Late push falls short for Burbank High girls’ basketball in playoff loss at Knight

The Burbank High girls’ basketball team began the CIF Southern Section Division I-A playoffs with a major speed bump.

Playing Knight of Palmdale on the road Saturday night, the Bulldogs dug themselves a hole to the tune of a 20-point deficit.

However, Burbank was able to battle back late in the fourth quarter to make it just a two-point game. But that was as close as the Bulldogs would come, as they saw their season come to an end with a 60-57 loss.

“We fell behind and we were trailing by 20 in the fourth quarter,” Burbank Coach Bruce Breeden said. “We had some problems and that allowed them to get the lead on us. We battled back, but we just waited too long and we couldn’t make it up completely.”

Burbank (18-11), although the 12th seed in the playoffs, had to play at Knight (18-8). But the Hawks were coming off a productive regular season that saw them capture the Golden League championship.

With the Bulldogs trailing in the fourth and things looking bleak, they embarked on a torrid comeback to make it a game. Burbank went on an 18-1 run that enabled it to trail by just two, 54-52, with less than three minutes remaining.

“It was just a great effort in that fourth quarter by our girls,” Breeden said. “I am proud of them that they just didn’t roll over when they were down by that many that late in the game. It was a super effort just to make it as close as they did.”

The Bulldogs had balanced scoring, as four players tallied double figures. The team was led by Yazzy Sa’Dullah, who poured in 21 points. Teammate Sharis added 12 points, Fatima Cisneros had 11 and Samantha Ainian chipped in 10.

Trailing by three with time running out, Sa’Dullah attempted a deep three-pointer, but couldn’t convert the chance. The ball bounced in the corner and Burbank was able to get the rebound, but another shot fell short.

“They had a [6-foot-2] girl [Shalaunda Burney Robinson] who really killed us,” Breeden said. “But really, they didn’t do anything that we didn’t expect. We just waited until the fourth quarter to show up.”