The Burroughs High girls basketball team was as prepared as one could be for a CIF Southern Section Division 3AA semifinal matchup.
Coach Vicky Oganyan scheduled many of the top teams in the Greater Los Angeles area to prepare for a chance at a CIF title.
But one thing Burroughs wasn’t prepared for was to warm up for the game only to see it get delayed an hour because there were no game officials.
The delay saw both teams trying to stay as relaxed as possible with Oganyan even playing a game of horse against Cajon coach Leon Washington.
When it all cleared up, Burroughs put together a fine effort, but was stopped short by the visitors, 69-59.
“We played a tough schedule trying to prepare for a team like this. We handled it probably the best have handled it all year.,” Oganyan said. “We needed a couple of breaks. A few mistakes, here and there. Some missed free throws. We needed to almost play perfect.”
Burroughs was hurt by the fact that starting point guard Noor Fahs was unavailable due to another commitment.
But Burroughs played the best it could as alum Faith Boulanger, who graduated a week earlier, finished with a team-high 21 points to go with 10 rebounds.
Boulanger hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter. The Bears also got a 3-pointer in the first quarter from Ivana Razov.
But Cajon’s speed was too much to handle.
The visitors went on to take a 38-25 halftime lead.
Burroughs never threw in the towel.
The Bears cut the lead to 51-47 when Sydney Martin hit a pair of free throws with 6:43 left to play.
But that was the closest things would get. Boulanger said she is glad her team will get a chance to participate in the California state tournament.
“I’m not ready to be done with high school. I’m ready to start my next path and college, (but) I’m taking college classes and I’m in high school,” said Boulanger, who will be playing at Cal State San Bernardino.
Kayla Wrobel finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. Isabella Roderick had eight points and 11 rebounds.
Dyani Del Castillo finished with seven points and six rebounds. Razov finished with five points and Martin added four.
Cajon was led by freshman Mykelle Richards, who had 24 points. Cajon also received 19 points from Ayana Campbell.
