Burbank girls' basketball team back at full strength

Return of injured players sparks Burbank Bulldogs to a 63-40 win against El Camino Real in Burroughs tournament.

December 18, 2012|By Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com

(Tim Berger Staff…)

BURROUGHS HIGH — With a slew of injuries, the Burbank High girls' basketball team played its first four games of the season missing some key players.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they lost all four games.

Burbank Coach Bruce Breeden finally got a chance to see whet his squad could do when it was at full strength when the Bulldogs took on El Camino Real on Tuesday in the first round of the Burroughs Magnolia Park Optimist Club Tournament.

Despite some players who had been sidelined not being in game shape, Burbank was able to come on in the second half to roll to a 63-40 victory at Burroughs High.

"It was nice to finally get the full team together," Breeden said. "It's been a struggle for some of the players to come back. Since she is our leader out there, it's tough not having [senior] Courtney [Seidler] on the floor. She really makes a difference when she's in there."

Despite fouling out with 6:04 remaining in the fourth quarter, Seidler — a past All-Pacific League selection — provided the Bulldogs (1-4) with a definite spark. The senior scored 12 points to go along with six rebounds.

Seidler led a charge in the second quarter that helped Burbank take control of the game.

"It felt really good to be out there," Seidler said. "I've been out two months and it was just killing me to not be able to play. But I was nervous at the start, especially when I missed my first layup. But then I felt a lot better after that."

The Bulldogs were led by a strong performance inside from senior forward Aja Locke. Locke tallied 18 points and hauled in 15 rebounds, many on second-chance shots after a rebound. Teammate Jamie Gonzalez added nine points and six rebounds.

Burbank had its problems on defense in the first quarter — namely trying to contain El Camino Real (3-4) sharpshooter Cora Chan. Chan was on fire from the field in the first half, scoring 18 points, including three three-pointers.

But Breeden tightened the screws on Chan defensively in the second quarter, limiting her to four points in the final two quarters. Chan ended the night with a game-high 20 points.

"We went to a box-and-one on defense and that helped contain her," Breeden said. "She was doing a good job at getting open in that first half and we weren't doing a good job at containing her. But I thought we did a good job on her in the second half."

In the fourth quarter, Chan did manage five shots from the field, but she converted just one.

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