Lady Bears came away with a 61-43 win over the Lady Bulldogs on Friday Night and then blew a 12-point lead to the Lady Vikings in a 90-83 loss in overtime on Saturday Night 

Following Burroughs’s 72-37 loss to Birmingham back on Thursday afternoon. The Lady Bears defeated Highland 61-43 on Friday Night and then gave up a 12-point third-quarter lead to Valencia, which ultimately resulted in a 90-83 defeat for the Lady Bears in OT. Jessica Mena scored 24 points in the win over Highland and Mariam Fahs had 36 points in the loss to Valencia. 

Highland entered the contest against Burroughs by coming off a 52-41 win over Kennedy in their first game of the tournament on Friday night where Aliana James had 13 points in the win over the Lady Cougars. The first quarter between Burroughs and Highland began with instant offense with Jessica Mena and Abigail Gomez trading baskets. James and Makaylah Aguiar made back-to-back three-point shots to give the Lady Bulldogs a 9-4 lead. The Lady Bears eventually climbed their way back into the contest with Grace Barton, Mena, and Izzy Amoroso recording three straight baskets to help Burroughs take a one-point lead. Barton also nailed down a three-point shot to help the Lady Bears end the first quarter with a 17-13 lead over Highland. 

Barton began the second quarter by making another three-point basket to give Burroughs a 20-13 lead over Highland. The Lady Bulldogs found a way to close the gap on the Lady Bears when Laylah Jones and James sank back-to-back three-point baskets to tie the game at 20. Then Mena and Makaylah Aguiar also traded three-point baskets before Mena nailed a statement three-pointer to help the Lady Bears retake the lead at 26-23. Valentina Morales hit a buzzer-beating two-point shot to help Burroughs lead 28-23 over Highland at halftime.

Following intermission, Kaydence Polk and Mena each took a turn at the free-throw line to start the third quarter. Polk scored one of two attempts at the foul line while Mena nailed both of her foul shots at the line. Burroughs continued to have control of the game throughout the third quarter and eventually led by nine points heading into the final quarter of play. 

Abigail Gomez began the final quarter of play with a two-point shot in hopes of Highland closing the gap with Burroughs. Mena and Delilah Rodriguez also traded points for their respective teams with Mena hitting a three-point shot and Rodriguez recording a layup. Ella Anderson called the game with a layup to seal an 18-point victory over Highland. Burroughs improves their record to 8-4 while Highland drops to 8-7 on the season. 

On Saturday night, Valencia came into the contest against Burroughs following a blowout 63-36 victory over Arleta while Burroughs was looking to play the role of underdog against an elite Lady Vikings squad that lived up to the hype. 

Burroughs began the first quarter against Valencia by going on a quick start. Mariam Fahs and Valentina Morales carried the Lady Bears offensively by going on a 15-3 scoring run. The Lady Vikings, who trailed by as much as 14, found a way to end the first quarter by closing the gap and cutting the Burroughs lead to seven.

Isabella Amayakyan started the second quarter with a three-point basket to get the lead back to 10 points for the Lady Bears. Both teams continued to light up the scoreboard with the plays of the night happening towards the end of the second quarter with Grace Barton and Kiera McLaughlin both trading three-point baskets with Burroughs leading 39-25 at the halftime break. 

Fahs began the third quarter by increasing the Lady Bear lead to 13 in hopes of putting Lady Vikings to bed. Kamila Basyrova, at one point, helped Valencia cut the Burroughs lead to six with a three-point basket of her own but the Lady Bears continued to have momentum in the third quarter and led by 12 heading into the final quarter of play.

The Lady Vikings found a way to overcome a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Basyrova hit a bank shot three-pointer to tie the game at 75 to force overtime with 2.1 seconds left in the final quarter of regulation. 

Both teams had their backs against the wall heading into the overtime session with Valencia finding a way to complete the come-from-behind win over Burroughs by outscoring them 15-8 in the extra four minutes of play. Cara McKell and Basyrova combined for 61 points in the win for the Lady Vikings over the Lady Bears. Both teams will return to action on Monday, December 30th with Burroughs playing another marquee matchup against Ventura at 7:30 pm. and Valencia will take on Verdugo Hills at 4:30 p.m.