Glendale girls’ basketball struggles in 45-33 loss to Rosary

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — The Glendale High girls’ basketball team promised that it would play better than it did in Thursday’s nonleague contest against visiting Rosary.

The Nitros will have to play better if they plan on being successful.

They might not be able to play much worse.

The Nitros committed 33 turnovers, had stretches of 11 and eight minutes without making a field goal and couldn’t break through a suffocating defense in a 45-33 loss.

“We were asleep,” Glendale senior guard Kristineh Zadourian said. “We should’ve come out with more intensity and with more drive. We’re a good team, we’ll get out of this.

“It’s a young season. We’re still working on playing together.”

Despite having only two seniors — to Glendale’s eight — Rosary looked like the more experienced team.

The Royals (4-2) started with a blistering pace, pressuring the Nitros (1-1) into consecutive turnovers to begin the game.

Glendale had 11 turnovers by the end of the first quarter, struggling to score and being forced to play catch-up.

The Nitros’ offense was not nearly as efficient as coach Tania Adary would have liked, as Glendale went eight minutes without scoring. Rosary used a 12-0 run that started in the first quarter and ended in the middle of the second to build a 14-point lead.

The Nitros needed another four minutes to hit a field goal, a jumper by Amanda Mazanians with 2:09 left in the first half.

“They came out ready to go and we were stunned,” Adary said. “It was a sign of being pressured and being forced to do things we haven’t been forced to do yet.”

Glendale seemed more comfortable in the third quarter and better handled Rosary’s press, cutting the Royals’ lead to five with 4:51 left in the third quarter on Mazanians’ four-point play. Mazanians had a team-high 10 points and Zadourian had nine points. Rachel Pau’u and Clara Linhoff each had 10 points for Rosary.

Glendale would not get closer than five.

A layup by Gemma Garcia, a jumper from Samantha Hernandez and a three-pointer from Lucy Cervino increased the Royals’ lead to 12.

Glendale’s Tara Abdul Ahad hit a three-pointer to trim the lead, but the Nitros’ struggles resurfaced, as they went eight minutes without hitting a field goal.

Adary was happy that her team struggled as much as it did early in the season, as opposed to later in Pacific League play. She said her team has time to fix its mistakes.

“I like having it early because we get a chance to see things and have time to prepare,” she said.