Box Score

Sergei Aftandelian Last season, theBurroughs High boys' basketball team finished with a 2-23 record, while, La Canada compiled a 22-5 mark. All the indications Wednesday were that the Spartans would blow out the Indians in a Hoover High Summer League game, but the result was just the opposite. Burroughs suffocated and frustrated the Spartans with a full-court press that resulted in a 58-47 triumph at Hoover High. "We didn't come out to play," Spartan Coach Tom Hofman said.

Hamlet Nalbandyan BURBANK -- The La Canada High girls' basketball team was ready for one great player, but instead, it got another Friday. However, as the 59-46 victory against Burbank in a quarterfinal game of the Bellarmine-Jefferson Christmas Classic proved, it doesn't matter who the Spartans face, as long as Coach Tamar Hill's group plays its team-oriented style of play, it'll be fine. The Spartans (9-3) were expecting to face Van Nuys Montclair Prep and its USC-bound phenom Eshaya Murphy on Friday at Bell-Jeff, but thanks to Christine Kepenekian's 40-point performance Thursday, the Bulldogs instead earned the berth into the quarterfinals after a 61-58 victory against the Mounties.

Jim Riggio BURBANK HIGH -- When most teams play Burroughs High, they usually make a point of paying special attention to Indian point guard Tulyah Gaines and power forward Gracie Coronado. Perhaps teams should pay a little closer attention to senior small forward Sara Larquier. Larquier helped visiting Burroughs get ahead early and cruise to a 62-34 Foothill League victory over cross-townrival Burbank on Tuesday night. "She's the heart of this team," Burroughs Coach Doug Nicol said.

Normally, when a Major Baseball team gets knocked into the second-chance bracket of the Little League District 16 Tri-Cities Tournament, its pitching staff isn't equipped to handle the rigors of playing every other day. However, the Burbank Bulldogs might be the exception to the rule. Coach Ron Gobble has six or seven athletes who are capable of throwing strikes, and one of those individuals, left-hander Patrick Haney, got the call Thursday against International House of Pancakes.

TORRANCE -- Less than 10 days ago, the Burroughs High boys' basketball team wasn't even sure if it would make the CIF Southern Section playoffs. However, this week, the Indians have proven not once -- but twice -- they belong in the postseason. Friday evening, Burroughs stunned the Pioneer League champion Torrance Tartars, 54-50 in a Division IIA first-round match at Torrance. Burroughs defeated Fountain Valley Los Amigos, 79-52, in a wild-card game on the road Wednesday to open the playoffs.

Jeff Tully BELLARMINE-JEFFERSON HIGH -- Although the Bellarmine-Jefferson High boys' basketball team was in control in the first-round game of its own tournament, Coach Eli Essa wasn't taking any chances. Essa made sure his Guards came out with a big second-half push against Verdugo Hills High in the Bell-Jeff Holiday Classic Thursday. That push helped Bell-Jeff notch a 62-37 victory at Bell-Jeff. The Guards (6-2) will play again in the pool-play tournament at 5 p.m. today against Van Nuys.

Jeff Tully PROVIDENCE HIGH -- During the preseason, first-year Providence High Coach Brian Fay stressed the importance of playing tough defense. The Pioneers didn't have to wait long to see what their powerful defensive game can do, as they opened up the season against St. Genevieve High in the fourth annual Providence Pioneer Shootout. In the first-round game Monday at Providence, the Pioneers helped contribute to 65 Valiant turnovers in a 61-12 victory.

Tom Crowther PROVIDENCE HIGH - The Bellarmine-Jefferson High girls' basketball team found its trip to the Gold Coast Classic last week to be a rough road, going 0-4. Monday evening, in a first-round game of the Providence Pioneer Shootout, Bell-Jeff released some of its pent-up frustration on the Oakwood High Gorillas. The Guards trapped, pressed, and won easily in a physical 46-19 win at Providence. Guard senior post player Ana Coronado led all scorers with 21 points, while teammate Julie Van Dyke added 14 points and Janae Peoples had five.

Peter Samore GLENDALE-- The Burbank High softball team took its time with Hoover High in the semifinals of the Hoover Tournament. But the Bulldogs got enough offense late in the game to beat the Tornadoes Thursday, 2-1. Hoover's bats were loud but quickly silenced. The Tornadoes (4-4) either flew out or popped out 10 times. They got under too many of Bulldog Tiffany Rhoads' pitches. "We didn't score because we hit too many fly balls," Hoover Coach Kirt Kohlmeier said.

Jim Riggio It was nice and comfortable inside the new Burroughs High gymnasium Friday night. But the Indian girls' basketball team played like the temperature outside their home court -- cold. Attempting to reach the final of the 18th annual Burroughs Optimist Tournament for the fourth consecutive year, the Indians were denied, as Westlake High earned a 50-37 victory. "There's not much you can do when you can't put the ball in the basket," Burroughs Coach Doug Nicol said.

