Burroughs girls’ basketball surges past Burbank to finish second in league
Burroughs High girls’ basketball’s dominant performance in the final game of the regular season capped a second-place showing in the Pacific League.
The Indians showed no mercy against their crosstown rival, jumping out to an early lead and defeating Burbank, 59-26, in front of a large home crowd.
Burroughs (22-6, 12-2 in league) finished runner-up in league behind Pasadena (17-6, 13-1), which secured the outright title with a 73-45 victory Thursday against Muir.
“We were everywhere on defense, played hard and had good ball movement all game,” Burroughs coach Vicky Oganyan said. “We probably played our best basketball and I’m excited to keep going.”
For Burbank (10-18, 3-11), it was a season of growing pains, as the Bulldogs finished tied for sixth place in league and look to be out of the playoff picture.
“We played with one returning starter from last season’s team and that showed throughout the year,” Burbank coach Jett del Mundo said. “Our composure wasn’t there and we don’t play the full four quarters and that was evident today.”
Burroughs was led by Faith Boulanger with 28 points to go along with seven steals, while Kayla Wrobel added 19 points and 11 rebounds. Noor Fahs contributed eight rebounds and five steals.
Alle Tarvirdi led the Bulldogs with seven points.
“Working late and putting in the extra hours has gotten me to where I’m at,” Boulanger said. “Last night, I worked on shots even after our practice to make sure I was prepared for this game.”
Burroughs applied full-court pressure from the start and double-teamed the Burbank ball-handlers on every possession. It worked to perfection, with the Indians capitalizing on turnovers for easy transition points.
That helped Burroughs jump out to a 24-5 lead after the first quarter.
The Bulldogs could never recover.
The Burroughs offense cooled down in the second quarter, with Oganyan putting in her reserves to give the starters a breather. While the offense took a hit, the Indian defense stayed relentless, only giving up six points to the Bulldogs in the second quarter.
Burroughs went into halftime with a 39-11 advantage.
“We had a lot of energy heading into this game,” Boulanger said. “Even in the locker room our coaches were telling us to calm down before getting on the court.”
The Indians came out with that exact same mentality in the second half. Their aggressive defense led to turnovers and more transition layups.
Boulanger found her range in the third quarter, hitting back-to-back three-pointers from each corner.
Burroughs went into the final quarter with a 51-13 lead, looking to cap off a dominant performance.
Both sides elected to play their reserves in the fourth quarter. Burbank’s offense found more of a rhythm, but it was too late with time not on its side.
“We have good momentum and a lot of our players have improved heading into the playoffs,” Oganyan said.
Burroughs will now await the playoffs, as the pairings are set to be released Sunday.