No player in the Burbank High girls’ basketball program had any playoff experience prior to this year.
But the Bulldogs have grown up quickly and now find themselves in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 3A playoffs, as they knocked off host Rowland of Rowland Heights 48-37 in a second-round match Wednesday.
Burbank (14-7), which is in the playoffs for the first time since 2016, will now travel to Indio on Saturday to face Shadow Hills High.
Burbank actually trailed 10-7 at the end of one quarter of play, which saw both teams battle it out tactically with various press schemes.
“We had to adjust a little bit in the first half, definitely in the first quarter,” coach Kris Jabourian said after the win over Rowland. “We did the right things and made the right moves and continued on with the victory.”

But Burbank settled down with a zone defense that made things difficult for Rowland, which went more than eight minutes without a field goal, and was virtually hoping something would fall from 3-point range.
The Bulldogs got four 3-pointers in the second quarter, two coming from Emily Megerdichian and one each from Christina Ohanians and Rheanna Ocampo.
Jabourian credited Rowland’s coaches for having their team well prepared.
But Burbank eventually settled down and didn’t force as many turnovers.
“Just listening to our game plan and understanding where we need to get the ball to the proper locations,” Jabourian said of what Burbank did differently after the first quarter. “Having Tabitha Cruz and Karen Casillas both in the middle to break a press, what more can you ask for.”
Casillas finished with 23 rebounds and 10 points.
Burbank led 38-15 when Rowland took a timeout with 1:01 to play in the third quarter.
The visiting Raiders put together a nice surge in the final quarter but were never able to bring the deficit into single digits.
Cruz led Burbank with 14 points. Megerdichian finished with nine points, Alle Tarvirdi had seven and Ohanians had five points. O’Campo finished with three points.