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Burbank, Burroughs Boys Hoops Set Sights High

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By Rick Assad

The task is a tall one, no doubt, but the Burbank High and Burroughs boys’ basketball teams are each gunning for the top spot when it comes to the Pacific League standings, hoping to unseat Pasadena.

The Bulldogs are athletic with dependable shooters and defenders and will be led Sid Cooke, who has an impressive and deep resume, having coached Renaissance Academy to a pair of CIF Southern Section championships across 16 years.

“We’re trying to build a culture. Commitment and accountability. Do the right thing every time,” said Cooke, a first-year coach at Burbank, who was also an assistant coach at Glendale Community College for three years. “They do play hard, but they’ve got to play different as far as the understanding of the game.”

You can never practice enough as Burroughs goes through some drills. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

Burbank played well last season after going 17-12 and 8-6 in league for fourth place.

The Bulldogs fell to La Canada 57-43 in the opening-round of the CIF Division II A playoffs.

Burbank will not have shooting guard Miles D’Agostin, who averaged just over 26 points and was selected All-CIF second team, because of graduation.

Cooke is a tough taskmaster who demands perfection on the court, but knows how to motivate.

Four players were on last year’s squad and they will be asked to lead Burbank on the floor.

Kevin Sarkes is a 6-foot-5 senior center who will rebound, play solid defense and shoot in the paint.

“We have a good group of guys,” he said. “We hope to capture the first league title in a long time, it’s been about 20 years. And then heading to CIF, we’ve been knocked out two years in the first round. Our goal is to capture the first CIF title.”

Senior Ben Burnham (6-0) is a standout wide receiver on the football team and will offer grit, points, hard-nose defense and rebounds from the point guard position.

“Transitioning from football to basketball is not that hard. I’m not in basketball shape,” he said. “We’re looking to do some damage in league. We’re focusing on getting better every week.”

Junior small forward Abiel Pearl (No. 25) will be a key player for the Bulldogs. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

Senior shooting guard Leo Tahmasian (6-0) is a clutch long-range artist who can score points in a hurry.

“Three coaches in three years. Yes, it’s not easy, but when you have a great coaching staff it’s pretty easy to adjust,” he said. “They have a system in place.”

Sarkes then added: “Coach Sid has won multiple championships at different levels,” he said. “His resume speaks for itself. He’s a great coach. We have a great group of guys. I’m very confident in what we can do this year whether it’s in league or CIF. We’ve got a good core and a good group of guys to build around.”

Junior shooting guard/small forward Abiel Pearl (6-3) is athletic and a leaper who has a soft touch in the paint, is a ball hawk on defense and a splendid rebounder.

There are four other seniors on the team and they include shooting guard Gor Keshishyan (6-2), shooting guard Danny Contreras (5-7), shooting guard A.J. Blake (5-10), small forward/power forward Craig Rushton (6-2) and center Greg Zadikian (6-5).

Up and in the basket. The Indians hope to see more of this during the season. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

The juniors include point guard Vartan Avetisyan (5-9), shooting guard Elmer Reyes (5-10), small forward Kelton Shea (6-3) and shooting guard Armen Nazarian (6-3).

Three sophomores are on the team and they are small forward J.G. Lambert (6-3), point guard/shooting guard Phoenix Mosley (5-9) and shooting guard Nigel Dickens (6-1).

The Indians are deep in talent this season and hope to forget last season in which they went 11-16 and 4-10 in league for sixth place while missing the postseason.

Four players return and they include senior swingman Emery Goulet, senior point guard Nicholas Garcia, senior shooting guard Carson Cardenaz and reserve forward Tyler Cantrell.

Goulet is a first-team all-league selection, team captain and one of the floor leaders.

Garcia, who was the quarterback for the Indians, will distribute the basketball and look for his shot when it’s available.

Senior guard Leo Tahmasian (No. 23) should have a solid season for the Bulldogs. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

Cardenaz played wide receiver and always showed his toughness on the field.

“We are bigger and stronger physically than last year’s team,” Burroughs coach Allan Ellis said. “I think last year’s experience for our starting guards will help us a lot on and off the court for our younger players.”

