Nitro blowout shows improvement
BURBANK — Crisp passing and steady shooting were two facets of the game that the Glendale High boys’ basketball team sorely lacked last season.
With a six-week summer season sprinkled with contests and practices, the Nitros have begun in earnest to find ways to rectify that.
Glendale got some consistency in each area en route to a lopsided 61-20 victory against L.A. Poly on Thursday afternoon in a Burbank Summer League game at Burbank High.
Glendale used an 11-0 run to take an 11-2 lead in the first quarter before making three three-pointers in the second quarter to extend its lead to 30-9 at halftime.
“The things that we did best [Thursday] were we shared and the shot the ball well,” veteran Glendale Coach Steve Snodgress said. “We are going to have to be better at both of those things because we struggled doing them last year.
“We shot the ball well early and that loosened the guys up even more. Everybody became confident.”
The Nitros, who failed to qualify for the playoffs last season, found their scoring touch immediately. Dion Banoian made a long-range jump shot to give the Nitros an 11-2 lead with 2:52 left in the first quarter. Glendale received a team-best 12 points from Charlie Miller.
Early in the second quarter, Miller and Arem Ohanian made back-to-back three-pointers to propel Glendale. Ohanian’s trey gave the Nitros a 23-6 lead with 7:27 remaining in the first half.
“I thought the second quarter that we were productive because we did a lot of things well,” Snodgress said. “We got on a little streak there and that’s something I was happy to see.”
Glendale extended its lead to 39-15 on a reverse layup by Anthony Tahmazian with 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Nitros got eight points from Chris Canlas and seven from Steven Gasparian. Linden Anderson contributed six points and a pair of blocks for the Nitros.
“Linden is starting to come into his own athletically and Charlie was able to shoot the ball well, for us,” Snodgress said.
Glendale will next compete in a pair of games in the two-day Maranatha Tournament. The Nitros will face Providence at 4 p.m. today before meeting Mark Keppel at 6.
