By Rick Assad
It had everything and a bit more when the Burroughs High boys’ basketball team took on visiting Glendale in a Pacific League battle on Friday night.
There was keen defense by both teams and tough play in the painted area and neither team backed down but in the end the Bears had just enough in the tank including an explosive fourth quarter and prevailed 72-64.
The Bears used a 27-point fourth period as the team drilled seven of 13 from the floor for 53.8 percent, converted a pair of three-pointers and also made 11 of 14 for 78.5 percent from the free-throw line.
Burroughs made 15 of 22 free-throw attempts for 68.1 percent in the second half.
Burroughs (7-11 and 2-3 in league) made 18 of 33 for 54.5 percent from the charity line.
The Bears have won three of their last five games and are playing much better.
Senior guard Nico Meza poured in a game-high 20 points with 14 coming in the fourth period for the Bears.
Senior point guard Justin Herrera added 19 points for Burroughs and 11 points were tallied in the second half when the hosts outscored the Nitros 45-36.
Jason Weatherall is in his first year as the Burroughs head coach and is trying to get his team to have faith in their abilities and everything will work out fine.
“The guys are getting comfortable and we are starting to play better as a group,” he said. “They are a resilient bunch. They just needed to be pushed to believe in themselves.”
Burroughs, which made eight from three-point range, doubled up on Glendale (8-10 and 1-4 in league) in the first quarter as it led 14-7 entering the second period.
Glendale dropped 14 three-pointers and hammered eight in the second half.
Herrera nailed a pair of three-pointers and accounted for eight points in the initial frame.
The Nitros, who shot 37.7 percent on 23 of 61, outscored the Bears 21-13 in the second quarter and led 28-27 at halftime as guard/forward Mason Manalo tallied nine of his team-high 17 points. On the night, Manalo had five from three-point range.
After scoring 18 points in the third stanza, Burroughs took a 45-43 lead after hitting six of 16 for 37.5 percent heading to the fourth period.
Herrera tossed in eight points in the third quarter and Meza added four points.
Center/power forward Michael Vanilian scored seven of his nine points for the Nitros in the third quarter.
Senior wing Evan Lanier had 12 points and made two three-pointers in the second half for the Bears and senior wing Elliot Lawrence added 11 points that included two treys.
Burroughs senior wing Ethan Cooper had six points on a pair of three-pointers and junior wing Will Rowan and senior point guard Teagen Bradford each tallied two points.
