By Rick Assad
In every season there is a first step and for the Burroughs High girls’ basketball team it came Monday night against visiting Hueneme in a nonleague match at the Brian Hurst gym.
The Bears came out and executed sticky defense and two players scored 10 points each as the hosts sailed to an easy 53-12 victory.
From the start Burroughs seized control as the Vikings had a tough time getting the ball in the paint.
Numerous times the ball was turned over and many occasions the Bears scored on the other end.
Freshman guard Malia Harney and freshman center Valentina Morales each poured in 10 points for the Bears who made 39.5 percent from the field on 19 of 48.
The Vikings sank four of 26 from the floor for 15.3 percent and junior guard Marissa Burboa dropped in 11 points.
“We were able to execute our zone offense and get good ball movement for shots,” Burroughs coach Vicky Oganyan said. “Defensively we have been getting better at being in the right spots and rotations.”
Oganyan also liked that there were contributions from many players.
“It was great to get everyone in the game and get off to a good start,” she said.
Harney scored four points in the first quarter and senior guard Ivana Razov canned a three-pointer for her only points as the Bears forged in front 13-3.
Senior guard Rachel Little dropped in two three-pointers in the second frame for her only points of the night.
“I thought it was a great opener for us and it was good to see how well we worked together in the first game of the season,” said Little, who is also a catcher on the softball team and will play at Utica University in New York. “We had really good ball movement and finished a lot of our shots on offense. Our defense has improved a lot and it helped us in limiting the other team’s shots.”
Morales contributed four points in the same period as the Bears jumped ahead 33-5 at the intermission after outscoring the Vikings 20-2.
Even though the Bears tallied seven points with two points coming from Morales and sophomore guard Mariam Fahs (four points) in the third quarter, the Vikings missed all eight shots from the field and were blanked as Burroughs took command 40-5.
Burboa sank three from three-point range in the fourth period and three treys overall.
Senior guard Kylie Indefenzo tallied four of her six points in the fourth quarter and freshman guard Elizabeth Amoroso also added four points while Morales chimed in with three points.
Other players who contributed points for Burroughs included junior guard Karly Geris with four points, senior forward Isabella Roderick with three, sophomore guard Skylar Cafferty with two points and junior forward Natalie Sanchez with one.
The Bears made 12 of 18 for 66.6 percent from the free-throw line and the Vikings drilled one of four for 25 percent.
