Tran Connects to Give Bell-Jeff a 36-34 Victory

Bell-Jeff assistant Coach Jess Rodriguez admits he’s a terrible poker player, even though he tried to say with a straight face that he designed the winning shot in the consolation championship of the Bell-Jeff girls basketball tournament.

Bell-Jeff guard Hanh Tran did sink a 17-foot bank shot with 20 seconds left that gave the Guards a 36-34 victory over Burroughs.

Whether Rodriguez, who filled in for Coach Jim Couch, planned it that way was a subject of debate following Wednesday’s game.

Bell-Jeff had the ball with 30 seconds left and the score tied, 34-34, when Rodriguez signaled for a timeout. Rodriguez claimed he told Tran that she would shoot the ball and make it.

“I told her to go in there and shoot it up,” Rodriguez said. “There’s going to be three people on you. Just shoot the ball and you’re going to score two points and give us the lead.”

Tran took the inbound pass from Sarah Dancs, looked once for an open player, then shot over two Burroughs defenders from just above the free-throw line. The ball ricochetted hard off the glass and into the basket.

But Tran, whose two free throws tied the game at 34, gave a different version of Rodriguez’s timeout speech.

“That wasn’t the play at all,” Tran laughed. “He told me to pass it to the wing and then pass inside if the post got open. I decided to be a ball hog and take the shot myself.”

Tran finished with 10 points. Bell-Jeff guard Lisa Negrete led all scores with 12 points and Kelly McCauley had 10 for Burroughs, which had only three varsity players.

Burroughs, which trailed until midway in the fourth quarter, failed to score during its final two possessions.

Marya Vigil, who had nine points, missed a three-point shot and Karin Knoop missed a rebound shot.

Stephaine Hilton then missed the front end of a one-and-one after being fouled near midcourt with no time left.

“We had the open shots, but we didn’t get the ball to drop,” said Burroughs Coach Brian Hurst, whose team shot 42% from the free-throw line and 23% from the field. “I guess they earned the bragging rights of Burbank.”