Top 10 Teams of the Year: Crescenta Valley girls’ basketball nets first CIF championship

The top-10 high school teams from the 2015-16 season were selected by the Glendale News-Press sports department.

1 Crescenta Valley girls’ basketball — A few weeks before the season began, Crescenta Valley girls’ basketball Coach Jason Perez had a conversation with former Crescenta Valley boys’ basketball Coach John Goffredo.

Goffredo asked Perez if he thought the girls’ basketball team was a championship-caliber squad.

“It was a great question,” Perez said. “I thought about it quickly and I told coach Goffredo that I thought we had a really good shot at winning it all. That’s something I had never said in seasons past.”

Crescenta Valley went 25-10, 12-2 in league for second place before winning the program’s first CIF title. For good measure, Crescenta Valley reached the quarterfinals of the CIF State Division II Southern California Regionals.

Crescenta Valley started the season looking far from a champion, beginning at 13-9. Things turned around rather quickly, with Crescenta Valley going on a 12-game winning streak. The 11th win in that stretch turned out to be the biggest, as Crescenta Valley recorded a 37-36 victory against top-seeded Mira Costa in the CIF Southern Section Division I-A championship game at Azusa Pacific University in March.

Crescenta Valley picked up postseason victories against Knight (50-36), Camarillo (42-27), second-seeded Huntington Beach (51-50) and Chino Hills (42-38) before advancing to the program’s first championship game since 1997.

In the title game, Crescenta Valley received a huge effort from senior forward Alisa Shinn. Shinn finished with 14 points and 18 rebounds. Senior forward Josie Brock collected six points and eight rebounds for the Falcons, who got eight points from junior guard Polin Megerdichian.

Crescenta Valley had to survive a late scare in the last second of the fourth quarter. Crescenta Valley fouled a Mira Costa player on a three-point shot with three-tenths of a second left and the Falcons nursing a 37-35 lead. Mira Costa made the first free throw before missing the next two.

“There were so many things that are still fresh from that game,” Perez said. “You never think it would come down to something like that, but it did.

“We had a team that got better down the stretch and we were able to put the pieces together to make history.”

Shinn, who averaged 18.3 points, 12.4 rebounds, 4.1 blocks, 3.8 assists and 3.7 steals per contest, was selected as the All-Area Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year and the division’s player of the year. Perez was named the division’s coach of the year.

2 Crescenta Valley girls’ swimming — For the last couple of decades, the Falcons have had a stranglehold on the Pacific League. Nothing changed this year after the Falcons won it again before surging in the postseason.

Crescenta Valley continued its impressive run through league, topping Arcadia for its ninth straight league championship. Crescenta Valley, coached by Peter Kim, posted a 544-372 win over rival Arcadia at the Pacific League Finals at Burbank High.

Tiare Coker and Heather MacDougall paced the Falcons, who won eight of the 11 races. The duo set league records en route to capturing two individual events each.

Coker set a league mark of 1 minute, 51.66 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle and accomplished the feat in the 50 freestyle in 23.67. MacDougall, the All-Area Girls’ Swimmer of the Year, flourished in the 100 freestyle, setting a new record time at 51.14. MacDougall then set a meet record in the 100 backstroke (57.14).

Crescenta Valley didn’t stop there, moving to the CIF Southern Section Division II finals at Riverside Community College.

The Falcons won the 400 freestyle relay by just .04 seconds in a CIF state meet and All-American automatic time of 3 minutes, 25.91 seconds. The victory for MacDougall, Coker, Samantha Kohn and Yvette Kim paved the way for Crescenta Valley to finish tied for fourth with Diamond Bar for fourth place with 175 points. It was the highest team finish for Crescenta Valley since 2002, when it took second.

“I wasn’t surprised at how well the girls did,” Peter Kim said. “They’ve stepped up all season long. I am really excited about how they finished, especially the three seniors that swam that last relay. I couldn’t be any happier.”

MacDougall took second in the 200 freestyle in a state and All-American automatic time of 1:47.88 and fifth in the 100 freestyle (50.61).

The Falcons began the action with a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay from Coker, Kim, MacDougall and Kohn in a state-auto time (1:47.46). Coker finished fifth in the 50 freestyle (23.87) and sixth in the 100 butterfly in 55.97.

Kim was named the All-Area Girls’ Swimming Coach of the Year.

3 St. Francis football — After regrouping from some injuries and a three-game losing streak in the middle of the season, St. Francis finished 7-3, 3-2 in the Angelus League for third place. St. Francis wound up marching to the semifinals in the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division with coach Jim Bonds leading the way.

St. Francis snapped its losing streak by defeating then top-ranked Cathedral, 31-14, in a league game. The Golden Knights then picked up league victories against St. Paul and La Salle to earn a berth in the postseason.

St. Francis posted playoff victories against Warren and Burroughs before seeing its season wrap up with a 24-10 loss against La Serna.

There were plenty of standouts across the field for St. Francis, including senior defensive end Sean Davitt. Davitt, the All-Area Football Player of the Year, who finished with 78 tackles and 23 sacks. He was joined by junior linebacker Maxx Jakeway (team-high 113 tackles), senior running back Areg Nazarian (182 carries for 854 yards and seven touchdowns) and a slew of others.

“I told these guys [after the La Serna game,] the last five weeks, the way they responded and they came back from adversity from losing those three games, that’s gonna be with them forever,” Bonds said. “That’s gonna make them better men, better husbands and better fathers.”

