 4, Nelson 2,

Rodriguez 2.

* Three-pointers: Lane 8.

BELL-JEFF

Viray 15, Doyle 14 and 8 rebounds, Kerjekian 9, Alfaro

5, Perrin 3, Mastropietro 2.

* Three-pointers: Viray.