By Rick Assad
It certainly wasn’t raining outside the main gymnasium, but it was definitely raining three-pointers for the Burroughs High girls’ basketball team when it faced visiting Glendale on Friday night.
The Bears sank eleven from three-point range including five in the first quarter and had seven treys by halftime and in the process pushed aside the Nitros 58-42 in a Pacific League game and have now eight straight games.
Leading the offensive charge was junior guard Jessica Mena with a game-best 17 points and senior guard Grace Barton was next with 15 points.
Mena dropped seven points and one trey in the opening frame and Barton drilled three-pointers for nine points as the Bears assumed a 22-4 advantage as the team connected on eight of 17 for 47 percent from the field in that period.
Mena’s three-point attempt with 4:58 remaining in the initial frame made it 8-2 and Mena’s three-pointer late in the same period extended the advantage to an 18-point margin.
From the outset, Burroughs (10-6 and 4-1 in league) was determined to play in-your-face defense and this ploy was responsible for numerous turnovers by Glendale which took only 33 shots and converted 16 for 48.4 percent.
Vicky Oganyan has been the longtime Burroughs head coach and has been wildly successful in that position.
Oganyan spoke about the game and was pleased for the most part.
“We had good ball movement and shots within our offense early,” she said. “We had great pressure on defense. We just have to put it together for four quarters.”
Burroughs tallied 12 points in the second period and pulled ahead 34-17 at the intermission as Mena accounted for five points that included her second three-pointer.
The Bears didn’t shoot as well in the second as they made five of 15 for 33.3 percent.
The Bears’ fewest points of the evening came in the third quarter when they scored 10 as Barton and Mena each hammered a three-point shot.
The Bears, which shot 36.6 percent on 22 of 60 from the field, converted on four of 14 from the floor for 37.2 percent in the third quarter.
Senior guard Alyssa Pracha tossed in eight of her 12 points in the fourth period for the Bears and two baskets came on three-pointers.
Glendale (10-5 and 2-3 in league) proved capable and feisty as junior point guard/shooting guard Brooke Aldrete poured in a team-best 14 points and a dozen were scored in the second half.
Glendale came out in the third quarter and played well and shot with confidence as it made six of 10 for 60 percent.
Sophomore guard Alexia Keshishyan tallied nine points for Glendale as she nailed a trey in the second quarter and the fourth quarter.
Senior center Valentina Morales did her best work in the painted area for the Bears, and she tossed in nine points and sophomore forward Rielle Waddell chipped in with five points and also drilled a three-pointer in the opening frame.
The Bears made three of six from the free-throw line for 50 percent and grabbed 27 rebounds.
The Nitros collected 29 caroms and made six of 10 for 60 percent from the charity stripe.
