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    Categories: 2023

Sports: Underdog high school basketball team in Canoga Park in semifinals

Feb 17 2023

They are looking to clinch their division and take the state championship.

A high school basketball team thought to be underdogs is making big headlines and exceeding expectations this season.

The players attend the Armenian General Benevolent Union Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Canoga Park. In the past three years, the AGBU Titans have moved up three divisions.

There are 11 players on the team – eight seniors, two sophomores, and one freshman. They say they don’t see themselves as the most talented players, but their preparation, determination, and resilience have been on a winning streak.

Nareg Kopooshian has been coaching at the school for the past five years, but he’s been coaching the group of players since they were 8 years old.

"The part that I think makes us love basketball the most is the fact that we get to play with all our friends…  there's no nervousness around that. There's no one to impress," senior Avand Dorian said.

"I was once the tallest person in the room, and now I’m not," Kopooshian said.

Coach Kopooshian emphasizes "student" in the phrase student-athletes. The whole team works hard on and off the court and cumulatively has a 4.0 GPA. Academic studies come first and they also practice six days a week for two hours, and an hour of film.

They play in the semifinals Friday night. By the end of the season, their goal is to clinch their division and take the championship.

https://www.foxla.com/news/canoga-park-agbu-titans-baskeball-team-in-semifinals?fbclid=IwAR0wRY8HWZip7IwW90-GJe7T1GED1mQKg1iOy66WmVH6wPcq5r92V7Hec0M

Emil Lazarian: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS