Free throws save Spartans in victory

Charles Rich

La Canada High girls’ basketball Coach Tamar Hill made an odd

inquiry.

Ignoring how many free-throw attempts the Spartans made in the

second half, Hill asked the amount of field goals the Spartans

scored. La Canada scored two field baskets.

The Spartans made 11-of-14 free throws to secure a 30-28 victory

against Glendale in a Glendale High School Varsity Summer League game

Thursday.

“Our shooting percentage was down,” Hill said. “I know our

players weren’t happy with the way we shot from the field. Free

throws saved us and we had a little bit of a continuity issue.”

La Canada played without starting junior point guard Kasey

Hurlbutt, who was at Disneyland. The Spartans regained the services

of senior guard Robin Toyota after she broke her nose during a

practice last week.

La Canada (1-0) didn’t let its guard down, thanks to point guard

Nicky Arboleda. The senior made a pair of free throws with 24 seconds

left to seal the victory. Arboleda converted on eight of 11

free-throw attempts.

Glendale’s Sevena Danyalian made a three-point shot to tie the

score at 28 with 2:40 left. The Nitros (0-1) couldn’t get a shot off

as time expired and missed all five of their free throws in the

second half.

“We just kept missing our free throws,” said Glendale Coach Fred

Babadjanians, who succeeded Errol Garnett on June 7. “We lost five or

six players to graduation and we are starting from scratch.”

Nicole Chividjian led the Nitros with 11 points and tied for the

team lead in rebounds with Serineh Haghverdian with five. Chividjian

kept Glendale close, but received little offensive support from her

teammates.

La Canada aided Arboleda, who finished with four assists. It

received 10 points from junior center Diahnn Futalan and three

assists from Toyota, who never shied away from chasing loose balls.