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.