Burroughs boys’ basketball shoots past Burbank

Burbank — Not that the capacity crowd at Burbank High needed a reason to get louder, but Burroughs boys’ basketball’s Justin Henderson’s breakaway dunk threw it into a frenzy.

Two of the most emphatic points of the latest meeting on the hardwood between rivals Burroughs and Burbank came early, but they gave the Indians an early lead that would ultimately not be surrendered despite a tightly contested match-up throughout Friday night.

Paced by outside shooting that has been a staple for Burroughs coupled with solid defense, the Indians secured a 59-50 win over the Bulldogs for their third straight Pacific League victory, as they’re tied for second place in the standings.

PHOTOS: Burroughs defeats rival Burbank, 59-50

Burbank came into the anticipated game with an identical win-loss record in league play, but dropped to 14-7, 4-3 in league. The teams will meet again to close out the regular season on Feb. 11.

“Tonight was about our defensive energy,” said Indians Coach Adam Hochberg, whose team improved to 15-4, 5-2. “We locked in to details and that’s what it takes in a rivalry game.

“We’re a deep team. Burbank-Burroughs, players step up. We have an advantage with our depth and it came to fruition tonight. We got some separation, but it is a rivalry game and they came back and kept it close.”

Burroughs was led by co-captain Steven Hubbell’s 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Henderson hit the first of seven from behind the arc for Burroughs with 1:41 remaining in the first quarter to give the Indians their first lead. Ross Lee followed with one 43 seconds later, prompting a timeout from Burbank Coach Jamayne Potts.

The Bulldogs responded with back-to-back three-pointers of their own, cutting the lead back down to two.

Similar to the rest of the game, Burbank could not string together a big run and instead gave up big shots to Burroughs on the other end.

Early in the second quarter, with the Indians leading, 18-15, a quick 9-2 run gave Burroughs its first double-digit advantage at 27-17 midway through the second quarter, quickly nullifying Burbank erasing a once eight-point deficit.

Burbank stayed within striking distance and closed out the half strong, but the deficit hovered around 10 points in the second half and grew to as many as 14, in favor of Burroughs. Still, the Bulldogs never relented.

Burbank’s Levon Galstyan’s three-pointer with 3:29 to play in the third preceded Michael Woods’ basket inside to cut the lead down to six at 37-31. Burroughs again kept its poise and responded with an 8-0 run, capped off by Elijah Cain’s second three of the game.

In the fourth quarter, Ellie Hanno connected on a pair of threes to bring the Bulldogs to within seven at 49-42. Unfortunately for Burbank, it wouldn’t get closer than that, as Burroughs clinched the game with eight of 10 from the free throw line.

“A few factors contributed: Burroughs did a good job of making big shots, we turned the ball over in a couple of those situations … we got a stop and tried to dribble between two or three defenders, Burroughs did a good job of getting second chance opportunities and they just wanted it more,” said Potts, whose team was led by 11 points from Ellie Hanno.

Another major factor in Burbank not being able to cut further into the lead was its struggles from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs missed 10 free throws. It’s something Potts is all too familiar with.

“It’s been the same [stuff] all season,” the first-year Bulldogs coach said. “Missing free throws and lay-ups. When you leave points out there, you’re not going to win a game.”

Burroughs received balanced scoring and contributions all around. Tristen Hull put together a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Angelo Solis pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the team and put in eight points — six in the second half.

“Coming into the game, you heard about the Burbank-Burroughs rivalry,” said Hull, who got his first taste of it. “It is way more hyped [during the game]. Every shot counts. We feed off positive energy from our crowd and ignore the negative energy from theirs.”