Top 10 Individual Performances in a Team Setting: Davitt sacks Burroughs in CIF quarterfinals

The following are the top-10 individual performances in a team setting for the 2015-16 high school season as voted by the Glendale News-Press sports staff.

1 Sean Davitt versus Burroughs in the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division quarterfinals: Sean Davitt wreaked havoc and took over the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division quarterfinal, tallying 12 tackles, six sacks and leading St. Francis to a 21-7 win over fourth-seeded Burroughs.

“It feels amazing, because I think there were greater expectations last year and this year, we didn’t know how far we could go,” said Davitt, who also caught the game-winning 16-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter and racked up negative 36 yards on his half-dozen sacks. “It’s a great feeling.”

Davitt’s touchdown came on a drive that put St. Francis ahead, 14-0, after three quarters. The pass was of the play-action variety from quarterback Miles Bryant.

Though Pacific League champion Burroughs answered with a one-yard touchdown run from Ash Hawkins to pull within 14-7 with 6:54 left in the contest, St. Francis countered with another touchdown to win the contest, 21-7.

Davitt, the All-Area Football Player of the Year who had 23 sacks on the season, led the Golden Knights’ defense to a performance in which it held Burroughs to a season-low in points and just 154 yards of offense.

2 Dante Fregoso versus Redlands in the CIF Southern Section Division IV quarterfinals: On the brink of seeing the season come to an early conclusion, the Flintridge Prep boys’ volleyball team turned its big gun.

Dante Fregoso responded to the challenge with another vintage performance, finishing with 34 kills, 25 digs, six aces and five blocks to lead the Rebels to a 25-18, 22-25, 25-12, 24-26, 15-13 victory over Redlands in the CIF quarterfinals on May 14.

Even with that effort, the Prep League champions were on the cusp of being bounced as they trailed after a block from Ezra Bosworth, 13-10, in the fifth set.

Flintridge Prep Coach Sean Beattie took a timeout and the Rebels rebounded out of the break, first with a block from Fregoso. Fregoso later put the Rebels ahead for good, 14-13, on an ace before sealing the victory and postseason advancement with a kill for a 15-13 triumph.

“That’s the way we seem to like it lately,” said Fregoso, who saw Flintridge Prep overcome an 8-2 deficit in the fifth game against Tustin to record a 25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-12 win in the previous round. “We were able to regroup and take advantage of a couple of their mistakes.

“You go into a fifth game and it’s a coin flip. When we got down, 13-10, I think some things started to click and we believed that we could come back. We had to make some big plays to get it done.”

3 Alisa Shinn in first round of CIF State Division II playoffs: It truly was a historic postseason run for Shinn and Crescenta Valley, which earlier in the playoffs captured the CIF Southern Section Division I-A title.

Fresh off that championship, the Falcons earned advancement to the Division II state playoffs.

Crescenta Valley’s state playoff run extended past one round thanks in large part to a mammoth effort from Shinn.

The senior and eventual All-Area Girls’ Player of the Year recorded an impressive triple double with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks in the Falcons’ 57-55 road triumph on March 9.

“I think it was the best game I ever played here,” Shinn said. “I started off kind of slow, but then I got on a roll, especially in the second. I ended up getting a triple-double [26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks]. I got some offensive rebounds and scored a lot of points inside. I made some free throws down the stretch and we got the victory in a tough place.”

The win sent Crescenta Valley into the second round, where it was trumped by powerhouse Mater Dei.

4 Logan Goddard saves Crescenta Valley in Division IV semifinals: Though the Crescenta Valley High boys’ water polo team had been close for years, the team final broke through and advanced to its first championship since 2008 thanks primarily to Logan Goddard.

The goalie finished with 13 saves, including seven in a pivotal and frantic third quarter as the second-seeded Falcons defeated Ocean League champion Santa Monica, 10-7, on Nov. 18 in the semifinals of the Division IV playoffs at Camarillo High.

The win vaulted the Falcons to their fourth CIF championship game appearance.

Crescenta Valley led, 6-5, after one half of play and both teams were aggressive in the third quarter as each fired off eight shots.

However, the big difference in the quarter was Goddard, who tallied seven saves and stuffed two shots on a six-on-five opportunity at the two-minute mark.

“Once you get some momentum, that’s key,” Goddard said. “Once we got it in the second half, we kept it. We pressed and the team funneled shots to me and I made some saves.”

Crescenta Valley won the quarter, 3-0, to go up, 9-5, and never look back.

5 Tyler Hill versus Arcadia in the Pacific League season finale: Though there were big efforts for the Crescenta Valley football team in its final game of the regular season, maybe no one contributed more than Hill.

The senior quarterback rushed 21 times for 107 yards and one touchdown, he threw for another two scores and intercepted two passes as a defensive back in a 28-27 victory over rival Arcadia at Moyse Field on Nov. 5.

