Burbank High boys’ basketball turns aside Hoover

BURBANK — It’s certainly been an exhausting week for the Burbank High and Hoover boys’ basketball teams.

Entering Friday night’s Pacific League contest between the two programs, the Bulldogs and Tornadoes had already been involved in overtime games earlier in the week. In addition, Burbank and Hoover were taking part in their third league games in five days.

Richard Elmoyan had enough energy in the tank to complete the grueling week.

Elmoyan scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to power host Burbank to a 60-49 victory.

Burbank improved to 8-9, 2-3 in league, while Hoover dipped to 11-6, 2-3.

“Our coaches have kept us mentally tough throughout the week,” said Elmoyan, whose team lost a five-overtime contest against Muir on Monday. “Even in that five-overtime game, we kept fighting back.

“We wanted to come out tonight and play strong defensively and we had a lot of determination. Burbank-Hoover games are usually loud, so I got really motivated in the fourth quarter and got some open shots.”

Burbank held a 43-42 advantage entering the fourth quarter when Elmoyan began his offensive surge. He made a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 48-42 lead in the fourth quarter. The senior guard then made a layup to extend Burbank’s advantage to 53-45 with 2:17 left.

Burbank second-year Coach Jerry DeLaurie, whose team allowed just 18 second-half points, said Elmoyan showed resiliency in the fourth quarter.

“With Richard, it’s all about his determination and passion and also playing well on defense,” said DeLaurie, who received 13 points from forward Adam Pasco. “We were able to finally put it all together tonight on both sides. We hit some three-pointers and made some stops when it was still close.”

Hoover got a game-high 25 points from forward/guard Teo Davidian, including 16 in the first half.

The Tornadoes, who came in fresh off a 64-61 overtime home win against Muir on Wednesday, couldn’t solve their second-half offensive woes.

“We had some looks on our shots, but we just got out of kilter,” said Hoover Coach Jack Van Patten, who got eight rebounds, six assists and three steals from guard Chris Sarkisian. “They played a little bit better than us and they scrapped for a lot of stuff.”

Burbank held a 32-31 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs and Tornadoes will next partake in league games at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Burbank will meet Glendale on the road and Hoover will play host to Crescenta Valley.