Jeff TullyOn the basketball court, Tulyah Gaines...
Jeff Tully
On the basketball court, Tulyah Gaines is accustomed to hard work.
However, in Burroughs High’s CIF Southern Section Division IIA
second-round girls’ playoff game against Ventura, Gaines put the
equivalent of a 40-hour work week into an hour and a half, as she
almost single- handedly kept the Indians in the game with her hustle
and drive.
But Ventura proved too talented to be derailed by a single player,
as the Cougars withstood a late Burroughs charge Saturday to win the
game, 61-54, at Burroughs.
“Tulyah just put the team on her back and she was determined to
win this game,” Burroughs Coach Doug Nicol said. “She was really all
over the court. I just wish we could have given her a little more
support.”
Gaines, a junior -- who is being recruited by major Division I
colleges -- scored a game-high 34 points and had five steals for
Burroughs (14-13).
The next highest Indian scorers were senior Fabi Zavala and junior
Janette Galindo, who had five points each. No other Burroughs player
had more than two points.
Gaines also had three assists, giving her 122, breaking the Indian
record for assists in a season. The previous record was 120 set in
1993 by Jamie Vahoviak.
For the first quarter against Ventura (17-10), it was a classic
battle between Gaines and sharpshooting Cougar sophomore Caitlin
O’Neill. While O’Neill poured in 11 points, Gaines countered with 12
to stake the Indians to an 18-14 advantage.
Then things went bad for Burroughs.
Ventura scored 20 straight points and muscled the momentum of the
game away from Burroughs. Gaines was finally able to convert a free
throw with 2:38 remaining in the quarter, but by that point, the
Cougars had amassed a 34-19 lead.
The quarter could have been even worse for the Indians if Gaines
hadn’t made two steals that led to a pair of baskets in the final 31
seconds.
“When you go from a four-point lead in one quarter and a team puts
a 20 spot on you the next quarter, it’s just too hard to recover
from,” Nicol said. “That was the game right there. That second
quarter changed everything.”
Gaines ended up with nine points in the quarter, as her
counterpart -- O’Neill -- had seven.
In a break for the Indians, O’Neill got into foul trouble and
spent most of the quarter on the bench. She didn’t have any points in
the third quarter and contributed just three in limited action in the
fourth.
Luckily for Ventura, junior Maggie Wagner was able to fill the
void with 20 points.
Burroughs was able to claw its way back into the game in the
fourth quarter, thanks to 11 points from Gaines. She hit three free
throws with 33 seconds left to get the Indians to within 58-54.
*--*
BOX SCORE
*--*
*--*
Ventura 14 22 10 15 -- 61
Burroughs 18 9 7 20 -- 54
*--*
*--*
VENTURA
O’Neill 21 and 7 rebounds, Wagner 20, Albrant 6 and 10 rebounds,
Coulte 4, Evans 4, Wolfe 4, Nagy 2. * Three-pointers: O’Neil,
Wagner, Albrant
BURROUGHS
Gaines 34 and 5 steals, Galindo 5 and 7 rebounds, Zavala 5, Davies 2,
Dennis 2, Tuler 2, Rico 2, Stephan 2. * Three-pointers: Gaines 2,
Zavala
*--*