By Rick Assad
Every ride eventually comes to a conclusion and for the Burbank High girls’ basketball team, it came in the CIF Southern Section Division III A quarterfinals on Saturday night versus host Shadow Hills.
Behind a 15-point second quarter and an 18-point third period, the Knights erased a one-point first quarter deficit and took a 47-31 victory.
“In the second quarter, we let our foot off the gas,” first-year Burbank coach Kris Jabourian said. “We made too many mistakes. We didn’t capitalize on their turnovers, and they capitalized on our turnovers.”
Junior power forward Karen Casillas led the way with eight points for the Bulldogs (14-8 overall and 5-2 for third place in the Pacific League), senior shooting guard Christina Ohanians added seven points while senior center Tabitha Cruz chimed in with six points.
Casillas and Cruz worked on both ends of the floor as each collected double-digit rebounds.
The Bulldogs, who shot 25 percent from the field on the game, seized control 9-8 after the first period, but then managed to score just four points in the second frame and trailed 23-13 at the intermission.
“This is a good learning lesson. We want to continue to have a program that gets to the playoffs every year,” Jabourian said. “One season doesn’t mean anything because we want to build something that lasts here.”
Though the season just ended, Jabourian looks forward to bigger and better things next season and the following seasons.
“Four of the six seniors are starters, and the next team will have big shoes to fill,” Jabourian said.
Burbank responded with 14 points in the third period, but Shadow Hills (25-3 in all games and 9-1 for first place in the Desert Empire League) accounted for 18 points and held a 41-27 edge.
“We played better in the third quarter, but we also gave up too many points,” Jabourian pointed out. “Offense can only do so much. Defense is what wins championships.”
Neither team found the mark with any consistency in the fourth period as the Knights outscored the Bulldogs 6-4.
“Shadow Hills is a well-coached team and a very, very, very fundamentally sound team,” Jabourian said.
Burbank’s run to the quarters began with a 39-25 victory over host Foothill in the first round and a 48-37 triumph over visiting Rowland in the second round.
