Nitros steamroll Riders

BURBANK — Things were clearly going the way of the Glendale High boys’ basketball team when Coach Steve Snodgress subbed in an entirely new lineup to start the second quarter Saturday.

The Nitros had built up a 20-point lead behind a solid all-around performance from their starters in the first. Snodgress used the opportunity to get his subs some action in a Burbank Tournament game against Roosevelt at Burbank High.

“The last two games we played were real hotly contested,” Snodgress said. “This was a chance to get everyone in and play in a wide-open style. Fourth game in five days, it’s nice to go a little deeper in the bench.”

Glendale kept a comfortable cushion the rest of the game, no matter who was on the floor, en route to a 63-41 victory. The win gave the Nitros a seventh-place finish, out of 12 teams, in the Burbank Tournament. They concluded the tournament and have started out this season with a 2-2 record.

The Nitros won the battle on the boards and on defense, as they out rebounded Roosevelt, 38-21, and forced 26 turnovers behind a constant-pressure defense, which led to easy points for Glendale’s up-tempo offense.

David Yetenikyan, Glendale’s 6-foot-6 center, had a clear size advantage over the Rough Riders’ small lineup and took advantage.

“David is a battler,” Snodgress said. “He gets us up and going, you can’t run if you can’t rebound and you can’t outlet and David can do both of those things.”

Yetenikyan finished with a game-high 12 rebounds and four blocks to go with six points, despite only playing about half of the game.

“It felt pretty good [being able to take a break] after barely getting any time on the bench,” Yetenikyan said. “Today, we got to kick back and watch the guys get some playing time and more experience for league and bigger games to come.”

Sevan Pogosyan led the Nitros on offense with a game-high 14 points and nine rebounds.

“Sevan has had a great week,” Snodgress said. “David and Sevan are a really good one-two punch for us.”

The Nitros got out to a 25-5 lead in the first quarter, after forcing nine Roosevelt turnovers in the first eight minutes with a full or half-court press. Yetenikyan and Pogosyan came out on fire for their squad. The senior center put up six rebounds, two blocks and six points, while Pogosyan had eight points and five rebounds in the first quarter.

Glendale’s subs kept the healthy lead in place, while playing more than five minutes in the second quarter, as the Nitros went into halftime with a 35-17 lead.

The closest Roosevelt would come the rest of the way was 15 points when back-to-back three-point plays — an and-one and a three-pointer from the Rough Riders’ Pedro Flores and Jesus Gonzalez, respectively, cut Glendale’s lead to 41-26 late in the third.

Glendale extended its lead back out to 23 points in the first minute of the final quarter, scoring six straight points off three consecutive Roosevelt turnovers.

Glendale’s Mike Perry (13 points) and Vahe Aristakessian (12 points, four steals) had solid fourth quarters, scoring eight and five points, respectively, in the final eight minutes.