There are several very good teams in the Pacific League including Burbank High which held off host Glendale 62-60 in a boys basketball game on Wednesday.
Sharp-shooting from the field in the opening half (14 of 26 for 53.8 percent) by the Bulldogs (13-5 and 3-1 in league) led to a 35-26 lead.
The shooting percentage dipped in the second half when Burbank converted 10 of 27 for 37 percent.
The Nitros (7-10 and 0-4 in league) came within two points and 29.4 left, and with that two-point differential and 12.4 remaining on the clock, Glendale junior forward Daniel Madden was called for a charge.
“I see us right now as being very inconsistent,” Burbank coach Jamayne Potts said. “We’ll play very good like in the game at Crescenta Valley [49-41] and then play a game like tonight. But you have to give credit to Glendale. They’re scrappy. They play well as a team and they’re well coached.”
It was also helpful that the Bulldogs, who after losing to Muir 58-53, in the league opener, have reeled off three consecutive wins, made 50 percent (nine of 18) of their three-point attempts.
Leading in that department was senior shooting guard Ellie Hanno who drilled five.
Luckily the turnovers were also held to a minimum. “We only had five turnovers so we took care of the ball,” Potts said. “We were good in transition and in our half-court offense. We’re still having problems at the free-throw line, but that’s correctable.”
The Bulldogs made five of 16 (31.2 percent) from the charity line while the Nitros converted 14 of 22 (63.6 percent).
Hanno, who scored a game-high 20 points, hammered four from three-point range in the first half as he accounted for 16 points.
Junior swingman Michael Woods scored 12 points with nine coming in the opening half.
The Nitros shot 36.5 percent (19 of 52) from the floor and made three of 11 in the first quarter as they tailed 14-13.
Burbank pulled ahead 7-0 with 5:03 left in the initial quarter on a basket from Woods, who also pulled down four rebounds, as Glendale called time out.
Madden (team-best 14 points) tallied three points over the first eight minutes and added two free throws in the second quarter as Glendale drained four of 12 from the field in the second quarter.
Meanwhile the Bulldogs hit six of 13 from the floor in the first quarter as Hanno canned a pair of three-pointers.
Woods contributed four points in the first period and so did junior point guard Cameron Sweeten (eight points).
Burbank made eight of 13 in the second quarter as Hanno splashed two from three-point range and also added a pair of buckets.
Hanno’s hoop with 6:05 left in the second quarter pushed Burbank’s advantage to 18-13.
Woods scored five points in the second quarter including a trey while senior small forward Faraz Khandaker (nine points and eight rebounds) added three points.
Senior small forward Levon Galstyan (five points) bombed in a three-pointer.
The Bulldogs, who hit seven of 13 from the floor in the third quarter, took a 52-43 lead heading into the final stanza when Khandaker scored six points with junior small forward Ben Chavez (eight points) chiming in with a three-pointer and a bucket. Galstyan, Woods and Sweeten all contributed two points.
Glendale made six of 16 from the field in the third quarter with junior point guard Edrik Abnous Masihi (eight points) scoring six points and junior small forward Argam Aghajani tallying all of his six points.
Burbank converted three of 14 from the field and managed 10 points in the fourth quarter while Glendale scored 17 points and drilled six of 13.
Hanno made a three-pointer and a free throw while Chavez also canned a trey with 4:44 left that gave the Bulldogs a 58-52 edge. Woods added a free throw and Sweeten threw in a hoop.
Madden had his best quarter scoring seven points in the fourth while senior point guard Larrenz Carino (12 points) also had seven points and his hoop with 29.4 left cut it to 62-60.
Junior point guard Mike Chebishian finished with 12 points and made three beyond the three-point arc for the Nitros.
Burbank will be on the road at Pasadena for a league match on Friday. The game begins at 7 p.m.
