Defense paces Burbank

BURROUGHS HIGH — Three minutes into Thursday’s 30th annual Burroughs Magnolia Park Optimist Tournament opener Thursday the Burbank High girls’ basketball team began relenting on its pressure defense.

The Bulldogs didn’t need to press much further.

They already had a 14-point lead, had yet to allow more than a single field goal attempt and had forced six turnovers against an overmatched Canoga Park squad.

That’s how most of the game went for the Bulldogs, as they cruised to a 66-13 win at Burroughs High. Burbank (4-1) will next play at 3:30 p.m. in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

“I’m strict on staying focused on what we need to work on and being patient on offense and being fundamentally sound,” Burbank Coach Bruce Breeden said. “We like to run, but in a game like this, we have to be smart and we have to respect the other team.”

After the first three minutes, the Bulldogs didn’t press the rest of the game, but that didn’t stop them from forcing 35 turnovers and holding Canoga Park to four made field goals in 20 attempts (20%).

“We executed well,” said Breeden, whose team was 30 of 74 (40.5%) from the field. “We were patient on offense and our defense was outstanding.”

Midway through the second quarter, Breeden had already inserted all of his substitutes and saw all 10 of his players score, as Burbank built a 22-0 lead before Canoga Park’s Taylor Donald hit a free throw one minute into the second quarter.

The Bulldogs held a 38-4 halftime cushion, and pushed the lead to 44 by the end of the third quarter, with sisters Jamie and Damarie Gonzalez leading the way.

Jamie Gonzalez, a junior, led the Bulldogs with 20 points, and Damarie Gonzalez, a sophomore, had 14.

“This was a time for [us] to get getter,” said Jamie Gonzalez, who added three steals, three assists and a pair of rebounds. “We came out ready to play.”

Damarie Gonzalez — who also had three steals and three assists — said she knew at the outset of the game that her team could pull away from the Canoga Park and have an easy night.

“We still had to go out and play hard,” she said. “We don’t go down to the other team’s level.”

Sharis Ghazeri had seven points, Lysette Perez contributed six and Aja Locke had five points for the Bulldogs, who also received contributions from Pauline Saisirikul (four points), Chelsey Linder (three), Courtney Seidler (three), Sylvia Granados (two), and Irene Pashapour (two).