By Rick Assad
For one quarter on Tuesday night, the Pacific League girls’ basketball game between host Burroughs High and rival Burbank was somewhat close.
The rest of the contest wasn’t as the Bears routed the Bulldogs 79-39 behind a 23-point second quarter and a 20-point third quarter.
Senior guard Elizabeth Amoroso poured in a game-high 27 points and senior guard Grace Barton added 24 points.
Vicky Oganyan is the longtime Burroughs head coach and saw her team play with intensity on both ends of the floor.
“Watching us play hard and move the ball,” she said of what impressed her. “Watching the four seniors having fun on the court and playing together. I love the team culture and our kids.”
Sophomore forward Manina Tuputupu led the way for Burbank, which made 12 of 36 from the field for 33.3 percent, with 12 points and was followed by sophomore guard Rhiley Ocampo with nine points and they all came on three-pointers.
Burroughs, which shot 51.7 percent on 30 of 58, outscored Burbank 19-10 in the opening quarter behind seven points from Barton while Amoroso chimed in with four points.
In the second frame, Barton tallied 13 points including three of her four from three-point range and one of her treys came with 4:25 left and pushed the Bears ahead 31-15.
Amoroso added a pair of her five three-pointers in the frame as the Bears (18-10 and 12-2 in league for second place) and helped the hosts pull ahead 42-21 at the intermission.
When Amoroso nailed a three-pointer with 3:17 remaining, Burroughs led 39-15.
The Bears marched in front 62-29 after three periods as sophomore guard Isabella Amayakyan scored eight of her nine points and Amoroso had seven points and Barton added four points.
Amoroso finished with a flourish as the sharpshooter had 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Alexa Mirzaian is Burbank’s head coach and is focusing on looking forward and hopes that game will be a success.
“That was a tough game but we are preparing for the next one,” she said. “We are round one of the [CIF Southern Section] playoffs focused.”
Junior guard Jessica Mena had 10 points for the Bears and senior guard Violet Walker had five points.
Burroughs senior guard Alyssa Pracha had three points and senior center Valentina Morales contributed two points
Junior guard Anabelle Setaghian had seven points for the Bulldogs (19-9 and 8-6 in league for third place) while freshman guard Ani Khachatryan had three points.
Burbank junior guard Natalie Megerdichian had two points, sophomore guard Andrea Aparicio chimed in with two points and junior forward Jolene Vartanian threw in four points.
