Big fourth quarter from Davidian carries Hoover High boys’ basketball past Glendale
GLENDALE — Teo Davidian broke open a close game in a hurry.
The Hoover High boys’ senior basketball player had no trouble soaking in the environment while playing in front of a noisy crowd Thursday night.
Davidian scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to propel visiting Hoover to a 64-52 Pacific League victory against crosstown rival Glendale.
“My teammates carried me into the fourth quarter and I wanted to come out and make a statement and help us win,” said Davidian, a forward. “You like to be able to play in front of a big crowd like this one and be able to help your team win.
“I hit a couple of big shots in the fourth quarter. When you do that against Glendale, it’s something special.”
Hoover, which swept the two-game season series against Glendale improved to 14-12, 5-9 in league. Glendale finished its season at 8-19, 3-11. Hoover posted a 69-49 home win against Glendale in the first meeting Jan. 24.
Hoover held a 44-42 advantage entering the fourth quarter Thursday. Davidian heated up immediately.
He made a three-pointer to give the Tornadoes a 47-44 lead with 6:43 remaining. Davidian then scored on a layup to extend Hoover’s advantage to 51-45 with 5:01 to play. A three-pointer by Davidian made it 56-45 with 3:46 left and forced Glendale to call timeout.
“He’s tough and you like to see him go out and have a game like that,” said Hoover Coach Jack Van Patten, who added that the Tornadoes would likely petition for an at-large berth into the CIF Southern Section playoffs. “He’s carried us in some games throughout the season and he just did a great job here tonight.
“We expect that from our leaders, like him. We knew Glendale would come out and play hard. It’s not a secret.”
The Tornadoes got 14 points from junior guard Kevin Nazari and 11 points and 14 rebounds from junior forward Chris Sarkisian.
Glendale, which saw its season conclude, got 10 points and 14 rebounds from senior center Arthur Terzyan, 12 points from junior forward Raffi Jivalagian and 11 points from junior guard Eric Kirakosian.
Glendale Coach Steve Snodgress said the Nitros couldn’t slow down Davidian in the fourth quarter.
“Teo made some big shots,” said Snodgress, whose team trailed, 32-28, at halftime. “It was a little bit of a disaster for us in the fourth quarter.
“Glendale played a good three quarters and Hoover played a good four quarters. We had some things to overcome throughout the year with injuries and we had a few highs and lows. We lost some games that were close down the stretch.”
