Crescenta Valley girls’ basketball back on track, back atop league

ARCADIA — Having hit the halfway point in the Pacific League, Crescenta Valley High girls’ basketball Coach Jason Perez said the Falcons are in good position.

And, like more than half of the league, that’s in first place.

Having Michelle Gee back in the lineup following a five-game absence might buoy the Falcons more during the last three weeks of the regular season.

Crescenta Valley received seven points from the returning Gee and 12 from Caity Bouchard to earn a 42-38 league win at Arcadia on Friday.

“Getting her back is so huge because she’s got experience and can provide leadership since we have a younger team,” said Perez, who piloted the Falcons to the CIF southern Section Division I-A championship last season following a second-place finish in league. “We can figure things out better with her back and the other players respond.

“I like where we are at right now in league and we’ll try to make that push because there’s a huge logjam. ... We’re still a work in progress, so we’ll see what we can do.”

Crescenta Valley (12-8, 4-2 in league) held off a late charge by Arcadia (10-9, 3-3) in the fourth quarter and, in the process, is now in a four-way tie for first with Burroughs (which lost to Burbank on Friday), Glendale (which defeated Hoover on Friday) and Pasadena (which had a bye due to Muir not fielding a varsity team). Meanwhile, Arcadia and Burbank are just a game behind in a tie for fifth

Gee shook off the rust after sustaining an injury in December. She contributed three steals, including one that led to a basket by Denise Dayag to make it 36-28 with 28 seconds to go in the third quarter.

“I’m just glad to be back out there and I feel pretty good,” said Gee, who made a three-pointer from the right side as time expired in the first quarter to make it 14-11. “My teammates helped me get back at it and I just wanted to find a way to contribute.

“We played well and then it got a little intense there in the fourth quarter.”

A Bouchard three-pointer from the left side gave the Falcons a 39-28 lead with 6:50 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Apaches then went on a 10-3 run, closing to within 42-38 on a basket by Lindsey Young with 1:18 left. In that stretch, Crescenta Valley had three turnovers and Arcadia capitalized on them to narrow the deficit.

But over the final 78 seconds of the game, neither team scored, with Crescenta Valley forcing a turnover and a missed shot to hang on for the win.

“I thought we came out strong to start the game,” Bouchard said. “We were ready for the pressure and we responded.

“We’re just trying to improve in each [league] game. You see something different against each team.”

Bouchard made a floating shot from the left side to extend Crescenta Valley’s advantage to 24-17 with 2:55 left in the second quarter. Crecenta Valley held a 29-20 halftime lead.

The Falcons also received five points each from Polin Megerdichian and Senayt Tassew.

Arcadia got 10 points and 15 rebounds from Mychayl Phillips and 11 points from Sahara Saikumar.

Crescenta Valley will compete in another league road game at 5 p.m. Tuesday against Burbank.

Arcadia and CV will close out the regular season Feb. 9 at Crescenta Valley.