Alyssa Pracha and Isabella Amayakyan combined for 28 points in the win over Sherman Oaks CES along with Mariam Fahs and Valentina Morales combining for 34 points in the victory over Bishop Alemany 

The John Burroughs Lady Bears swept their three showcase games at Providence High School with victories against Lakeview Charter, Sherman Oaks CES, and Bishop Alemany to start January unbeaten. Alyssa Pracha and Isabeella Amayakyan combined for 28 points in the win over Sherman Oaks CES. Mariam Fahs and Valentina Morales combined for 34 points in the win over Bishop Alemany. 

The Sherman Oaks CES Lady Knights entered Friday Night’s showdown against Burroughs still unbeaten and came off a 59-57 victory over North Hollywood back on Thursday afternoon. The Lady Bears began the first quarter with a 16-2 scoring run over the Lady Knights as Mariam Fahs, Grace Barton, Jessica Mena, Valentina Morales, and Izzy Amoroso did the heavy lifting for the offense. Following a SOCES timeout Ella Anderson, Gabrielle Buendia, Isabella Amayakyan, and Alyssa Pracha continued to break the game wide open and helped Burroughs lead by 18 at the end of the first quarter. 

The Lady Bears continued to have control of the contest and went on another scoring run to start the second quarter. Pracha, Amayakyan, and Polina Gorgeriz chipped in with Burroughs’s 10-0 scoring run until Neriah Adjei ended the run with a two-point basket. Pracha and Amayakyan both scored back-to-back points to help the Lady Bears lead 45-11 heading into the halftime break. 

Following the halftime break, the third quarter continued to be all Burroughs with no comeback hopes in sight for SOCES. The Lady Bears entered the final quarter leading 54-19. The Lady Knights suffered their first loss of the season as their undefeated stretch came to a close while the Burroughs Lady Bears improved to 11-6. Sherman Oaks CES ended its showcase with a loss to Lakeview Charter and will look to get back on track in the Valley League when they host Northridge Academy on Thursday, January 9 at 4:00 p.m.

The Bishop Alemany Lady Warriors entered Saturday morning’s contest against Burroughs following a dominant 79-42 victory over Lakeview Charter on Friday night. Burroughs previously played Alemany this season back on Tuesday, December 3rd at the Palisades Tournament with the Lady Bears coming away with a 67-53 victory. 

Alemany began the first quarter with an 11-4 lead as Sophia Vasquez and Aliya Latif helped the Lady Warriors start fast. Valentina Morales, Mariam Fahs, and Alyssa Pracha helped Burroughs overcome a seven-point first-quarter deficit to help the Lady Bears go on an 11-0 run to end the opening quarter with a 15-11 lead. 

Both teams made the start of the second quarter very competitive. Latif and Lauren Arce chipped in with the scoring, with Arce making both foul shots at the line and recording a three-point basket to give the Lady Warriors an 18-15 lead over the Lady Bears. Izzy Amoroso responded with back-to-back three-point shots for Burroughs to retake the lead. Lexie Acquah-Adubah and Jessica Mena then both traded three-point baskets with Burroughs by three afterwards. Both teams continued to show great offense in the second quarter with the Lady Bears leading 29-26 heading into halftime. 

Following halftime, Fahs and Vasquez traded baskets to start the third quarter. Both teams continued to battle it out throughout the third quarter but the Lady Bears escaped with a six-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

Fahs started the fourth quarter with a layup to increase the Lady Bear lead to eight before Briana Lopez and Morales each had and-one baskets while fouled. Lopez converted her four-point play at the foul line and Morales recorded a three-point play with her free throw. Izzy Amoroso scored the dagger with a three-point shot to seal the 63-50 win over Bishop Alemany. 

“We played well together and showed great energy throughout the three-day showcase,” said Vikki Oganyan. Oganyan continued to mention that the team had shown improvement in the things they worked on since their 1-4 stretch. 

“I was very happy with the sense of urgency throughout the game and the girls competed all four quarters,” said Alemany head coach Shay Murphy. Murphy added that the team did a great job protecting the basketball for parts of the game and only turned the ball over seven times in this second meeting as opposed to turning the ball over 30 times the first time around. 

Burroughs improves to 12-6 heading into Pacific League play and Bishop Alemany falls to 7-10. Both teams are back in action on Tuesday, January 7th as Burroughs will take on Crescenta Valley in their Pacific League Opener with tip-off scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Bishop Alemany will host Marymount at 6:00 p.m.