By Rick Assad
Prior to taking the floor on Saturday night, seniors Mariam Fahs, Ella Anderson and Isabella Davtyan were recognized for the time being on the Burroughs High girls’ basketball team.
A Pacific League game was also played, and it turned out to be a lopsided win over visiting Muir 67-37.
“It was great to honor our seniors for all their hard work and dedication to the program,” longtime Burroughs coach Vicky Oganyan said of the trio.
Fahs, a guard who is averaging just under 14 points a game, sank six shots from the field and added two free throws for 14 first-half points.
“Senior Night was very special and it really shows how strong our team bond and friendships are,” Fahs said. “The game was slow, but we did our job and got the win. All our hard work is paying off and I’m excited to compete for the league title.”
A basket by Fahs with 5:37 left in the first quarter made it 5-0 in favor of the Bears.
Anderson, a forward with keen outside shooting skills, added eight points that included two from three-point range and Davtyan, a forward, did not score but played well during her time on the floor.
“We started off a little slow but picked up our energy on defense and did a good job sharing the ball,” Oganyan said of her team that converted 28 of 66 shots for 42.4 percent.
Burroughs sophomore guard Jessica Mena accounted for nine points with seven coming in the opening half.
Burroughs (17-9 and 5-0 in league) were in a zone offensively as they led 19-9 after the first quarter.
It was simply more of the same in the second period as Burroughs took command at the half 39-17 after making 15 of 33 shots for 45.4 percent.
Burroughs, which outrebounded Muir (6-16 and 0-5 in league), 51-20, moved in front 57-26 after three periods.
The Mustangs, who shot 27.2 percent on nine of 33 overall from the field, scored double figures in the second and fourth frames.
Muir was led by senior guard Amari Wilson with a game-best 27 points and nailed four three-pointers, all in the second period.
As is her wont, Fahs came out strong and tallied nine points in the first period as the team made six of 17 for 35.2 percent and then added five points in the second quarter as the Bears connected on nine of 16 for 56.2 percent.
Junior guard Elizabeth Amoroso (seven points) scored six points on a pair of three-pointers in the third period.
Junior guard Grace Barton added five points and sank a three-pointer in the same quarter.
Anderson’s points came in the fourth quarter and sophomore center Polina Gorgeiz tallied four of her six points in the same frame.
Other players scoring for Burroughs included junior center Valentina Morales with four points, junior guard Gabriella Buendia with four, freshman guard Isabella Amayakyan with a three-pointer in the second quarter that made it 25-8 and 4:36 left, junior guard Alyssa Pracha with a three-pointer in the fourth quarter that increased the lead to 58-27 with 6:58 remaining and junior guard Anna Phillips with two points.