Indians make it dramatic

Jim Riggio

Burroughs High girls’ basketball player Sandra Acevedo knows a thing

or two about Indian Coach Doug Nicol.

Acevedo, who helped her team defeat Foothill League rival Saugus,

27-25, in double overtime Monday in Glendale Community College Summer

League play, said her coach will likely have one regret about the

game.

“He’s gonna wish he was here,” Acevedo said of Nicol, who missed

the game because he was handling duties with the Indians’ lower-level

summer league at Burroughs.

Burroughs divided its squad in half, and several key players --

starters Jade Dennis, Jannette Galindo, Val Rico, Shannon Davies and

Shahaf Tuler -- did not play in the contest against the Centurions.

All-CIF Southern Section and All-Foothill League player Tulyah

Gaines, who is one of the top recruits in the nation, is still not a

sure bet to return to Burroughs, as her family is hoping to find an

apartment.

Acevedo hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds left in regulation to

send the game into overtime.

But that wasn’t the only big long-range shot of the game for

Burroughs.

Shannon Barnett hit a three-pointer in the first overtime to keep

the Indians in the contest.

The Indians also received some key free throws late in the

contest, as Janelle Byrne hit a pair with 21 seconds remaining in the

second overtime to put the Indians ahead for good.

BBurroughs went up, 17-11, in the second half, but hit a dry spell

as Saugus came back to take a 22-19 advantage -- setting the stage

for Acevedo’s three-pointer.

“[The win] showed that no matter who we have, we just need to play

as a team,” Acevedo said. “We pulled through in the end, so that was

all that mattered.”

Acevedo said the win was huge because Saugus has been a tough

league rival.

“It gives us way more confidence,” Acevedo said. “[Saugus] is a

great team, but they’re beatable. This is what we work for, to beat

the Sauguses, the Harts and the Valencias.”

The Burroughs guard said she knows this win will not be something

that just goes away.

“They’ll remember this and they’ll be ready for us in league,”

Acevedo said. “We have to come back and do the same things during

league.”