Lady Bears come away with a dominant 67-37 win over the Lady Mustangs on senior night & Muir escapes with a 65-61 win over Burroughs in the boy’s game 

In the regular season home finale, the John Burroughs Bears split the Saturday night basketball doubleheader as the Lady Bears came away with a convincing 67-37 win over the Lady Mustangs on senior night, led by Mariam Fahs’s 14-point performance. Muir came away with a four-point win over Burroughs behind the go-ahead two-point basket by Rick Ortiz with eight seconds left in the fourth quarter. Magomed Khayuri led Muir to 16 points in the win over Burroughs and Owen Everhart led Burroughs to 16 points in the loss to Muir. 

The girl’s game was played first to start the night. Burroughs came off a 68-36 win over Glendale and Muir suffered a blowout 61-37 defeat to Arcadia on Thursday. Before the game, three graduating seniors for Burroughs were honored and celebrated with their families and loved ones. Those three seniors who were honored for their hard work with Burroughs girls basketball were team captains Mariam Fahs and Ella Anderson, and also Isabella Davtyan. 

On the basketball court, Izzy Amoroso and Fahs started off the night by helping Burroughs get off to a fast start. Amoroso nailed one of her foul shots to get the game’s first points for the Lady Bears and Fahs followed with back-to-back layups to put Burroughs up by five. The Lady Bears continued their strong first quarter by holding Muir to only five points and entered the second quarter with a 10-point lead. 

Polina Gorgeiz, Jessica Mena, and Fahs scored three straight baskets to begin the second quarter before Amari Wilson responded with a three-point shot to help the Mustangs somewhat close the gap on the Bears. The Lady Bears continued to make it a one-sided affair throughout the second quarter of play and led 35-17 at the half. 

Jaymie Kitanti and Amari Wilson started off the second half with back-to-back points as Kitani only nailed one of her free throw shots at the foul line and Wilson went two for two at the line to make it a 20-35 game. Valentina Morales, Grace Barton, and Amoroso scored consecutively for the Lady Bears with Barton and Amoroso nailing down back-to-back threes. The Lady Bears entered the fourth quarter with a comfortable 27-point lead over the Lady ‘Stangs. 

Throughout the final quarter of play, the Lady Bears rested its starters and the reserves did their part in helping seal the 30-point win over Muir. “Senior night is always special, the girls put in a lot of hard work throughout their four years in high school. Today was a great day for everyone to come out and get a win, especially the three seniors Mariam Fahs, Ella Anderson, and Isabella Davtyan,” said Vikki Oganyan Oganyan stated that she’s proud of Fahs, Anderson, and Davtyan for upholding the culture and being senior leaders on the team. 

Burroughs improves to 17-9 overall and 5-0 in Pacific League play with Muir falling to 6-16 overall and 0-5 in Pacific League play. Both teams will return to action on Monday, February 3rd. The Burroughs Lady Bears will begin their final road trip against the Pasadena Lady Bulldogs to start the two-game trip with a chance to clinch their first Pacific League title since 2018. The Muir Lady Mustangs will take on the Glendale Lady Nitros on the road. Both games will start at 5:15 p.m. 

The boy’s game was played to conclude the evening, which was a battle between two teams trying to get their first win in Pacific League play in primetime. Back on Thursday, Burroughs came off a 76-50 loss to the Glendale Nitros and Muir suffered a blowout 65-26 loss to a star-powered Arcadia Apache team. 

The Mustangs started off the first quarter on the fast track with an 11-2 scoring run. Yahya Ayoob, Oscar Marinero, Sean Bagby, and Evan Hill were part of a parade of points to begin the night. The Bears ended the first quarter by cutting the Mustang lead to seven points as Owen Everhart and Nico Meza helped with cutting the deficit. 

Tegan Bradford, Daniel Beltran, and Everhart helped Burroughs overcome an 11-2 deficit, turning it into a 20-17 lead to start the second quarter. While neither team had a clear edge in the quarter, both teams continued to trade points throughout the second with Burroughs leading 29-27 at the half over Muir. 

Ayoob and Marinero both scored to start the third quarter to help Muir jump out by one. Ayoob converted both of his free throws and Marinero nailed one of two shots at the line. Nico Meza scored a two-point layup to help Burroughs retake the lead. Bradford and Everhart got the Bears to a four-point lead. Magomed Khayurri and Marinero helped Muir end the third quarter with a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

Both the Bears and Mustangs continued to battle it out in the final quarter. With the game on the line, Mezza and Evan Hill both hit clutch three-point shots for their respective teams to tie the game at 60. While Burroughs was inbounding the ball Rick Ortiz stole the inbound pass and scored a clutch two-point shot with eight seconds left to go in the fourth quarter to give Muir a 62-60 lead. Nico Meza had a chance to force overtime; he missed his second attempt at the line after making the first. Muir survives a four-point win over Burroughs following a wild fourth quarter. 

“It’s been a long season for us, we’ve had tough losses along the way but the guys showed determination throughout the game and dealt with adversity with the way we’re dealing with things in Pasadena because of the Eaton Fires,” said Brenton Moore. Moore also mentioned that he’s got nothing but love for Ricky Ortiz and admits that he always is ready no matter the situation when asked about his game-winning shot with eight seconds left to play in the game. 

“The turnovers and missed free throws hurt us, this was a win we could have had if we limited our mistakes and if we made our free throws,” said Darryl Carter. Carter stated that there were bright spots in the game but praised Owen Everhart, Nico Meza, and Elliot Lawrence for helping the Bears stay in it. 

Burroughs falls to 5-17 overall and 0-5 in Pacific League play while Muir improves to 6-15 overall and 1-4 in Pacific League play. Both teams will return to action on Monday, February 3rd with the Bears playing their final two games on the road beginning with a powerhouse Pasadena team. Muir will take on the Glendale Nitros at Glendale High School. Both games will tip off at 6:45 p.m.