By Rick Assad
With every victory earned by the Burbank High girls’ basketball team it gains confidence and right now the squad is sky high.
On Tuesday night in a nonleague game against visiting Simi Valley, the Bulldogs were fully charged and ready for action and as a result walked away with an impressive 68-22 victory behind three players scoring double figures.
The team is playing extremely well after winning six of seven games including four straight contests.
Junior guard Andrea Aparicio poured in a game-best 20 points, senior guard Yvette Soukiazian added 15 points and sophomore guard Ani Khachatryan tossed in 13 points and canned a three-pointer in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs (6-1) made 12 of 20 shots for 60 percent in the first quarter and led 28-4 heading to the second frame as sophomore forward Manina Tuputupa scored all of her six points in the first eight minutes and Soukiazian also tallied six points.
Burbank, which converted 30 of 59 from the field for 50.8 percent, nailed eight of 14 attempts for 57.1 percent in the second quarter and led 45-9 as Aparicio accounted for six of her 10 points at halftime and junior point guard Rhiley Ocampo scored four of her eight points.
Aparicio exploded for 10 points in the third period and Soukiazian contributed four points as the Bulldogs dashed ahead 61-16 after three frames and hitting seven of 17 for 41.4 percent from the floor.
The fourth period was played with a running clock, and the result was only 13 points were scored with Burbank outscoring Simi Valley 7-6 as Soukiazian tallied five including a three-pointer.
Alexa Mirzaian is Burbank’s head coach and liked what she witnessed on the court and sees tremendous improvement from a season ago.
“It was a really impressive win. I loved how the team played together and moved the ball – everyone got touches and contributed,” she said. “It was great to see them execute and really commit to playing as a collective unit. Excited to keep building on this.”
The Pioneers (0-4) hit nine of 27 from the field for 33.3 percent and were led by senior Angela Fox and junior Emma Alpaugh as both scored six points.
Junior forward Jolene Vartanian contributed six points for the Bulldogs and junior shooting guard Natalie Mergerdichian accounted for three points via free throws in the first quarter.
Burbank drilled five of seven for 71.4 percent from the free-throw line and Simi Valley sank six of 12 for 50.0 percent. The visitors outrebounded the hosts 26-24.
Burbank’s next game will be against visiting Grant on Thursday followed by Mayfield on Friday and against Providence on Saturday which is part of the Burbank Basketball Tournament. All the games begin at 7:30 p.m.
Burbank opened the season with a 62-59 win versus Pilibos and a 54-30 triumph over Fullerton.
A 48-40 setback versus Sacred Heart of Jesus followed and a rout of Rise Kohyang and a shellacking of Bravo were next and a 52-43 victory over Lawndale was next.
