Burbank — Michael Woods wasn’t around at the end of the Burbank High boys’ basketball team’s CIF Southern Section Division II-AA quarterfinal loss to Loyola last season.
Woods was injured in the fourth quarter and had to be carried out prior to the conclusion of an 18-point loss.
Burbank made an appearance in its second straight quarterfinal Tuesday night when it took on No. 2 Crean Lutheran in a Division III-A contest. Woods was not only still around at the end of the game this time, but his late heroics propelled the Bulldogs to victory.
Woods’ skying put-back dunk off a Cameron Sweeten shot with 1.7 seconds left proved to be the game-winner in the Bulldogs’ 52-50 victory at home.
With the score tied at 50, Burbank took possession with 7.7 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs got the ball to Sweeten, who drove to the basket for a layup. But the ball rolled around the rim and kicked out, just as a leaping Woods came out of nowhere, grabbed the ball in mid-air and came down with a thundering two-handed dunk for the game-winner.
Crean Lutheran wasn’t able to get a shot off in the final 1.7.
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Burbank’s Michael Woods, with the winning shot rolling off of the rim, grabs the ball and dunks it in the final second of the game for the win over Crean Lutheran in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Michael Woods and Burbank’s Thomas Clark look to the scoreboard to see they are in the lead with time running out after a game winning dunk by Woods to defeat Crean Lutheran in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Cameron Sweeten jumps into the lane and is fouled by Crean Lutheran’s Jake Conerty while shooting in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Faraz Khandaker and Crean Lutheran’s Maximus Bo battle for a rebound in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Crean Lutheran’s Tim Ghita and Burbank’s Thomas Clark battle for a rebound in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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The Burbank High School student section celebrates a go ahead basket against Crean Lutheran in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Michael Woods pulls up for a three point jump shot attempt against Crean Lutheran in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Faraz Khandaker gets into the paint to shoot against Crean Lutheran’s Jake Conerty in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Michael Woods cuts into the lane to shoot against Crean Lutheran in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Thomas Clark powers to the basket against Crean Lutheran’s Jake Conerty in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Abdullah Kobaissi drives to the basket to shoot with Crean Lutheran’s Michael Bagatourian coming down on him with a block attempt in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Monday, February 21, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s Michael Woods and Henrik Anassian celebrate a big point against Crean Lutheran in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Cameron Sweeten gets inside to shoot against Crean Lutheran in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Cameron Sweeten, in the final seconds of the game, gets into the paint to shoot against Crean Lutheran’s Isaiah Johnson in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Faraz Khandaker drives to the basket to shoot against Crean Lutheran’s Jake Conerty in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Michael Woods watches the ball fall through the net after dunking it for the win over Crean Lutheran in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Michael Woods hangs in the air to shoot against Crean Lutheran’s Jake Conerty in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Faraz Khandaker floats in the lane and shoots back over his shoulder with Crean Lutheran’s Isaiah Johnson defending in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Henrik Anassian gets his hand on the ball to knock it away from Crean Lutheran’s Maximus Bo in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Cameron Sweeten passes on the run with Crean Lutheran’s Isaiah Johnson in pursuit in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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As Crean Lutheran’s Michael Bagatourian drives to the basket, Burbank’s Faraz Khandaker and Michael Woods defend but end up committing a foul in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Cameron Sweeten grabs a rebound against Crean Lutheran in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Michael Woods, Thomas Clark, and Faraz Khandaker all battle for the rebound against Crean Lutheran’s Isaiah Johnson in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Thomas Clark leaves the ground to keep Crean Lutheran’s Michael Bagatourian from shooting in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Crean Lutheran’s Michael Bagatourian pushes Burbank’s Michael Woods back toward the basket in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Faraz Khandaker takes a rebound and runs up court against Crean Lutheran in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Ben Chavez puts intense pressure on Crean Lutheran’s Michael Bagatourian as he dribbles at half court in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
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Burbank’s Cameron Sweeten and Ben Chavez try to steal the ball from Crean Lutheran’s Tim Ghita in a CIF Southern Section CIF quarterfinal playoff boys’ basketball game at Burbank High School on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.
(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) “It was a great drive my Cameron and I just saw the ball go up,” said Woods, who had 11 points, all in the second half. “I just thought that if I just go as hard as I can, they are definitely not going to expect it and I have the leaping ability, so I just went up as high as I could and luckily the ball didn’t go to the left and it came right at me and I was able to put it in.
“I was just hoping if I didn’t get the ball, maybe I would get fouled or the ball would go to one of our guys. … It’s just a great moment for me and the rest of the team. It sure beats last year when I went out on a stretcher.”
The dramatic win puts Burbank (22-8), which finished fourth in the Pacific League, into its first semifinal since the 2009-10 season and the program’s third appearance in the semis in 50 years.
The Bulldogs will host Friday’s 7 p.m. semifinal when they take on Rancho Mirage. Rancho Mirage (28-3), the De Anza League champion, punched its semifinal ticket with a 93-67 drubbing of Schurr Tuesday evening.
It is the second straight playoff push for the Bulldogs under coach Jamayne Potts, who is in his second season.
The victory against the Saints (23-7), champions of the Academy League, is the second in the playoffs for Burbank against a league champion, having taken care of La Quinta in the first round. Tuesday’s win also snapped Crean Lutheran’s 13-game winning streak.
“Nobody’s ready to go home,” Woods said. “The coaches, the players and everybody with the program, we’re not ready to stop. We just want to keep playing. This has just been great, to be honest with you.”
Burbank was paced by Sweeten, a senior, who had a team-high 17 points. Senior Ben Chavez, who hit a big three-pointer late in the fourth quarter, finished with eight points.
With a starting lineup that featured players who were 6-feet-7, 6-6, 6-4 and 6-3, the Saints were difficult to contain on the inside. Crean Lutheran 6-7 senior Michael Bagatourian scorched Burbank for a game-high 26 points to go along with 15 rebounds and two blocks.
To counter, Potts had the Bulldogs run a torrid transition attack that seemed to get to the Saints.
“We try and do that a lot when we can and we’ve run that a lot and the guys are used to running it,” Potts said. “That is a strength of ours and we have to stick with that.
“We knew coming in that they were going to have some bigs, so we wanted to counter that with our quickness. I thought we did a better job at that in the second half.”
After an early lead in the first quarter by Burbank, Crean Lutheran came on later in the stanza and held an 11-7 lead after one.
Burbank lost some ground in the second quarter and went into halftime trailing by eight, 27-19.
The Saints pushed the lead to 31-19 when Bagatourian sank two free throws with 7:13 left in the third quarter. But the Bulldogs began to surge and at the end of three they had whittled the lead down to just one, 38-37.
There were seven lead changes in the fourth quarter. Burbank went ahead, 50-48, on the three-pointer by Chavez with 40 seconds left. Crean Lutheran than came back to tie the score at 50 with a layup by Bagatourian with 12 seconds remaining.
Following a timeout by Burbank, Woods came through to lift the Bulldogs.
“Big players make big plays and Michael made the big play right there,” Potts said.