The win clinched Crescenta Valley the league’s final automatic playoff spot and the Falcons ultimately finished with a 7-3 overall record and a 5-2 mark in league to tie with Burbank for second place.

6 Clare Lund versus Harvard-Westlake in Mission League play: A super effort from the Tologs senior setter put her team back in the Mission League title hunt.

Lund tallied a titanic 75 assists and the Tologs avenged an earlier loss to Harvard-Westlake, 24-26, 25-18, 25-18, 26-24 in league play on Oct. 27.

The victory thrust Flintridge Sacred Heart into a first-play tie with Marymount with one match left to go in the league season. Both teams won their finale, which secured the Tologs a share of their second crown in three years.

“Really, I can’t believe it, that’s awesome,” said Lund, who added 10 digs and two dumps, when told of her tally. “That just shows you how great the hitting was tonight. I think my passing is pretty good, but believe me, I’m not getting that many assists unless our hitting is outstanding.”

7 Hamilton Evans versus No. 2 Monrovia in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division VI playoffs: Almost all the odds were stacked against the Rebels heading into their first-round road contest on Feb. 19.

But the Rebels did have All-CIF goalie Hamilton Evans.

The senior was brilliant, finishing with 11 saves, while stopping a penalty kick and converting one in a 1-1 (4-2) victory in penalty kicks.

“The game plan worked,” Rebels Coach AJ Yates said. “The game plan was to play defense and if we had chances, we wanted to take advantage of them.

“We just defended really well and took it to [penalty kicks]. I have a returning All-CIF goalie, so I’ll take my chances.”

8 Ryan Lynch versus Arcadia in Pacific League finale: An exciting inning of baseball was capped by Lynch, who turned in the biggest hit of the Pacific League finale on May 13.

The Crescenta Valley senior whacked a two-run single with the bases-loaded and two outs in the bottom of the sixth to propel the Falcons to a come-from-behind 5-4 victory at Stengel Field over archrival Arcadia.

The victory secured a share of the league crown for the Falcons, who split the title with Burroughs.

“It feels good to get this hit because this is my last season,” said Lynch, who finished two for three with two RBI and a run scored. “It feels good to win with my brothers, my team, it feels good.”

The Falcons trailed, 4-3, heading to the bottom of the sixth.

The Falcons had three singles sandwiched between two outs to bring up Lynch, the team’s leadoff hitter. Prior to Lynch’s hit, Crescenta Valley had been one for 10 with runners in scoring position.

The game-winning hit reversed Arcadia’s momentum, as the Apaches rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth to erase a 3-0 deficit.

Arcadia went scoreless in the seventh.

9 Brianna McReynolds against Arcadia in Pacific League play: For four years, the Crescenta Valley girls’ soccer team hadn’t been able to scratch out a win against archrival Arcadia.

That changed on Jan. 22, thanks to the efforts of freshman standout Brianna McReynolds.

Reynolds had a foot in both of her team’s goals as the Falcons went on the road to upset reigning league champion Arcadia, 2-1, in Pacific League play.

Though not credited with an official assist, McReynolds deserved some credit for the Falcons’ first score when she was fouled in the box in the first half. Teammate Rachel Bird converted the subsequent penalty shot that put the visitors ahead, 1-0.

After Arcadia knotted the score at 1, McReynolds secured the game-winner when she scored with 10 minutes left on a pass from Natalia Victoria.

The victory ended Arcadia’s 43-match league winning streak.

“That was the best thing ever. It felt so great,” McReynolds said of her score. “Both my sisters played [at Crescenta Valley] and they never beat [Arcadia], so I really wanted to win for them.”

10 Renae Tamura in CIF Southern Section Division V-AA championship game: Whether it was her scoring or free-throw shooting, Tamura turned in a clutch effort when her team needed it most.

The junior guard scored a game-high 20 points and added eight rebounds and two steals as the Rebels captured the Division V-AA championship with a 39-34 overtime victory over Mission College Prep at Godinez Fundamental High on March 5.

With the game tied at 34 in overtime with less than three minutes left, Yoshida sank two free throws with 2:46 left to put the Rebels ahead, 36-34.

A minute later, Renae Tamura added to the lead with a free throw to put the Rebels ahead three with 1:20 remaining.

The victory was the first in two Southern Section championship tries for fourth-seeded Prep League champion Flintridge Prep.

“We know that free throws and defense wins championships,” Tamura said. “Of course you feel the pressure out there, but you have to stick to your routine.

“What surprised me was the way Mission Prep celebrated after sending the game into overtime. They acted like they won and we still had overtime to go.”

Honorable mention: Flintridge Prep football’s Andrew Tsangeos vs. Rio Hondo Prep; Hoover football’s Quinton Smith in Battle for Victory Bell; Crescenta Valley soccer’s Henry Barkhordarian vs. Hoover; Flintridge Prep girls’ soccer’s Helen Schaefer in CIF playoff game; Crescenta Valley girls’ basketball’s Alisa Shinn in CIF title game.