Burroughs boys’ basketball slams past Burbank
BURBANK — The exclamation point for the Burroughs High boys basketball team came early in the fourth period.
The Indians led rival Burbank by 11 when Burroughs’ Amaad Wainwright grabbed a defensive rebound. Wainwright pivoted and launched the ball, hitting teammate Rashid Ewing in stride. Ewing finished the play with an emphatic dunk, igniting the visiting side of the bleachers.
PHOTOS: Burroughs defeats Burbank 68-48, in Pacific League action Friday
“That’s something my brother taught me when I was young,” Wainwright said. “Hopefully they go get it. I’m glad he went to get the ball.”
It was an exclamation point, as Burroughs handily defeated Burbank, 68-48, in Pacific League action in Burbank’s gym on Friday.
After back-to-back buckets by the Bulldogs’ Anthony Kardosh, Burbank held a 41-38 lead with 3:30 left in the third period. From there it was all Burroughs. The Indians went on a 30-7 run to close out the game.
“Momentum in the locker room at halftime,” Wainwright said as the key to the run. “Everybody was quiet, but they were focused mentally.”
Wainwright finished with 19 points, 22 rebounds and six assists.
Burroughs Coach Adam Hochberg credited his team with sticking to the game plan of shutting down its opponent defensively before capitalizing in transition, much like the Wainwright-to-Ewing play.
“We knew they were going to make some plays, were going to keep it close,” Hochberg said. “I thought that if we just stayed with the game plan that eventually it would take over. It worked out for us.”
The Bulldogs managed only seven points in the final 11:30 of playing time.
“It’s kind of an Achilles heel on our basketball team,” said Burbank Coach Jerry DeLaurie. “Midway through the third we just stopped scoring. When we stop scoring it puts more pressure on defense.”
The game was tight early. The Indians held a 19-18 lead after the first quarter and clung to a 34-33 advantage at the half. Burbank came out strong to start the third, vaulting ahead to take a 41-38 advantage.
In addition to the monster night from Wainwright, Ewing contributed 17 points and four rebounds and teammate Chris Hovasapian added 10 points.
Richard Elmoyan had 14 points, five assists and four rebounds for Burbank. Teammate Adam Pasco added 13 points.
Burroughs improved to 14-5 overall and 6-1 in Pacific League play, staying in a first-place tie with Pasadena, which beat Muir on Friday. Burbank fell to 9-10 and 3-4. The game completed the first round of league competition.
“I think we’re playing some of our better basketball as the year’s gone along,” Hochberg said. “It’s a long way to go.”
DeLaurie said he’d like to see some of the younger guys step up.
“We’ve got to get more contributions from the rest of our team,” DeLaurie said.