Boys’ Basketball Preview: Crescenta Valley, Flintridge Prep look for growth after key graduations

There’s no denying that the landscape of local boys’ basketball changed dramatically this offseason for a couple of reasons.

First, most of the teams graduated their best player or players with familiar names like Crescenta Valley High’s Arin Ovanessian and Flintridge Prep’s Andrew Tsangeos and Dante Fregoso moving on.

Second, CIF realignment directly moved squads and greatly impacted divisions for local teams that didn’t switch.

How each squad adapts to such changes will determine greatly whether 2016-17 will be a successful season or one defined by insurmountable obstacles.

At Crescenta Valley, the news is mixed.

One on hand, the Falcons graduated their two most dynamic players in Ovanessian and Gabriel Ajemian.

Ovanessian was a Pacific League and All-Area first-team choice who averaged 14.9 pointsper game, while the All-Area and Pacific League second-team Ajemian tallied 11.6 points.

Throw in the loss of league honorable mention Chris Reik and a different cast of characters will be relied upon heavily this year.

“We graduated quite a few guys and are breaking in the most guys we’ve had to in a while,” Crescenta Valley Coach Shawn Zargarian said. “We have some people with varsity experience and others who came off the bench from last year, but it will be interesting to see how we do.”

Last season, the Falcons finished 20-9, tied for third in a wildly competitive Pacific League and advanced to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division I-A playoffs.

If there is a reprieve for the Falcons, it comes from the CIF, as the squad was dropped down a division for a second straight year and now resides in Division II-AA, along with Burroughs.

Crescenta Valley will be small and guard-centric with only one player – 6-foot-4 junior center Austin Novak – 6-4 or taller.

Slashing senior guard Koko Kechichian will serve as a scorer and perfect complement to senior guard Trey Ballard, a clutch three-point shooter.

Senior guard Journey Shank is another valuable returner who will see big minutes, while Zargarian has raved about the progress of junior guard Christopher Arzoumanian.

“Trey and Koko are going to lead this team and I think when opposing teams focus on them, that will open up opportunities for Chris,” Zargarian said. “As for Journey, as a three-year varsity point guard, we expect leadership from Journey.

“He’s tough to keep out of the paint [and] he could be a huge factor on both ends of the floor for us.”

At Flintridge Prep, the Rebels are entering a new era as they graduated the dynamic duo of senior forward Fregoso (St. Mary’s) and senior guar Tsangeos (Richmond), both All-Area first-team selections.

Fregoso averaged 16.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals a game and was named the Prep League Most Valuable Player, while Tsangeos tallied 9.7 points, 4.3 assists and 1.2 steals a game in earning All-CIF Division V-AA and All-Prep League first-team honors.

Last season, the Rebels finished 22-6 and were 8-0 in the Prep League. Flintridge Prep also advanced to the championship game of the Division V-AA playoffs (lost to St. Joseph, 63-45) and the second round of the state Division V playoffs.

So, with the loss of his two stars, Flintridge Prep Coach Garrett Ohara says his team’s identity is still up in the air.

“It’s a work in progress, but I don’t want to say it’s a rebuilding year,” Ohara said. “We still have several seniors returning and we’re looking to see the way this team develops and how they get along. That’s going to be crucial. That’s what happens when you lose two All-CIF guys.”

One key issue for Ohara is who will exactly be on his team. Though the coach has seven confirmed returners, at least four players are members of the football team, which enjoyed a CIF semifinal run that just concluded on Friday.

One of those players, senior guard Kendall Kikkawa, is also the Rebels’ football team’s top running back.

Kikkawa is a returning All-Prep League second-team selection at guard and averaged 6.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and a steal per game.

Kikkawa will be joined by 6-4 senior forward Jake Althouse and both will be depended on for more than just their production.

“Jake Althouse and Kendall Kikkawa are real leaders with significant varsity action,” Ohara said. “With the maturity and leadership they bring, their impact is going to be tremendous on the court and off the court with chemistry and leadership.”

Across the street, it’s year No. 2 at St. Francis under head coach Todd Wolfson.

The Golden Knights took their lumps last season, finishing 7-19 and 3-9 in league for sixth place in the rugged Mission League.

Gone from that year’s squad are five seniors, including All-Area second-team guard Brett Gangi (13.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and two steals per game) and senior guard John Stephens (10.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game).

