Indians falter in playoff opener

The Burroughs High girls’ basketball team realized this year’s playoffs were going to be much more challenging than the 2011 postseason when it advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division IA quarterfinals.

Graduating key players from last season’s Pacific League championship squad, the Indians went into this year’s postseason with little expectations.

The playoff road turned out to be a short one for the locals, as Burroughs fell behind early Saturday in its first-round game and the Indians were unable to fight their way back, suffering a 70-51 loss on the road to No. 15 Paloma Valley.

“We didn’t play very well,” said Burroughs Coach Vicky Oganyan, whose team placed fourth in the Pacific League. “We played like we were scared and our youth really showed. We really didn’t start playing until the fourth quarter.”

The Indians (12-16) did receive solid performances from freshman Delaney Nicol and junior Aysia Shellmire. While Shellmire poured in a game-high 16 points, Nicol added 14. Teammate Gabriella Pinerio, a senior, added 11 points.

The Indians were also plagued by 21 turnovers.

Burroughs found itself down, 17-8, after the first quarter.

“They kind of jumped out on us pretty early,” Oganyan said. “We were kind of frozen the first three quarters.”

Things didn’t get any better for Burroughs against Paloma Valley (19-9) — the Sunbelt League runner-up — in the second quarter, as the Indians trailed, 35-19.

Burroughs did score 23 points in the fourth quarter.