Pasadena Boys Hoops Routs Burbank

The Pasadena boys basketball team stayed undefeated in Pacific League play with an emphatic 63-41 win over Burbank on the road on Tuesday.

Pasadena is 6-0 in league games, and against Burbank the Bulldogs were led by senior guard Todd Lewis Jr., who had a game-high 20 points, 15 of which came in the second half. For the third straight game, Pasadena played without sophomore Brandon Jolley. Pasadena coach Tim Tucker said Jolley isn’t expected back until next week at the earliest, but admitted even that is optimistic.

The game started off sloppy, with each team forcing many turnovers in the first quarter. Burbank had numerous looks down low but couldn’t convert. Burbank (12-7) was propped up offensively by sophomore Andre Spight, who had nine points to lead all scorers in the first half. Spight opened up the scoring in the second quarter with a tough fall-away 3-pointer to trim the Pasadena lead to 12-10. He finished with a team-high 19 points.

Pasadena (12-6) then put together and 9-3 run that started off with a Lewis pass to Steven Adams that the 6-foot-9 senior threw down for a thunderous dunk. Nifty passes in the lane allowed Pasadena to crack the zone defense of Burbank and Lewis’ coast-to-coast layup ended the run with a 21-13 Pasadena lead. Helping along the way were several Pasadena steals that led to easy transition points.

“We pressure and run and that’s what we like to do,” Tucker said. “We know our defense is going to get us some steals. We forced them to take some tough shots and had some run outs for some easy baskets.”

Pasadena’s Blake Hamilton sunk a 3-pointer from the corner with 3.8 seconds left in the second quarter to give Pasadena a 25-19 halftime lead.

Pasadena came out with a pressure defense in the second half that caught Burbank off guard. The Bulldogs came out and forced some turnovers and scored the first six points of the half. Leading the way was Lewis, who turned in an electric performance despite feeling under the weather.

“Todd is sick. I don’t know how long he can go tonight, but he gutted it out, made some big plays,” Tucker said. “He’s playing like that first team All-CIF player that he is. We got on his shoulders tonight and rode it in on him.”

Pasadena went into the fourth quarter with a 41-29 lead. It could have put this game in the bag much earlier in the contest, but the Bulldogs couldn’t make enough free throws.

“Secret of ours is that we can’t make free throws all year,” Tucker said. “We’re shooting 50 percent from the free throw line … our defense has to keep us in games.”

The defense did plenty tonight, as Pasadena finished the game on a 12-2 run. Adams finished with 13 points, while point guard Austin Daniels had 10 points and several assists.

“We’re stepping up, gelling at the right time,” Tucker said. “We’re Division 1-AA, so we have to get ready for the Long Beach Polys and Mater Deis. We’ve got to start progressing and I’m starting to see that progression.”