By Rick Assad
Vicky Oganyan returned to where her basketball playing career began and on Thursday night the visit to her old gymnasium proved to be fruitful as the Burroughs High girls’ team took out host Glendale 51-41 in a Pacific League game.
Senior guard Grace Barton dropped five three-pointers and finished with a game-high 17 points and junior guard Jessica Mena tossed in eight points for the Bears who led 18-9 heading to the second period and marched in front 26-17 at halftime.
Burroughs was without the services of senior center Valentina Morales, who is a force inside the painted area and on the backboards where she is averaging 7.4 rebounds per game.
Oganyan, the longtime Burroughs head coach, liked how her team played.
“We had really good energy. Grace has been playing well, and we are happy to see her having an impact on the court,” she said. “Especially since her sophomore year she missed with a torn ACL [anterior cruciate ligament].”
Another 18-point outburst in the third period saw the Bears, who made 21 of 51 for 41.1 percent, marched ahead 44-29 and at this point the triumph was nearly assured.
Barton, whose specialty is hitting long shots, canned three from three-point territory in the opening period and Mena accounted for three points.
In that eight-minute span, Burroughs (16-9 and 10-2 in league) converted seven of 19 for 36.8 percent from the field while the Nitros made three of eight for 37.5 percent.
The Bears made three of 10 for 30 percent in the second period and Mena was the main point-producer with five points.
Glendale (12-11 and 4-9 in league) nailed three of 12 for 25 percent in the same frame and shot 30 percent on six of 20 at the intermission.
Burroughs turned the third quarter into a shooting gallery as it made eight of 13 for 61.5 percent as five players contributed.
Barton added her fourth and fifth from three-point range for six points and sophomore guard Isabella Amayakyan tallied four of her six points and senior guard Elizabeth Amoroso had four of her five points.
The scoring for the Bears slowed down in the fourth frame as they dropped seven points and made three of nine for 33 percent.
After shooting 34.4 percent in the opening half on 10 of 29, Burroughs turned around and hit 11 of 22 for 50 percent in the second half.
Sophomore small forward Sophia Keshishyan tallied a team-best 12 points for the Nitros including six in the fourth period.
Sophomore point guard Alexia Keshishyan, who nailed three from three-point range, added 11 points for Glendale and eight were scored in the second half.
Junior guard Brooke Aldrete and junior small forward Leah Davidian each tallied seven points for the Nitros who shot 38.8 percent on 14 of 36.
Junior center Polina Gorgeiz contributed seven points for the Bears and five were scored in the fourth period, sophomore forward Rielle Waddell added six points and senior guard Gabriella Buendia had two points.
Burroughs will next play at Muir on Saturday and then on February 3, will host Burbank. Both games commence at 5:15 p.m.
