Indians shine in playoff defeat
Jim Riggio
Burroughs High has yet to win a CIF Southern Section team
championship in any sport in school history.
The 2002-2003 Indian boys’ basketball team certainly put together
one of the school’s greatest bids to earn a coveted CIF title.
But the dream ended Friday night, when Burroughs was outmatched in
talent and fell, 77-61 in the quarterfinals of the Division IIA
playoffs to host -- No. 2 seeded -- Lakewood Mayfair.
“Every team has its character,” Burroughs Coach Art Sullivan
said. “We’ve played excellent basketball the last two weeks. That’s a
lot of hard work that came to fruition.”
Burroughs (15-16) hung tough with Mayfair (21-7) early into the
third quarter, before the Monsoons -- who feature a host of future
Division I college players -- broke the game open.
Senior Dejan Prejean, who led Mayfair with 21 points, hit three
key jumpers to put away Burroughs.
“We shot the ball great in the first half, but they shot the ball
really well in the second half,” Sullivan said.
Burroughs’ senior Peter St. Hubert was proud of the effort his
team put forth in the playoffs.
“We were the underdog in every game and we knew we had to play
hard to win,” St. Hubert said. “This Burroughs team is going to be
real good next year.”
Mayfair Coach Dave Brieg praised Burroughs for giving his team a
tough battle.
“I knew they were a perimeter-oriented team,” Brieg said of
Burroughs, which hit 12 three-pointers. “What won the game for us was
we had only five turnovers.”
Mayfair’s point guard Brian McFadden, who played despite feeling
ill all day, was a key reason Mayfair didn’t turn the ball over.
Brieg said the four-year varsity player has turned down offers from
Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside.
Justin Hawkins, a 6-foot-7 forward who has signed with the
University of Utah, and 6-6 Chris Childress, the younger brother of
Stanford star Josh Childress, were the big reason why Burroughs
struggled on the boards.
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BOX SCORE
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Burroughs 15 17 16 13 -- 61
Mayfair 20 18 22 17 -- 77
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BURROUGHS
Paysinger 16, St. Hubert 14, Bernard 13, Inmaung 7, Jones 2, Adams 5,
Jackson 3, Radino 1. * Three-pointers: Paysinger 4, Bernard 3, St.
Hubert 2, Inmaung, Jackson, Adams
MAYFAIR
Prejean 21, Hawkins 13, 8 rebounds, Childress 11, McFadden 10, Wright
15, Christopher 5, Hampton 2. * Three-pointers: Prejean 3,
Christopher
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