By Rick Assad
Forcing the action by employing a stifling and trapping defense and playing an up-tempo game helped create points that came off numerous turnovers for the Burbank High girls’ basketball team when it faced visiting Hoover on Thursday night.
Never trailing and outscoring the Tornadoes in all but the last quarter saw the Bulldogs win handily, 60-27, in a Pacific League encounter behind a game-high 13 points from senior point/shooting guard Nikaela Damasen.
Damasen, who scored all of her points in the first half, knocked down three three-pointers in the opening period as the Bulldogs led 18-2, and finished with four from three-point range.
Ten players scored for the Bulldogs (5-13 and 2-4 in league) as junior shooting guard Emily Galoustian and freshman shooting guard Andrea Aparicio each scored nine points for the hosts.
Damasen’s trey with 2:08 remaining in the initial period gave Burbank a 9-2 edge.
Burbank made 22 of 75 field goal attempts for 29.3 percent while Hoover converted eight of 37 for 21.6 percent.
The Tornadoes (1-10 and 0-5 in league) were paced by freshman point/shooting guard Aleena Kalanijian, who accounted for nine points that included two three-pointers.
The Bulldogs marched ahead 33-10 at halftime as Galoustian drilled two from three-point range in the second frame including one at 6:50 that made it 21-2, while Aparacio scored four points and Damasen added a three-pointer.
Seven Burbank players found their way into the scorer’s book in the third quarter as sophomore point guard Ani Dionysian dropped in six points and her bucket with 1:38 showing saw the Bulldogs pull ahead 48-15.
Junior power forward/center Ava Casey contributed four points in the third quarter for the Bulldogs.
In the frame, the Bulldogs, who canned six of 15 from the free-throw line for 40 percent and outrebounded the Tornadoes, 47-38, nailed three from three-point range as the team finished by hitting 10 treys compared to two from the Tornadoes.
With most of the starters on the bench for Burbank, which led 54-17 through three quarters, in the fourth quarter, the Tornadoes, who sank five of 13 free throws for 38.4 percent, outscored the Bulldogs 8-6, as Kalanijian totaled four points in the period.
Sophomore point guard Charlotte Hartwell finished with five points for the Bulldogs that included a three-pointer, junior power forward Lauren Navarro tossed in four points, all in the first quarter, junior Lili Okhayan scored four points, sophomore point guard Yvette Soukiazian nailed a three-pointer in the third quarter and junior point guard Arevita Keshishyan accounted for three points.
