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Burroughs girls’ basketball blitzed by Valencia in summer league play

Burroughs' Caitlyn Pentland and the Indians lost to Valencia in summer action on Tuesday.

Burroughs’ Caitlyn Pentland and the Indians lost to Valencia in summer action on Tuesday.

(Tim Berger/Staff Photographer)
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BURBANK — If there is a way to take away something positive from a 43-point loss, Burroughs High girls’ basketball Coach Vicky Oganyan was able to on Tuesday afternoon.

The Indians were blitzed to the tune of a 72-29 loss at the hands of Valencia Valencia during a Burroughs Summer League game.

Although Burroughs lost some keys players to graduation, namely All-CIF and Pacific League Player of the Year Jordan Meltzer, the Indians still have a few pieces in place from a 2015-16 squad that captured a third straight league championship and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division I-A semifinals for the second consecutive year.

Valencia also has its share of credentials, having lost just one player from a squad that won a Foothill League title and made its way to the Division I-AA quarterfinals.

The eventual outcome was all but decided early on, as the Vikings used an almost impenetrable zone defense and relied on good ball movement and impressive outside shooting to completely frustrate Burroughs.

“Despite the score, we definitely got something out of that game,” Oganyan said. “That is one of the best teams out there and we are playing against the very top. I told [Valencia Coach] Jerry [Mike] that I felt bad because I felt that we were getting something out of the game, but I wasn’t able to give him anything to pick up from it.

“We do have some young players and right now it’s about having everybody learn something from every game that we play. That’s what summer’s about; we are trying to teach them as much as we can and it’s a time for them to really learn.”

The Indians will log more than 50 games over the course of the summer, including seven tournaments.

“We have done it like this for a few years now and it seems to work for us,” Oganyan said.

The offense was anything but balanced for the Indians, as Kamryn Cardenaz paced the team with 15 points to go with six rebounds. The next-highest Burroughs scorer was Ariana Farias, who contributed five points.

Turnovers were a big factor for Burroughs in the first half, as they committed 12.

That helped open the door even wider for the Vikings, who jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Burroughs was finally able to get ton the board at the 11:40 mark after a bucket by Caitlyn Pentland made it 14-2.

But Valencia kept pouring it on, with Kenadee Honaker scoring 10 of her 13 points and Kayla Konrad hitting for eight of her game-high 16 points in the opening stanza. The Vikings also received 10 points from Skyler Ingram.

Burroughs was only able to manage one other basket in the first half, coming from Farias, as the Indians went into the break trailing, 36-4.

“The big thing we have been struggling with this summer is playing smart,” Cardenaz said. “We are also having a problem picking up things that the coach is trying to teach us, so she has to repeat herself a lot and we’re not retaining the information. I just feel like we’re all making more mental mistakes than we should be.

“Our coach tries to put us up against the best competition out there and that’s the only way we’re going to get better and improve as a team.”

Although Burroughs played better in the second half, the Vikings were able to go deep into their bench and still kept the Indians at bay.

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