Another semifinal appearance awaits Burroughs girls’ basketball
For the second-straight season, the Burroughs High girls’ basketball team has advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division I-A semifinals.
Burroughs cemented its place among the final four with a 43-40 victory Wednesday evening on the road against Moreno Valley Valley View.
“It’s pretty amazing what this team has been able to accomplish this year,” said Burroughs Coach Vicky Oganyan, whose squad advanced to the semifinals for the first time in program history a season ago. “Last year to be our first time ever in program history in the semifinals and to follow that up again is very special, especially after losing our top scorers from last year.
“But the girls have worked very hard to make it happen this year.”
It was the 17th straight victory for Burroughs (24-7), which captured its fourth straight Pacific League championship this season. The Indians last lost on Dec. 31, falling to Newbury Park, 54-31, in the West Coast Holiday Festival.
The Indians’ opponent for Saturday’s semifinals will be host Mira Costa, which won its quarterfinal Wednesday against Diamond Bar, 53-47. The Mustangs (21-8) are the No. 1 seed and won the Bay League championship.
In last year’s semifinals, Burroughs lost to host West Torrance, 54-31.
“We are just happy to keep our season going,” Oganyan said. “We will have a few days of practice, hopefully get film of them and hopefully be ready for Saturday.
“We don’t want to over think things too much.”
The Indians enjoyed a 27-14 lead at the half against Valley View (25-4), which won a championship in the Inland Valley League. Burroughs was still in front, 37-20, after three quarters.
However, Valley View whittled the lead down to one, 41-40, with 13 seconds left in the game. The Eagles had a shot to go in front, but the ball missed the mark and Burroughs’ Jordan Meltzer grabbed the rebound and was fouled with three seconds left. Meltzer sank both free throws to account for the final points.
“Defensively, we were just solid,” Oganyan said. “And even when we had our problems with the ball, our defense was there to save us. Defense has really been what has driven us this year.”
Meltzer paced the Indians with 15 points, Kamryn Cardenaz added nine points, Abbey Ibarra contributed eight points, six rebounds and three steals and Brooke Radcliffe chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds.
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Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com
Twitter: @jefftsports