Nitros’ rally falls short in OT

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — Two weeks ago, the Glendale High boys’ basketball team went on the road and defeated the Muir Mustangs in upset fashion.

Fast forward to Tuesday night, when one team wanted to show it wasn’t a fluke and that it could run with the Pacific League’s better teams, while the other looked to avenge the loss.

It took overtime to settle the rematch, but Muir ultimately prevailed, 60-57, in a playoff-like atmosphere on senior day at Glendale High.

“Exciting, well-played high school basketball game,” Nitros Coach Steve Snodgress said of the see-saw affair.

Overtime didn’t look to be in the cards when Glendale trailed by seven points going into the fourth quarter, and by as many as 11 in the frame before the Nitros scored nine straight and ended the period with a 13-2 run, including Anthony Tahmazian’s leaner that sent the game into overtime.

The Nitros (10-13, 5-6) stayed with Tahmazian in the extra frame, giving him the green light to finish the job and carry them to a victory, as he scored all of his team’s four points in the four-minute session on two-of-six shooting.

One of the misses came with Glendale trailing by three late in the period. Glendale got another crack at it with 0.2 seconds remaining, but Steven Gasparian’s corner shot came off the rim.

“We had a chance to win it in OT, but we missed our shots,” said Tahmazian, who finished with a team-high 20 points in his final regular-season home game.

Muir (14-7, 7-4) got all its points in overtime from the charity stripe, making seven of 10 attempts.

Glendale held a brief lead in the deciding period, as it scored the first bucket on a Tahmazian jump shot. In an overtime that saw three lead changes, the Nitros held a lead in the ballgame for the first time since the game was 5-2 Glendale.

Muir had the upper hand most of the game and it was a tale of two halves for the Nitros, who trailed, 31-22, after two quarters, but stepped up on defense and shot better in the second half.

“We were down at the half, but we had missed five or six easy shots, so we just needed to stay the course,” Snodgress said.

Gasparian cut the Mustangs’ lead down to three midway through the third. Muir’s Dion Nelson scored 10 points in the quarter, though, and scored four of Glendale’s seven straight thereafter to regain control of the contest.

Nelson equaled Tahmazian in the scoring department, as he led the Mustangs with 20 points.

In the fourth quarter, the Glendale defense held the Mustangs to just six points in the stanza, while the Nitros kept cutting into the deficit until tying up the score just in time.

“In the first half, we came out a little flat,” Glendale center David Yetenikyan said. “We played harder in the second half, warmed up, and made our shots.”

Yetenikyan said the Nitros will get back to it in practice and look to finish out the season strong as they travel to Burroughs High on Friday night.

Linden Anderson scored nine points for Glendale. Gasparian added eight points, including two three-pointers in the defeat.

“I’m proud of how we competed in this game,” Snodgress said. “I’m proud of how we defended, and I’m proud that the game meant something in the standings.”