Erik Boal
BURBANK -- At 5-feet-10, Burbank High senior guard Eddie Nazarian was
not the most imposing figure on the court at Burbank High Tuesday night,
but he was the most dominant.
Nazarian scored 34 points and buried five three-pointers as the host
Bulldogs posted a 61-51 nonleague boys' basketball victory over Hoover
High.
"All of his points came in the flow of our offense," said Burbank
Coach Ron Quarterman. "He was in his zone and he hit some really big
shots when they got close in the second half. I'm really happy for him
because he played a complete game."
The Tornados (0-4) played a good first quarter, leading, 16-13, but
costly turnovers and a five-minute stretch without a field goal in the
second quarter shifted control of the game to the Bulldogs.
Trailing, 20-18, early in the second, Burbank (3-2) put together a
13-0 run behind six free throws from Frank Reed and two baskets by
Nazarian.
The Bulldogs also stepped up their defensive intensity, forcing 16
Tornado turnovers in the first half, nine in the second quarter.
"We talked before the game that we had been giving up too many points
in our previous games," said Quarterman. "Our offense feeds off our
defense and we stepped it up when we had to."
Hoover closed the first half with a layup by Aldo Marin and opened the
third quarter with a jumper from Chris Ercek and three-point play by
Marin to get as close as 31-27, but Nazarian stepped up for Burbank when
it needed it most.
The Tornados cut the Bulldog lead to four points three different times
in the third, but Nazarian responded with two three-point field goals and
a two-point basket to stretch the lead each time.
"Every time we would take one step forward, we would always follow it
up by taking two steps back," said Hoover Coach Kirt Kohlmeier. "We need
to work on our mental toughness in those situations and learn from our
mistakes."
Ercek hit his second three-pointer 30 seconds into the fourth quarter
to bring Hoover to 44-39, but Nazarian countered with his fourth
long-range bomb to give Quarterman's squad some breathing room.
The Tornados got as close as 50-43 with 5:50 remaining on Marin's
layup, but the Bulldogs used a 7-2 run over the next 3:30 to put the game
away.
Kris Rubio led Hoover with 18 points and Marin added 16 and seven
rebounds. Reed was Burbank's second-leading scorer with nine points and
Trent Cleveland tallied seven.
Hoover........16 6 14 15 -- 51
Burbank.......13 18 13 17 -- 61
Hoover -- Ercek 10, Chinivizyan 3, Ismalian 4, Marin 16 and 7
rebounds, Rubio 18.
* Three-pointers: Ercek 2. Rubio.
Burbank -- Reed 9, Nazarian 34, Cleveland 7, Jordan 3, Chutta 2,
Sleiman 4, Babakanyan 2 and 5 steals.
* Three-pointers: Nazarian 5.
