Nitros rally to grab victory

BURBANK — Glendale High boys’ basketball player David Yetenikyan could see a difference in the two halves.

Playing its first game of the summer season, Yetenikyan could sense Glendale struggling on offense and defense throughout most of the first half.

Halftime couldn’t have come at a better time for the Nitros, who began to click on both ends in the second half en route to a 59-47 victory against South Pasadena on Tuesday afternoon in the opening of the Burbank Summer League at Burbank High.

“I think we were able to relax more,” said Yetenikyan, a senior center who scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. “In the first half, we were running and going nowhere.

“In the second half, we were looking to shoot the ball better and we got hot.”

Glendale trailed, 26-15, at halftime before regaining its composure. The Nitros outscored the Tigers, 18-6, in the third quarter and then enjoyed a big fourth quarter.

The 6-4 Yetenikyan scored 11 points in a row for the Nitros to give them a 51-40 lead with 3:56 remaining in the final quarter.

“David’s been coming along,” Glendale Coach Steve Snodgress said. “He was able to go out there and get a lot of second-chance points [in the second half].

“He actually shot better from the outside.”

Yetenikyan scored on a layup to give the Nitros a 42-37 lead with 7:02 left. A minute later, he grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on another layup to extend Glendale’s lead to 44-38.

Snodgress said the Nitros were able to shake off their slow start to the beginning of the summer season, which will run through late July.

“We were as cold as ice in the first half and playing too casual on defense,” Snodgress said. “If you don’t shoot well, then you have to play good defense.”

Glendale lost Suren Gyurgchyan to an apparent ankle injury with 29 seconds left in the second quarter.