By Rick Assad
One poor quarter was all it took for the Burroughs High boys’ basketball team to run afoul in its Pacific League encounter with Crescenta Valley.
The period in question is the third when the Bears scored six points while the visiting Falcons tallied 24 and then waltzed to a 71-56 victory on Friday night.
Aside from that one eight-minute stretch, the game was fairly close and could have gone either way.
Three players scored in double figures for the Bears and were led by T.J. Lumpkin’s 15 points.
Another important factor in the Bears’ losing was getting ball movement which would have allowed for better and higher percentage shots, but Crescenta Valley was stubborn and played a defensive gem.
Nick Schlander produced 12 points and DeSean Robinson added 11 points for Burroughs, which shot 36 percent on 18 of 50 from the field.
The Falcons (22 of 54 for 40.7 percent) were solid in three of the four quarters with the exception being the first period when they managed just 10 points.
“They increased their defensive pressure and pushed us out of our offense in the third,” Burroughs coach Allan Ellis said. “We didn’t attack the pressure and move the ball well during the third quarter stretch. It was the difference in the game. We have to do a better job of getting into our offense.”
Point guard/shooting guard Gavin Shaghoian paced the visitors with a game-high 20 points that included 11 points in the second half.
Quinlan Daily scored 15 points in the third quarter and finished with 19 points for the Falcons.
Shooting guard Eddie Hematsiraki had 11 points with seven coming in the fourth quarter for Crescenta Valley.
Ellis did give credit to the Falcons, who made seven three-pointers and are a longtime top-notch program.
“CV is a good team and well coached,” he said. “We did a good job against them in the first half, but couldn’t sustain it.”
The match was knotted at 10-10 heading to the second period as Sam Horning scored five of his eight points for the Bears.
Burroughs (3-3 and 1-2 in league) converted seven of 15 (46.6 percent) from the field in the second period and saw Robinson nail a pair of three-pointers for six points.
Schlander had five points and his basket with 3:45 left in the frame gave the Bears a 23-17 lead.
Shaghoian tallied nine points in the second period and Sebastian Tahmasian added five points, which is what he finished with.
The Falcons (10-2 and 3-0 in league) made eight of 14 (57.1 percent) of their field goal attempts in the third quarter while the Bears connected on one of 11 (nine percent).
A bucket from Shaghoian with 3:17 left on the clock in the third period gave the Falcons a 43-32 cushion.
Crescenta Valley continued its shooting touch in the fourth period as it made six of 12 for 50 percent.
Burroughs, which hammered six treys, improved from the field in the fourth quarter, drilling seven of 13 for 53.8 percent.
Burroughs produced a 22-point fourth quarter and it became somewhat chippy with 1:40 left and the Bears down by 66-50 when Robinson was trying to score close to the basket and it became physical.
“The CV player started it and our players responded to help their teammate out,” Ellis said. “I’m not sure why four of our players received technical fouls from the bench when they didn’t do anything besides walk down the sideline and try to diffuse the situation from escalating.”
Burroughs converted 63.6 percent (14 of 22) from the free-throw line while Crescenta Valley made 20 of 27 (74 percent).
Elden Jackson finished with five points for the Bears, while Jagger Topp had three points and Elias Pavia added two points.
