Lady Bears defeat Lady Bulldogs 79-39 to secure second place in the Pacific League and the Bulldogs wrap up a top four finish with a 74-62 win over the Bears


The John Burroughs Bears basketball teams split their regular season finale doubleheader with their crosstown rival Burbank Bulldogs.



The Lady Bears cruised to a 79-39 win over the Lady Bulldogs, securing a second place finish in the Pacific League standings and the Burbank boys wrapped up a top-four finish in the league standings with a 74-62 win over Burroughs.


The girls contest between Burbank and Burroughs began the doubleheader. Isabella Amayakyan and Jessica Mena began the opening quarter with free throws to open the scoring for Burroughs, earning an early 3-0 lead. Amayakyan went one for two at the foul line and Mena went two for three at the line to start the game.


Following a defensive stance that forced a Lady Bulldogs shot clock violation, Valentina Morales contributed to the Lady Bears 5-0 scoring run with a layup.


Andrea Aparico got Burbank on the board with a basket while being fouled, but was unable to complete the three-point play at the free throw line.


The Lady Bears continued to control the first quarter and headed into the second with a nine-point lead.


The Lady Bulldogs were unable to get their offense rolling and began the second quarter with another shot clock violation. The Lady Bears capitalized with a layup by Mena to give Burroughs a 21-10 lead.


Burroughs continued their offensive parade in the second quarter resulting in a 21 point lead at halftime.



The Lady Bears went on cruise control throughout the second half to seal the 40-point win over the Lady Bulldogs.



Prior to tip off the Lady Bears varsity basketball team held a pregame tribute honoring members of the John Burroughs High School administration and teaching staff.



The Burroughs faculty was honored at center court as they were paired with members of the Lady Bears varsity team.



Burroughs improves to 18-10 overall and 12-2 in Pacific League play resulting in a second place finish and Burbank falls to 19-9 overall and 8-6 in Pacific League league resulting in a fourth place finish.



Both the Lady Bears and Lady Bulldogs will find out their CIF Southern Section Playoff opponents on Saturday, February 7 at noon.


Following the conclusion of the Burbank Burroughs girls basketball game, a joint senior night celebration was held to honor the graduating seniors on the Burroughs basketball teams.


The Burroughs High School girls basketball senior night celebration was held first as the Lady Bears paid tribute to six of their graduating seniors in Alyssa Pracha, Izzy Amoroso, Grace Barton, Violet Walker, Gabriella Buendia, and Valentina Morales.


“It was an emotional tribute for all of our six seniors that have been part of our program for four years and devoted their hard work during their high school basketball careers,” said Vicky Oganyan.


Oganyan also added that Pracha, Amoroso, Barton Walker, Buendia and Morales rebuilt the Burroughs girls basketball culture following the covid era and that this group of girls brought the program back to its roots.


“It was a very emotional night, I’ve played with these girls for the majority of my life, and playing my last league game with my fellow senior teammates was sad but happy we got the win over our crosstown rivals.” said Bears senior co captain Valentina Morales. Morales also said that Grace Barton had an amazing game in the win over Burbank.


Following the Burroughs High School girls basketball senior night ceremonies, the Burroughs High school boys basketball senior night ceremony was held prior to tip off of the Burbank Burroughs boys basketball contest.


The Burroughs boys basketball program paid tribute to 10 of its graduating seniors in Ethan Cooper, Nathan Rodriguez, Cedric Valdez, Justin Herrera, Nico Meza, Evan Lanier, Elliott Lawrence, Weston Davis, Kane Le Cabico, and Teagen Bradford.



“Senior nights are special,” said Jason Weatherall, “the environment was electric, as there’s nothing like a Burbank Burroughs basketball game with all the fanfare and the crowd being passionate about their teams.”



Weatherall also added that each individual senior on this team had an impact on this team throughout the season.



The Burbank Burroughs boys basketball game concluded the night in primetime with a hostile crowd filling up the stands.



Avo Papikyan and Cris Ong began the opening quarter by putting the Bulldogs up 4-0 to start the first quarter. Nico Meza then went one for two at the free throw line to put the Bears on the board for their first points of the contest.


Following Kaleb Walker’s layup the Bears scored consecutive points to tie the game at six. First Nico Meza scored a layup and then Ethan Cooper tied the game at six with a three pointer.



Both teams showcased an entertaining first quarter with the Bulldogs leading by one heading into the second quarter.



Jon Ong and Justin Herrera made both of their free throw shots to start the second quarter, continuing an entertaining first half from both teams. Eventually the Bulldogs pulled away in the second quarter and had a comfortable 33-23 lead at the halftime break.


Following the break, Herrera hoped he had jumpstarted an epic rally for the Bears with a big three-point basket to start the third quarter.


Giordan Lewis responded with an and-one basket while being fouled. He completed the three-point play at the foul line to put the Bulldogs up 36-26. The Bulldogs strong second half propelled them to a 12-point win over the Bears.



Burbank improves to 21-7 overall and 9-5 in Pacific League play and Burroughs finishes the season with a 9-19 overall record and 3-11 in Pacific League play. Burbank will find out their CIF Southern Section Playoff opponent on Saturday, February 7 at noon with Burroughs’s season coming to an end.










































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