Ellis knows it’s not going to be easy to capture the league title, but likes what he’s seen.

“We know we are in a tough league, but the majority of these players have been a part of my program for four years,” he said. “We look forward to the challenge and the guys are hungry to show what they are capable of on the basketball court.”

The rest of the backcourt will consist of shooting guard Jase Sadsad, shooting guard Blake Ballard, shooting guard Elijah Duller, shooting guard Evan Zamora and point guard Coleman Chennault.

The frontcourt will be comprised of Jack Nitzsche, Chance Spinks and Corwin Smith, who is 6-6, and will play center.

Burbank Boys Basketball Gets Hungry in Win Over Burroughs

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The Burbank High boys’ basketball knew that a win over Burroughs High in the regular season finale would guarantee a CIF Southern Section playoff berth.

As a result, the host Bulldogs played focused and determined in an 83-49 contest over the visiting Indians, who won the first meeting between the two rivals.

“They’ve been thinking about it the last two days,” Burbank coach Ernest Baskerville said of the playoffs. ‘They’ve been excited about playing this game. They understood the last time we played them, they kicked our butt.”

(Photo by Ross A Benson)

Burbank (17-11 overall, 8-6 in the league) jumped out to a 22-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and were never threatened by the Indians, who finish the season with an 11-16 overall mark, 4-10 in the league.

“They were ready to go from the beginning. They wanted revenge and they played well and shot the ball well and we got behind and couldn’t recover,” Burroughs coach Allan Ellis said.

Burbank converted 20 of 33 shots it took in the first half and hit five of 14 attempts from three-point range.

The Bulldogs led 47-23 at halftime and continued to shine in the third quarter by taking a 66-33 lead going into the final quarter.

Miles D’Agostin, who had six 3-pointers, finished with a game-high 22 points. Erik Harutyunyan had 18 points.

Guram Dumbadze had 12 points, Jalen Clark, Leo Tahmasian and Isaac Anglade each had seven for the Bulldogs. Ben Burnham and Jared Pasion each had three points. Kevin Sarkes and Abiel Pearl each had two points.

(Photo by Ross A Benson)

Burroughs was led by Nick Garcia, who had 14 points. Bryan Oasey had 13 points, Aaron Amanios had nine points and Emery Goulet had four points.

Sammy Solis and Evan Zamora each had three points. Carson Cardenaz had two points and Peter Filippi had one point.

Baskerville is hopeful the CIF playoff selection committee will look at the Bulldogs’ strength of schedule.

“Hopefully we get a good draw if you look at the teams we’ve played. We’ve played Camarillo, Valencia, Calabasas, King-Drew, Crossroads,” he said.

Burroughs Boys Basketball Stuns Burbank

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(Photo by Ross A Benson)

The Burroughs High boys’ basketball has had its ups and downs this season.

The Indians played one of their finest first halves of the season against Burbank High Friday night.

It was so good that it was enough to help the Indians avoid a fourth-quarter meltdown in a 66-61 Pacific League victory.

“It was a tough fourth quarter but we had to keep our composure and that’s what I kept telling my teammates,” said Burroughs Emery Goulet, who had a game-high 32 points.

Burroughs (10-11 overall, 3-5 in the league) held a 55-38 lead going into the fourth quarter and appeared to be in command for a victory.

(Photo by Ross A Benson)

But Burbank  (12-8, 4-4) began the fourth quarter on a 14-0 run and tied things with 2:43 left on a pair of free throws by Jared Pasion.

The Bulldogs would later take the lead on two occasions before Goulet put forth a final push that was enough to lift his team to victory.

“We were running too many plays that were complicated that they weren’t really used to running, so we simplified it and starting running spreads,” Burroughs coach Allan Ellis said of his offense.

Ellis said the change allowed his team to get more open looks at the basket. Burroughs hit 11 three-pointers as a team.

(Photo by Ross A Benson)

“The change in the offense was working for us. Hopefully, we can continue doing this for the rest of the year,” Ellis said. “This was a great win for our team.”

