By Rick Assad
Grace Barton nailed five shots from three-point range and Valentina Morales controlled the painted area and the duo accounted for 33 points and helped lead the Burroughs High girls’ basketball team past visiting Arcadia 62-45 on Wednesday night.
Barton, a senior guard, scored 19 points and Morales, a senior center, added 14 points with numerous rebounds and is averaging 7.4 a game.
After nailing a trey in the opening quarter, Barton was sizzling in the second period as she hit three from three-point range and had 11 points while Morales added four points as the Bears led 37-15 at halftime.
Longtime Burroughs head coach Vicky Oganyan was impressed by her team, especially across the first 16 minutes.
“We played really well in the first half. We had good ball movement,” she said. “We found Valentina inside and outrebounded them.”
The Bears were successful on eight of 16 for 50 percent from the floor in the second period while the Apaches made three of nine for 33.3 percent.
Burroughs (9-6 and 3-1 in league) forged ahead 16-7 after the first eight-minute period as junior guard Jessica Mena tallied six of her 10 points and that included a three-pointer.
Senior guard Elizabeth Amoroso accounted for six points in the third period for the Bears who led 52-28 heading to the fourth quarter.
In the third period, the Bears sank seven of 14 for 50 percent from the field and the Apaches made six of 14 for 42.8 percent.
Morales and Mena each tallied four points in the final frame while Barton scored two points as Burroughs drilled five of 13 for 38.4 percent and Arcadia made six of 13 for 46.1 percent.
According to Oganyan, the last two periods weren’t as good as the opening half.
“The second half was a little more stagnant but overall we did what we needed to do to win the game despite some of our injuries,” she offered.
Junior guard Maddie Tran led Arcadia (10-5 and 3-1 in league) with 14 points, and all were tallied in the second half, and she connected on a three-pointer in the third period and the fourth quarter.
Freshman guard Misaki O’Donnell finished the evening with 10 points for the Apaches and had six points in the opening half.
Junior Hailey Lam, who is the leading scorer with 10.4 points per game, added nine points in the second half for the Apaches and drained a three-pointer in the fourth quarter.
Senior guard Alyssa Pracha converted two three-pointers for six points in the second quarter for Burroughs.
Pracha’s second trey made it 34-13 with forty-six seconds left in the frame and sophomore forward Rielle Waddell had one point in the first period for the Bears.
