Hamlet Nalbandyan
LONG BEACH -- The Glendale High boys' basketball team had nothing to
lose but the game Friday night.
Going up against a superiorly talented Long Beach Poly team in a
first-round game of the CIF Southern Section Division IAA playoffs, the
Nitros scored a hard-earned 40 points and were lucky to give up just 95
at Long Beach Poly.
Then again, the end result was never in question. What was, however,
was how Glendale (13-14) would respond to a challenge as stiff as this?
"I was happy to see our student-athletes giving it their best in the
toughest of situations," Glendale Coach Steve Snodgress said. "And this
o7 was f7 the toughest situation."
Long Beach Poly (24-3), the No. 2-seed and ranked No. 8 in the West by
USA Today, shot 38 of 69 (55.1%) from the field and used its starters
just half the time to blow away the Nitros.
But there were some positives for Glendale on a night that featured
nine unofficial dunks -- all by the Jackrabbits, including an alley-oop
for their first field goal.
Glendale's Riley Van Patten, one of six seniors who played his final
high school game impressed the crowd with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Isa Hall, another senior, added 10 points before fouling out.
And fresh off the junior varsity team, sophomore Servet Iyigun hit a
game-high three three-pointers for his nine points.
But even with the minor highlights for the Nitros, the story of the
night was just o7 how f7 much better Long Beach Poly was.
"This was a great team we played," said Snodgress, in his sixth year
as Nitro coach.
"They're as good as I've ever seen."
BOX SCORE
Glendale*9*6*11*14*--*40
Long Beach Poly*30*20*30*15*--*95
GLENDALE -- Van Patten 14 and 9 rebounds, Hall 10, Iyigun 9, Guerrero
2, Darakjian 2, Munoz 2, Woodcock 1.
Three-pointers: Iyigun 3, Van Patten 2.
LONG BEACH POLY -- Jones 19 and 12 rebounds, Rivers 17, 7 assists and
3 steals, Butler 14, Fields 14, 8 rebounds and 3 steals, Roche 11 and 9
rebounds, Lewis 7, Barnes 4 and 5 assists, McDonald 4, Love 3, Chu 2.
Three-pointers: Rivers, Butler.