Ellis said he knew his team could not afford to get too comfortable, even with a double-digit lead.

“Burbank did a great job fighting back in the fourth quarter and I expected them to fight back at some point. We weren’t executing very well. Once we got back to our execution in the last minute or two minutes, we started to find our rhythm again,” Ellis said.

Burbank coach Ernest Baskerville was frustrated that his team didn’t come out on top.

“You’ve got to play a whole game,” he said. “You have to play every team that you play with respect. I told them (his team) all week, don’t think that they’re going to let you come out because they’re in the bottom half of the league (standings) and you’re in the top half.”

(Photo by Ross A Benson)

Burroughs, which led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter and 33-22 at halftime, got 13 points from Bryan Oasey.

Sammy Solis added eight points and Nick Garcia scored seven. Carson Cardenaz had four points. Tyler Cantrell had two points.

Burbank was led by Leo Tahmasian and Erik Harutyunyan, who each had 15 points and Miles D’Agostin, who had 11.

Pasion had seven points and Jalen Clark added five. Ben Burnham had four points and Isaac Anglade had two. Abiel Pearl and Guram Dumbadze each hit a free throw.

Burroughs Boys Basketball Goes Flat Against Glendale

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If the Burroughs High boys’ basketball team wants to make a run at a CIF Southern Section playoff berth, the Indians are going to have to greatly improve over the next month.

Playing in their first game of the year, Burroughs fell behind early and never recovered in a 67-55 home loss against Glendale.

“Our offense was stagnant. We forced way too many shots in the first half,” Burroughs coach Allan Ellis said.

Burroughs (8-11 overall, 1-5 in league) got a three-pointer from Emery Goulet to tie things at 3 early in the first quarter and that was the only time the Indians were level with the visiting Nitros.

Goulet, who had a game-high 25 points, did all he could to help keep the Indians in the game.

But Glendale (16-4, 4-2 in league) had a strong supporting cast and was able to display success with both its inside and outside game. Nitros center Elvin Hartoonian finished 17 points.

Glendale also got solid shooting from junior David Shamiryan, who had 15 points off the bench and hit three 3-pointers.

Burroughs trailed 22-12 at the end of the first quarter and went up by as much as 21 points on two occasions. A three-pointer by Goulet helped cut the deficit to 39-25 at halftime.

Another three-pointer by Goulet to start the second half got Burroughs to within 39-28.

Goulet helped cut the lead to single digits at 46-38 with 1:47 left in the third quarter. But Glendale quickly responded with a three-pointer by Cole Fajardo to stop the threat of a rally.

Burroughs Bryan Oasay hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 53-43 going into the final quarter.

Carson Cardenaz hit a three-pointer with 3:05 left to play to once again cut the deficit into single digits at 59-50.

But Burroughs was only able to cut the deficit to within eight when Goulet completed a three-point play with 1:37 left to make it 63-55.

Cardenaz finished with 12 points and Oasay had 11. Walker Miller had three points. Steven Johnson and Nick Garcia each had two points.

Burroughs Boys Hoops Digs Hole Against Glendale, Lose 59-50

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By Rick Assad

 

A deep and ugly hole faced the Burroughs High boys’ basketball team on Friday evening and it proved simply too much.

Glendale jumped out to a 24-8 lead in the first quarter and then held off the visiting and gritty Indians 59-50 in a Pacific League encounter.

After the putrid start, the Indians, who connected on 19 of 58 from the floor for 32.7 percent and outscored the Nitros, who drilled 22 of 49 for 44.8 percent, 19-8 in the second quarter, drew within 32-27 at the intermission.

The Indians struggled to score in the first quarter against Glendale. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

“We started the game off not ready to play defense the way we practiced, the way we prepared,” Burroughs coach Allan Ellis said. “In the second quarter we started picking up our defensive intensity and that got us back into the basketball game.”

Sammy Solis paved the way for the Indians (5-6 and 0-2 in league) with a team-best 14 points while Emery Goulet chimed in with 11.

