Glendale boys’ basketball fends off Burroughs for league victory
BURBANK — The Glendale High boys’ basketball team had everything going for it in the first quarter of its Pacific League game against Burroughs High.
The Nitros only missed two shots out of 10 attempts, and held a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter, while the Indians tried to find their scoring rhythm.
Then, the Nitros had problems making their shots, and the Indians were converting theirs.
Burroughs fought back to pull within eight points in the final quarter, but Glendale held on for a 67-55 victory at Burroughs on Friday.
“We were kind of stagnant,” Glendale coach Ib Belou said. “We weren’t moving as much as we ordinarily do, so what we started to do was just push the tempo. We were too stagnant because it just looked like we were just trying to hold on to the lead and I didn’t like that. We called a timeout and we established a tempo that we liked and were able to pull it out.”
In the second quarter, the Nitros (16-4, 4-2 in league) made five shots on 12 attempts, while Burroughs’ Emery Goulet found his hot hand to score eight in the quarter.
Goulet finished with a game-high 25 points.
“We got out to a bad start here just like we got off to a bad start in Glendale,” Burroughs coach Allan Ellis said. “[Elvin Hartoonian] pretty much manhandled us for the most part inside so we weren’t doing things properly.
“On offense, we were very stagnant to start the game, but I thought, in the second half we did a much better job of running our sets and moving the basketball and things like that and it resulted in better shots. We have to find a way to do that for four quarters and be more consistent the entire game.”
Hartoonian was a main factor in the scoring success in the fourth quarter for the Nitros, with two blocks and a three-point play with 1:29 to go to close out the game.
“We’ve been winning tough games,” Hartoonian said. “We just won a tournament last Saturday playing a tough, scrappy team, and all this is just building up more experience so when a game like this comes with up-and-down runs, we just keep ourselves together and pull each other together and rally. Keep going up and down, weather the storm and eventually, we’ll pull through.”
The senior finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks and scored twice to aid the Nitros on a 10-0 run midway in the first quarter for a 13-6 lead.
The Nitros started the second quarter on a 9-0 run and the Indians struggled to score until 4:09 in the frame. That’s when Goulet’s three-point play gave Burroughs some leverage, but the Indians still trailed the Nitros, 39-25, at the half.
Bryan Oasay then cut the Glendale lead to 44-34 with 2:51 left in the third quarter as Burroughs was able to force a few turnovers against the Nitros.
The two traded off scoring in the final quarter, before Goulet’s three-point play with 1:37 made it a 63-55 Glendale lead. But Hartoonian answered with his own three-point play down the stretch.
Twitter: @ReporterVince