Julio Cortez Not even a previous look at Marmonte League champion Royal High helped the Burroughs softball team on Tuesday in a CIF Southern Section Division I second- round playoff game. As in a previous win against the Indians, Royal put on a hit parade, compiling 11 hits en route to a 9-3 victory at Olive Park The Highlanders, who beat Burroughs, 10-0, in a mercy-rule decision in a San Fernando Valley Spring Classic game earlier this season, took control in the third inning by sending all nine of their batters to the plate.

Jeff Tully Burbank High pitcher Jillian Schafer and her Burroughs counterpart, Sara Budrick, battled one another in a showdown befitting a cross-town rivalry. For five innings the hurlers kept their opponent in check, and off the scoreboard. However, the Indians scored the only run they needed in the sixth inning on smart baserunning and hustle to hand the Bulldogs a 1-0 Foothill League loss at Olive Park. -- BOX SCORE -- -- Burbank 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 1 1 Burroughs 0 0 0 0 0 1 x -- 1 3 1 -- -- Burbank IP R ER H BB K Schafer 6 1 1 3 1 7 -- -- Burroughs IP R ER H BB K Budrick 7 0 0 1 0 4 -- -- WP - Budrick (6-3)

Jeff Tully Burroughs High came into Friday's Foothill League game with rival Burbank with a depleted baseball team. The Indians suited up just 12 players, and had to call up two athletes from lower-level teams to fill out the squad. Despite the disadvantage, Burroughs still managed to defeat the Bulldogs, 5-4, earning a win at home. -- BOX SCORE -- -- Burbank 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 -- 4 7 6 Burroughs 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 5 4 2 -- -- Burbank IP R ER H BB K M. Sarabia 6 5 4 4 6 8 -- -- Burroughs IP R ER H BB K Collard 7 5 3 7 3 13 -- -- WP - Collard (5-5)

Garrett Uribe The Burbank High softball team came ready to avenge last year's season sweep at the hands of Burroughs High. The Bulldogs struck hard and fast Thursday, but soon hit a wall in the form of Burroughs ace pitcher Sara Budrick. In her fourth appearance since returning from a hip injury, Budrick came on in the third inning and took the wind out of Burbank's sails, defeating Bulldog Jillian Schaffer and leading the Indians to a 6-3 Foothill League win at McCambridge Park.

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan Dan Mitchell expected his players to execute routine plays, and they couldn't. Tom Crowther expected his ace, Camron Collard, to have a strong outing, and he did. In short, that was the storyline to Tuesday's Foothill League game between the Burroughs and Burbank baseball teams. Mitchell's Bulldogs committed eight errors and Crowther's Indians received a boost from Collard in their first meeting of the season. In the end, Burroughs got the upper hand, winning, 10-1, at home to notch its first league victory of the season.

Charles Rich Andre Setaghian looked across the pool in amazement at the Crescenta Valley High boys' water polo team. The Burbank High coach noticed the staggering difference in experience between the two squads. Too bad Setaghian doesn't have a player the caliber of Nick Trimis. Trimis scored a team-high six goals to carry CV to a 13-4 win against the Bulldogs in a pool-play match of the sixth annual Falcon Classic on Friday at Crescenta Valley High.

Normally, when a Major Baseball team gets knocked into the second-chance bracket of the Little League District 16 Tri-Cities Tournament, its pitching staff isn't equipped to handle the rigors of playing every other day. However, the Burbank Bulldogs might be the exception to the rule. Coach Ron Gobble has six or seven athletes who are capable of throwing strikes, and one of those individuals, left-hander Patrick Haney, got the call Thursday against International House of Pancakes.

Jeff Tully Things got wild, and downright ugly, at times in the nonleague softball game between Providence and Bellarmine-Jefferson highs. But instead of putting down her opponent, or focusing on the bad things her team did, Pioneer Coach Maggie Boozel chose to spotlight the positives in a 24-8 victory against the visiting Guards at Olive Park. The game was called after four innings because of the 10-run mercy rule. "The good thing for us in this game is we were able to work on some things, and we were able to get some of our players into the game who normally don't get a lot of playing time," Boozel said.

Jeff Tully Providence High softball Coach Maggie Boozel might want to stencil the saying "patience takes time" on the Pioneers' uniforms this season. With a new crop of players, and some of the returning starters playing different positions, Boozel realizes it is going to take a few games until her team gels and finds its identity. She is just hoping her players will be as patient. Some of Providence's growing pains showed Monday in a nonleague game against Downey St. Matthias at Olive Park.

Jim Riggio Competing for the CIF Southern Section Division IVA championship last season, the Bellarmine-Jefferson High girls' basketball team knows what it's like to play against quality competition. The host Guards looked like a team that was making its debut playing big-time high school basketball Thursday as Pasadena Muir earned a 48-15 victory in the second round of the 19th annual Bell-Jeff Summer Hoop Finale at Bellarmine-Jefferson High. Bell-Jeff advanced to the second round after a 48-45 double-overtime victory against Ventura St. Bonaventure on Wednesday.