The Burroughs High boys’ basketball team didn’t have to see the player most feared.
But the Bears saw more than enough Friday morning when they opened up the St. Francis Holiday Hoopfest with a 68-23 loss to the host Golden Knights, who were without 7-foot-3 center Cherif Millogo, who was nursing a minor neck injury.
“I was here (at St. Francis) for 10 years. I knew what we were getting ourselves into, but it was an opportunity to see where are we,” Burroughs coach Jason Weatherall said. “Effort is the foundation of anything you do. If you’re going to do it, you have to do it with full effort, full focus and attention to detail. We’re learning how to put a complete effort into things. The score doesn’t show how hard the guys played.”
Burroughs (4-8 overall) struggled with the in-your-face St. Francis defense from the opening tip. The Golden Knights began the game on a 16-point run.
A basket by Elliot Lawrence with 1:58 left in the first quarter ended that run. Nico Meza got a steal that resulted in a breakaway basket later in the quarter.
Burroughs made 4 of 14 shots in the first half and finished the game making eight of 26. St. Francis forced 23 turnovers. Sophomore Luke Paulus, who had a game-high 23 points, had four steals for the Golden Knights. He is the nephew of former Duke University point guard Greg Paulus.
The Golden Knights (11-2) hit 28 of 43 field goals and also were successful on all eight of their free throw attempts.
Will Anderson led Burroughs with six points. Ethan Cooper and Meza each had three points. Kane Le-Cabico, Lawrence, Teagan Bradford, Chance Green and Cedric Valdez each had two points.
