Burbank Beats Burroughs in Basketball

Burbank's Edward Ha goes up for a shot against Burroughs' Alex Tipton. (Roger Wilson/The Leader)


BOYS’ BASKETBALL: Burroughs not able to stay with Burbank, as ’Dogs take control of the game early and earn a lopsided 54-36 Pacific League victory at home.


By Jeff Tully, Burbank Leader
January 23, 2010


BURBANK HIGH — The Burbank High and Burroughs basketball teams were coming off impressive performances when the two met Friday for their first rivalry meeting of the season.While the Bulldogs were able to defeat ranked Crescenta Valley by two points Wednesday, the Indians took six-time defending league champion Pasadena to the brink Wednesday, losing by a point in what was perhaps their best effort of the season.The squads were hoping to carry that momentum into Friday’s contest. It appeared Burbank did, and Burroughs did not.

The Bulldogs were able to distance themselves from the Indians in the second quarter, turning a tight game into a blowout, en route to a 54-36 Pacific League win at Burbank High.“We were hoping to keep up what we were able to do in the CV game against Burroughs,” Burbank Coach Jose Hernandez said. “What we really want is just to get better as the season goes along. I think we’ve been able to do that our last couple of games.

”Burroughs Coach Adam Hochberg said he was hoping his team had gotten over some of the struggles it had encountered earlier in the season. After the way his Indians played against Pasadena, the coach had high hopes for Friday.“We just got caught up in the smoke and mirrors that Burbank came out with,” he said. “They didn’t do anything that we didn’t expect, and I didn’t see any reason why we shouldn’t have been able to play with them.“I thought we had turned the corner with how we played against Pasadena. But it really comes down to execution, they were able to execute and we weren’t.”

The win keeps Burbank (15-5, 5-2 in league) tied for second place in league with the Falcons (5-2 in league). Burbank received a balanced offensive output from seniors Andy Karandganyan and Vehans Ayvazi, who scored 11 points each. Burroughs (5-5, 3-4) suffered from shooting woes early, as it converted just two of 15 shots from the floor in the first quarter. Despite the woes, Burbank was only able to mount a 12-5 lead after the first quarter. Burbank’s lead was padded by a remarkable shot at the buzzer. Sophomore Austin Pope grabbed a rebound under his own basket, and with time running out, heaved a shot from behind the Bulldogs’ free-throw line. The ball sailed more than three-quarters across the count, swishing for a three-pointer.

Things really got bad for the Indians in the second quarter when they were only able to score four points. Burroughs was outscored in the quarter, 15-4.“You aren’t going to win any games when you score four points in a quarter,” Hochberg said. “We were 11 of 33 shooting and nine of 23 from the free-throw line. That’s just not going to get the job done.”Burbank was able to keep Burroughs’ top scorer, senior Dylan Ward, in check. Ward — who tallied 21 against Pasadena — scored seven points, and had just two through three quarters.“We didn’t have anything special that we set up for [Ward],” Hernandez said. “We just wanted to make sure we knew where he was on the floor. We just wanted to play good, tight defense. I think we were able to do that It was a good effort.”

Tadeh Safarians led the team with eight points.Burbank increased its lead to 40-23 after three quarters, as the Indians were just not able to claw their way back.