Glendale women's basketball team wants victories at Pan-Armenian Games

PanARMENIAN.Net - Four years ago, the Glendale women's basketball team, representing the Homenetmen Ararat Chapter, lost in the championship game of the fourth Pan-Armenian Games in Yerevan, Armenia.

Four years later, two members of that team, Melia Basavand and Aileen Vartanian, are on a path to release their frustrations and prove themselves against the best that the Armenian community has to offer.

The returning duo will join a bevy of local athletes who will vie for gold when the fifth Pan-Armenian Games begin in Yerevan on August 13.

The Glendale women's team includes 2010 Crescenta Valley High graduates Ani Ebrahamian and Melanie Samvelian, in addition to Glendale High's Anna Shahinian (class of 2009) and CV sophomore Ella Stepanian.

But Coach Menooa Aboolian's team doesn't include arguably the best player in the Homenetmen Glendale Ararat chapter.

Glendale will be without Christine Kepenekian, a Burbank High graduate and former member of the Ararat Women's Basketball team. Kepenekian tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during the annual Homenetmen Navasartian Games on July 2 and will miss the Pan-Armenian Games.

"It was really devastating. We had been practicing and fundraising a lot. Four years ago, we didn't fundraise and practice as much. We were a closer team and more talented. I knew this time around was our best chance,” Kepenekian said, Glendale News-Press reported.