Glendale High boys’ basketball creates separation in besting Hoover

GLENDALE — Eric Kirakosian wanted to provide some pop to the Glendale High boys’ basketball team’s offense.

Playing in front of a near packed house, Kirakosian and the Nitros created some separation from Hoover.

Kirakosian finished with 25 points, including 20 in the first half, to lift host Glendale to a convincing 85-71 Pacific League victory against Hoover on Friday night to cap the first half of league action.

PHOTOS: Kirakosian’s 25 points leads the way for Glendale boys’ basketball over Hoover

“You try to go out there and just stay aggressive and attack,” Kirakosian said. “It comes from moving the ball around the floor well.

“I got on a little bit of a roll, especially in the second quarter. You want to play your best, especially against your rival.”

Glendale improved to 12-9, 5-2 in league. Hoover fell to 10-7, 3-4 after falling for the fifth time in its last five league contests.

Hoover, ranked 11th in CIF Southern Section Division III-A, caught a tough break when its lost senior guard/forward Chris Sarkisian to an apparent right-ankle injury just a minute into the contest. Hoover Coach Jack Van Patten said Sarkisian will likely miss the rest of the regular season.

The Tornadoes held an 18-12 lead with 1:20 left in the first quarter before the Nitros closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run to make it 18-18. The Nitros outscored the Tornadoes, 21-12, in the second quarter to soar to a 39-30 halftime advantage. Kirakosian scored on a layup to give Glendale a 39-27 lead with 38 seconds left.

“Eric has had some hot streaks before and he’s carried us for part of the season,” said Glendale Coach Steve Snodgress, who received 23 points and eight rebounds from Raffi Jivalagian and 16 points from Alex Miralis. “He did it different ways tonight, whether that being running the floor or playing a half-court offense.

“When you have a kid go off at a Glendale-Hoover game, no matter the team, it’s as important as ever because then the rest of the team gets their spirits up. We’d lost three straight games against Hoover and we wanted to turn things around.”

Hoover got 19 points from Kevin Nazari and 18 from Rodrick Karamkhodian.

Van Patten said the Tornadoes will look to regroup for the second half of league despite not expecting to have Sarkisian back anytime soon.

“It’s a chance for the other guys to step up and fill the spot,” Van Patten said. “We’ll have six home games in the second half, so we want to try to take advantage of that.

“Not having Chris hurts our game plan. Glendale played a great game and did a good job of shooting the ball and keeping us off balance. They defended us well.”

Glendale and Hoover will meet again Feb. 12 at Hoover to cap the regular season.