Glendale girls’ basketball turns back rival Hoover
SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — There’s a sense of some satisfaction for the Glendale High girls’ basketball game halfway through Pacific League play.
The Nitros gained a more positive vibe Friday night after receiving a balanced scoring attack against their cross-town rival.
Ellin Avanesian, Kristineh Zadourian and Kristina Sahakian had nine points apiece Friday to carry host Glendale to a 55-33 league victory against Hoover.
Glendale, which entered the game tied for fourth with Crescenta Valley, improved to 11-7, 4-3 in league. Hoover dropped to 1-12, 0-7. The top four teams receive automatic postseason berths.
“We’d like to be in better position, but you know you have to move forward [going into the second half of league],” said Glendale Coach Tania Adary, whose team improved to 4-1 in its last five games. “I think league can be up for grabs the rest of the way.
“We are going to have to stay consistent and play strong defense to be able to move up. We hope our offense can go from here.”
Glendale used a 15-0 run in the first quarter to take a 15-3 lead and never looked back against the Tornadoes, who were without three starters because of injuries. Hoover competed without Allison Zalin (knee), Nanor Sevajian (arm) and Serine Torosian (ankle).
Glendale built a 27-17 halftime lead and never let Hoover close to within single digits.
“We were undermanned and we lost almost all of our size with those three players out,” said Hoover Coach Stan Watson, who got 11 points from Melissa Manouki and eight from Preny Sarkissian. “Glendale’s size wore us down.
“We played hard, but we just need to talk about what we need to do with more efficiency.”
Avanesian made a three-pointer with 4:43 left in the first quarter to give Glendale a 6-3 lead and begin its lengthy scoring run. Tara Abdul-Ahad capped the rally with a layup to make it 15-3 with 40 seconds left.
“We wanted to come out strong on our floor and do what we had to do,” Avanesian said. “We feel like we can be in a better place in league and we feel like we have a good chance at moving up.”
Sahakian and Erlin Keshishzadeh finished with seven rebounds each for Glendale.
The Nitros will next take part in a league home game at 5 p.m. Tuesday against Crescenta Valley. Hoover will meet host Burroughs at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
