Teams can’t find touch in rocky season opener

Hamlet Nalbandyan

Exciting, yes. Pretty, no.

The season opener between the Glendale and Burbank high boys’

basketball teams featured 33 turnovers, 67 missed shots and a

one-point quarter by one of the teams.

Thankfully for those in attendance, the nonleague contest did go

down the wire, which salvaged an otherwise forgetful game.

The Nitros, despite shooting a dreadful 26.9% from the field (14

of 52), overcame a three-point deficit with less than 30 seconds to

play to defeat the host Bulldogs, 40-39, on Monday.

Burbank, which managed to make just 12 of its 41 shots (29.3%), trailed for much of the game after a miserable start that saw Coach

Jose Hernandez’s squad trail, 7-1, after the first quarter.

But the Bulldogs -- who went 0-23 last season, partly because they

had to forfeit several games for violating CIF Southern Section rules

-- were able to turn it around in the second half and led, 39-36,

with 28 seconds left.

However, sloppy ball handling and poor free-throw shooting paved

the way to its demise, as Burbank missed two front ends of

one-and-ones, giving Glendale a chance to stick around.

The Nitros (1-0) took advantage, hitting four of four from the

free-throw line down the stretch, two coming from Egiche Sahakyan

with seven seconds left that decided the game.

The only positive for Glendale was its bench output, as the Nitros

outscored Burbank’s bench, 18-2. Vahag Tardverdyan had 11 of those

points for Glendale to lead his team.

Burbank (0-1) was led by 6-foot-5 Serob Oganesyan’s 14 points and

14 rebounds.

The Bulldogs had hit eight of their first 10 free throws before

missing their final two.

“The bottom line is that we need more than 39 on the scoreboard to

win,” Hernandez said.