Burlingame showed its might Wednesday night, beating the host Sequoia Cherokees, 72-46, in the Peninsula Athletic League-South Division opener for both teams.
Burlingame started off hot with a 20-0 run led by junior Nick Loew, who had 12 of his 16 points in the first quarter alone.
“It was great,” Loew said. “We kind of had a rough preseason so coming into league and starting off this way is really good for the team.”
Loew also managed to grab 11 rebounds for the Panthers (6-7, 1-0) even with Sequoia’s tallest players on the floor, including 6-6 senior Julian Bertero, as they all tried to fend off the 6-7 Loew.
“It’s always difficult matching up with someone who is the same size as you,” Loew said. “I’m used to being the biggest guy out there but it is a good challenge so I was happy to play against someone like that.”
Loew was not alone as sharp shooting from senior guard Connor Haupt was also the talk of the crowd. Within the first six minutes, Haupt had already sunk four threes and would later drop three more.
“It felt good [shooting threes] in the first half definitely and then carried over into the second,” said Haupt, who wound up with 25 points, including 7-of-14 on 3-pointers. “It’s what I try to go for every game.”
In the second half, Sequoia (5-11, 0-1) began to press the ball and force long passes but the Cherokees were not able to close in on the Panthers.
This strong performance from Coach Pete Harames’ squad gets the Panthers back on their feet as they look to carry this momentum through the rest of league play.
“Winning the opener is always important and I think winning an away game is important,” Harames said. “I think this will give us a good springboard going into our away game on Friday and Aragon on Wednesday.”
The Cherokees had strong performances from the floor as well, led by Bertero with 16 points. Sequoia hosts the Menlo-Atherton Bears Friday and looks to bounce back from this loss.
