Orange County Sports / Prep Basketball : 3-A PLAYOFFS : Saddleback Starts Slowly, Rips Burbank

For one quarter Friday night, it was hard to tell the difference between Saddleback, the No. 1 seeded team in the Southern Section 3-A boys’ basketball playoffs, and Burbank, a team just lucky enough to be there.

Indeed, upset-minded Burbank, the No. 3 entry from the Foothill League, controlled the tempo and played the role of aggressor during a 16-16 first-period standoff at Saddleback.

But faster than you can say fast break, Saddleback went on a run to open the second quarter, scoring nine unanswered points in less than two minutes en route to an 86-61 victory.

The Roadrunners will play a second-round game Tuesday against Brea, a 59-49 winner over Garey.

“We’re a structured team, and when we fell behind early, our mentality changed,” said John Downum, Burbank coach.

Back-to-back breakaways by Craig Marshall and Gylan Dottin helped kick Saddleback’s offense into high gear in the second quarter. After that, it was a runaway.

“Not having played for a week showed, especially early,” said Pat Quinn, Saddleback coach. “We were a little flat for a while and it hurt.”