Burbank girls’ basketball gets much-needed league win
BURBANK — It was its best performance this season in the Pacific League for the Burbank High girls’ basketball team.
And the performance came when the Bulldogs really needed a boost.
After battling Arcadia in a one-point game through the first and second quarters, Burbank made its move in the third. Paced by double-digit scoring efforts from Sofia Aslanyan, Osanna Tirityan and Brianna Castro, the Bulldogs defeated the visiting Apaches, 51-41, Wednesday evening, halting a two-game Pacific League losing string.
Burbank (7-11, 2-2 in league) came into the contest with Arcadia (7-6, 1-3) having lost in league to Glendale on Friday and Pasadena on Monday.
“We have been on kind of a losing streak, so when we came out and we played great in the first half, we just said we have got to keep it going in the second half,” said Aslanyan, a junior, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds. “I haven’t played all that well lately, so this was a good game for me. But really, we had a lot of players who came through for us in this one. We play really good as a team and when we’re on, we’re on.”
Tirityan, a senior and former All-CIF Southern Section player, had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Castro, a sophomore, contributed 14 points. Freshman Jayla Flowers added six points and 10 rebounds.
The teams traded the lead early in the first quarter before the Bulldogs went up by five, 12-7, on a basket by Aslanyan with 1:23 remaining. But the Apaches scored the final two baskets of the opening stanza and the Bulldogs went into the first break up by one, 12-11.
Things got tighter in the second quarter with neither team able to take more than a two-point lead. The Bulldogs took a one-point advantage into halftime, 22-21, after Flowers scored on a layup on an assist from Tirityan with 40 seconds left.
“We have been playing from so far behind all season and this was the one time we were actually ahead at halftime and I think they really felt it,” Burbank coach John Wells said. “They came out and took it to them in the second half.
“That’s all on them. I really didn’t have to say much to them at halftime. They were playing great and doing exactly what we wanted them to do. They really wanted this and they made it happen.”
To open the third quarter, the Bulldogs scored the first six points to take a 28-21 lead with 5:28 remaining. The Apaches pushed back and cut the deficit to 30-27 with less than four minutes remaining before Burbank made another move and upped the lead to 39-30 at the end of three.
Castro had eight points in the third quarter, including two three-pointers.
In the fourth, Burbank went up by 12, 47-35, following a bucket by Aslanyan at the 4::06 mark. The Apaches cut the lead to 10 with 45.3 seconds left.
“In the last two games in league that we lost, we just didn’t play,” Wells said. “Today we came to play and we played throughout.”
Twitter: @jefftsports
