It was after all a summer league game, with nothing at stake and nothing to gain, but the Spartans at least made it interesting.
With five seconds left in the game, down 41-39, senior Omar Rady took a three-pointer that clanged off the iron. It was recovered by Burroughs and the game was over a few seconds later.
The Indians won it, but just barely, 43-42.
“It was a good chance,” Rady said. “Everyone was cold today, it was a bad game.”
Coach Tom Hofman, who was unavailable for comment after the game, told his team after the loss that they were lacking discipline and hustle in the first half of the game.
“We weren’t hustling for the ball,” Rady said. “We made it close in the end at least, but we beat them last week.”
The Spartans beat both Burroughs and Crescenta Valley last week in the Hart tournament, a sign in favor of cautious optimism.
Down 24-16 at the half to Burroughs High on Tuesday night, incoming La Cañada junior Mike McGlashan tipped a Burroughs pass away for a steal and was fouled on the lay-up attempt. He made the free throws — the first two points of the half — in what appeared to be an omen.
Though Burroughs had a lead as great as 14 points in the third quarter, and a 35-24 lead heading into the fourth, the Spartans chipped away. After a Burroughs turnover, Rady hit his first three of the game with under a minute left to make it 41-39. The Spartans fouled Burroughs and the Indians missed the first half of the one-and-one.
The Spartans rebounded, and Rady took the shot that missed with five seconds left. The Indians rebounded, and the Spartans fouled with one second left.
The Indians made both free throws, but with one second left, La Cañada’s Joe Zarefsky hit the shot of the game: a half-court three pointer that shocked the crowd.
This year’s team is without Clarke Anderson, last year’s talented senior who led the team to the CIF second round, but hopes are that the current seniors will fill that void and maybe more.
“This year we’re doing a lot better [in summer league] than last year,” Rady said. “We’re pressing a lot more this year. We’re doing a lot more things we didn’t do last year. We have a lot more cards this year than last year. I think we could make it to the CIF quarterfinals, maybe even the semifinals, if we play our game.”