Burroughs came out and hit on three of 12 shots from the floor in the opening period, but bounced back and drilled eight of 17 in the second frame as Solis scored eight points and delivered 10 points at the break.

The Indians nailed four from three-point range at the midway point and added three more in the second half.

Points were hard to come by for Burroughs against the Nitros. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

Burroughs hit four of 15 from the field in the third quarter and four of 14 attempts in the fourth period.

Bryan Oasay contributed five points in the third quarter after dropping in a free throw in the opening stanza and a trey in the second period.

The Indians were outscored 10-9 in the third period and 17-14 in the fourth frame when Goulet tallied six points including a three-pointer.

Leading Glendale’s offense was junior shooting guard Manny Kapoushian, who dropped in a game-best 17 points and hitting four of the seven made from three-point range.

Kapoushian’s three-pointer with 5:49 left in the opening period handed the Nitros an 8-1 edge. A hoop by Solis with 4:43 remaining in the second quarter sliced Glendale’s advantage to 26-14.

Senior point guard Cole Fajardo added nine points for the Nitros (8-3 and 1-1 in league), who made 13 of 28 shots for 46.4 percent in the opening half, with seven points by the intermission.

When junior point guard Edgar Kirakosian (six points) drilled a three-pointer and four minutes showing, the Nitros, who took a 42-36 lead into the fourth quarter, surged ahead 52-39.

Evan Zamora and Nick Garcia each chimed in with six points for the Indians while Carson Cardenaz dropped in four.

The Indians canned seven of 12 free throws and the Nitros were successful on eight of 16 from the charity line.

 

Boys Basketball Teams Have New Look

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The Burbank and Burroughs boys’ basketball teams will be hoping to move forward this season after both experienced mediocrity last season. Both are solid and should be ready to go for Pacific League play, which begins today.

Burbank
Things have changed for the Bulldogs as Ernest Baskerville, who once was the head coach at Providence High, has taken over for Jamayne Potts, who took the Village Christian position.
A few players have left the program with the change of coaches, but the Bulldogs have looked solid in the early part of the season.

(Photo by Ross A Benson)

“I love the fact that they’re all good kids and they’ll do anything I ask. I think the fact of the whole process of me becoming their coach that they bonded together a little more and said whomever we get we’re going to work hard for,” Baskerville said. “That’s what they’re doing, they are working really hard.”
Burbank has no superstars, but also doesn’t have any weaknesses.
Senior Erik Harutyunyan, at 6-foot-2, will generally take the toughest defensive assignments.
Senior Miles D’Agostin (5-10), nephew of former Burbank girls’ basketball coach John D’Agostin, has been very impressive in the early part of the season with his hustle and outside shooting capabilities.
At the point guard position the Bulldogs have senior Jared Pasion (5-9), senior Issac Anglade (5-10) and junior Ben Burnham (6-0).
On the wings and inside Burbank has a solid core of seniors. Chance Van Hook, Guram Dubadze, Satchel Bookchk and Clarence Tahmasian are all 6-2. Junior Kevin Sarkes is the tallest on the team at 6-4.
Junior Leo Tahmasian (6-0) and sophomore Abiel Pearl (6-1) have both show promise in the early part of the season.
Seniors Angel Ibarra (6-1) and Jalen Clark (6-0) have played key roles.

Burroughs

The Indians have grown up quickly with many new faces under third-year coach Allan Ellis.

Junior Nick Garcia, who played some quarterback in football, is expected to see significant minutes at the point guard position.
Senior Brian Oasey is a combo guard who could also see time at point guard.

The Indians will also look to juniors Emery Goulet, Carson Cardenaz and Evan Zamora as well as senior Aaron Amanios to make key contributions in the back court.

“I like my team this season because they are a resilient team that competes hard,” Ellis said. “League this season will be tough because we aren’t the most experienced team. But they are learning every day how to compete at the varsity level.”

In the front court, Burroughs will look to seniors Peter Filippi, Steven Johnson, Sammy Solis and Walker Miller.

Junior Ellington Simmons is coming of a fine football season as a receiver and will also give the Indians some height inside.