Nitros lacking in offense in close loss

BURBANK — On an afternoon on which a win seemingly wouldn't have required much scoring, the Glendale High girls' basketball team just didn't have enough.

Despite going the majority of the second half without scoring a field goal, the Nitros trailed by just one or two possessions all the way to the end. They also had their last-chance possession while trailing by a mere two points extended by an offensive rebound and a loose ball won, only to suffer a 36-34 loss to Simi Valley in a Burroughs High Summer League game on Tuesday.

"We're used to having [backcourt scoring]," said Glendale Coach Tania Adary, who got eight points apiece from Tara Abdul-Ahad and Erlin Keshishzadeh, but saw her starting guards fail to record a made field goal. "We know we don't have those shooters like we used to have, so we're literally relying on our defense to get us some easy buckets.

"I don't know if it's fatigue or what it is, but they're not getting it done."

Fatigue may have hit the Nitros early after they had carved out an 18-10 lead with 7:00 to go in the first half on a layup by Lala Karimian. From that point, Simi Valley was able to capitalize on a string of Glendale turnovers and rally with a 12-2 run to end the half.

Defensively, I was not happy one bit," Adary said. "They could have done much, much better.

"What's the point [of playing defense] when you're going to turn the ball over?"

The Nitros bounced back to take a 24-22 lead with 16:45 left in the second half when Keshishzadeh finished off a fast break while being fouled. But they would soon lose the lead and be forced to try to stay close on foul shots alone until the 2:50 mark, when Abdul-Ahad finally broke the drought from the field with a jumper off an offensive rebound that made it 36-32 in favor of Simi Valley.

Glendale would miss its next two shots, but Simi Valley, going through its own offensive problems, failed to make them pay and Glendale snuck to within two points on a free throw by Kris Zadourian with under a minute to play.

A five-second inbound violation on Simi Valley gave the Nitros yet another chance to tie the game. The possession began with a missed three-pointer, but continued with an offensive rebound by Zadourian. Nina Sahakian then had her short look rim out and the Nitros won a jump ball on the rebound, only to turn it over with the clock ticking away under five seconds.