If there’s a positive for Wolfson, it’s that his squad of 12 players has bought into his system.

“The culture is changing here,” Wolfson said. “We have kids in this program who were here last year and they know what to expect. There’s no more trying to sell them what you’re about. It’s year No. 2 and it resonates with them.”

Wolfson has four returners back from last season, including a key guard in Joey Walsh. The senior showed some flashes of outstanding play last season, but was hampered throughout his junior campaign with ankle injuries. Walsh averaged 7.2 points and 4.4 rebounds a game.

One of the more interesting arrivals is freshman guard Andre Henry, who will revive a Wolfson tradition started up at Chaminade.

“For nine straight years, we had a freshman playing varsity on my teams up until last year,” Wolfson said. “We didn’t really have a guy last year, but I think we have a big building block to our success in Andre.”

Perhaps guard is the most dangerous position on St. Francis, since whomever will fill that roll will have to take on talented players within a Mission League thats boasts blue-chippers like Harvard-Westlake’s Cassius Stanley and Alemany’s Brandon Davis.

As for progress, Wolfson also raved about the improvement of 6-4 junior Omari Moore, who “can do a lot of everything.”

Though it was a tough first season for Glendale Coach Ib Belou, the Nitros’ leader saw positives in a season in which his squad finished 10-17 and 3-11 in league to tie for sixth place.

For one thing, his team was competitive in most of its league contests, including dropping close games to Muir (55-51 score), Burbank (62-60) and Crescenta Valley (70-64).

“If you look at last year, we had five losses where we were within six points or less,” Belou said. “The goal this year is to find a way to win those games and make a push to the playoffs.”

Belou has 10 players on this year’s squad, with six returners.

Both of Glendale’s All-Pacific League picks are back in second-team guard Daniel Madden, who averaged 13 points and eight rebounds a game, and junior honorable mention point guard Larrenz Carino (10 points, four assists and two steals per game).

Madden is one of three seniors on the squad and joins Edrik Abnous Masihi and Mike Chebishian. All three will be counted upon to guide a relatively young unit.

“Those are our three seniors and we’ll be looking to them in regards to leadership, especially,” Belou said.

While Glendale missed the Division I-A playoffs last season, a postseason trip this year would mean playing in the Division III-AA tournament.

Though swept by archrival Glendale last season, Hoover still tied the Nitros for sixth place with a 6-20 record and a 3-11 mark in league.

The Tornadoes had some highlights last season, including taking two games from Arcadia, while upsetting Division II-AA quarterfinalist Burbank, 52-50.

Like most locals, Hoover lost its top player in senior guard Alec Pirijanian. The All-Area second-team and Pacific League first-team choice averaged 20 points per game. Hoover also graduated senior Niko Kalpakian, a league honorable mention.

As of November, Hoover had a roster of nine players, although coach Jack Van Patten said he’s expecting a pair of players to join his team in January after the CIF Southern Section transfer sit-out period.

For now, the Tornadoes will count on a pair of guards in junior Angel Mino and senior Monte Iskandaryan. Senior center Simeon Hilby impressed over the summer, while sophomore forward Caleb Davis is expected to be a valuable contributor.

“The big difference for us this year to last year is that last year we didn’t really have anyone returning with a lot of experience,” Van Patten said. “This year we have Angel, Monte and Simeon, who played major minutes last year, so that’s a big boost to us.”

Van Patten is also high on sophomore Davit Pirijanyan, who brings, “an athleticism we really lacked last year.”

Should Hoover reach the postseason, it would participate in Division III-A.

This would have naturally seemed to be the season St. Monica Academy made a run at the International League title.

A year ago, a young Crusaders squad without a single senior finished 9-15 and 5-6 in league for fourth place, which qualified the team to the Division VI playoffs.

What should have been a deep, experienced squad isn’t, though, as several players, including International League first-team picks Peter Ford (14 points a game) and junior center Freddy Sayegh and second-team selection Liam Blackwell, along with high-flying guard Jerome Grimm (13 points), all transferred.

“This is a tough school academically and sometimes students don’t feel that they can study and play ball,” St. Monica Coach Peter Grimm said. “That’s the big story. We lost a lot of players. This was supposed to be a year where we make a run and instead, we’re in transition.”

Grimm does return league second-team player Jacob Lessard, who, along with Francis and Eamon Mireles, are expected to lead a team with 14 players, many of whom are freshmen.