4 Crescenta Valley boys’ water polo — Backed by plenty of leadership and experience, the Falcons reached their first CIF Southern Section championship match since 2008.

Playing a tough schedule to help them prepare for the Pacific League and the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs, the Falcons went 26-7, 8-0 in league. Crescenta Valley won the league title outright with an 8-5 win against rival Hoover in the league tournament’s championship match.

Then the Falcons took off in the postseason under coach Jan Sakonju, who was named the league’s co-coach of the year and All-Area Boys’ Water Polo Coach of the Year.

Second-seeded Crescenta Valley found itself in the championship match against top-seeded Righetti in Irvine. Unfortunately for Crescenta Valley, its title aspirations were shelved after falling, 11-2.

It still turned out to be a season to remember for the Falcons, who were paced by senior goalkeeper Logan Goddard (238 saves), junior utility Reagan Hesse (61 goals), Vasil Halchev (74 goals), senior hole/guard Wesley Hovanessian (56 steals), junior driver Brandon Fernandez (56 goals), senior hole/guard Julian Bartolome (16 goals) and senior utility Jesse Sullivan (45 steals). All received postseason recognition, with Goddard being named the All-Area Boys’ Water Polo Player of the Year.

“We had an exciting team and we made it to the final day,” Sakonju said.

5 Flintridge Prep girls’ cross-country — It proved to be another terrific season for Flintridge Prep, coached by Michael Roffina and Jill Riehl.

The Rebels took second in the Prep League behind rival Mayfield. The runner-up spot didn’t seem to rattle the Rebels, who would go on to prove to be a state power again.

Flintridge Prep began to blaze a trail, beginning at the CIF Southern Section Division V championships at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut. Flintridge Prep had six top-10 finishers en route to a 24-133 win over Pacifica Christian. It marked the third division championship in a row for the Rebels.

A week later at the CIF State Division V meet at Woodward Park in Fresno, Flintridge Prep struck again. The Rebels secured an easy 67-143 victory over St. Joseph Notre Dame to capture their second consecutive state title.

For good measure at the state meet, Flintridge Prep set a division course record mark of 95 minutes, 58.9 seconds.

The Rebels lineup consisted of Natalie O’Brien, Sophie Gitlin, Sasha Codiga, Maia Cohen and Gabi Bennett.

6 Crescenta Valley boys’ cross-country — After tying for second in the Pacific League in 2014, Crescenta Valley finished third behind powerhouses Burroughs and Arcadia.

There were some remarkable runners for Crescenta Valley, coached by Mark Evans.

Senior Phillip Thomas took second at the league finals at Arcadia County Park in 14 minutes 37.99 seconds and sophomore Colin FitzGerald grabbed the third spot in 14:44.55.

In the CIF Southern Section Division I prelims, Crescenta Valley was third in its heat with 129 points to advance to the Division I finals. At the finals, the Falcons just missed the cut for advancement to state after taking ninth with 230 points.

Crescenta Valley still had some representation at the state meet, as FitzGerald qualified as an individual after finishing 11th in 15:30.2. At the state meet at Fresno’s Woodard Park, FitzGerald clocked 15:39.1 to finish 23rd.

7 Flintridge Prep boys’ cross-country — Flintridge Prep tasted plenty of success, winning the Prep League, CIF Southern Section Division V and CIF State Division V championships.

With coach Ingrid Herskin overseeing one of Flintridge Prep’s top squads in program history, the Rebels won their six straight league title and 23rd in the past 24 years. Herskind was named the All-Area Boys’ Cross-Country Coach of the Year.

At the CIF Southern Section Division V championships at Mt. San Antonio College, Flintridge Prep, paced by senior standout and individual champion Jack Van Scoter (15 minutes, 12.6 seconds), won its second title in three years with a 37-68 victory over Desert Christian.

At the CIF State Championships at Fresno’s Woodward Park, the Rebels ended an 11-year title drought by rolling to a 43-168 win over Marin Academy. Van Scoter, the All-Area Boys’ Runner of the Year, took second in 15:07.28.

To cap off its remarkable campaign, Flintridge Prep set a division course record at Woodward with a mark of 79 minutes 40.8 seconds.

Flintridge Prep received successful seasons from Evan Pattinelli, Nikhil Poole, Jonathan Valhala and Shyam Patel.

8 Hoover boys’ water polo — It turned out to be quite a successful season for coach Kevin Witt and the Tornadoes.

Hoover finished 21-8, 6-2 in the Pacific League and reached the title game in the league tournament before falling, 8-5, to Crescenta Valley. Hoover advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs where it suffered a 13-5 quarterfinal road loss against El Segundo.

Still, the Tornaodes had plenty to be proud of while playing a difficult schedule against top teams from other divisions.

Hoover received big performances from junior attackers Harout Ashkharian (106 goals) and Aren Sukiasyan (67 assists), junior utility Levon H. Gukasyan (98 steals) and junior goalkeeper Jonathan Salandi (287 saves). The quartet all picked up postseason recognition.

Witt was tabbed the league’s co-coach of the year.

9 Flintridge Prep girls’ soccer — With a relatively young roster, Flintridge Prep wasn’t sure where it would place in the Prep League. Things turned out rather well for the Rebels, who wound up splitting the league championship with rival Pasadena Poly.

Flintridge Prep finished 16-3-5, 9-1 in league and moved on to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs under the guidance of coach Esteban Chavez. Flintridge Prep picked up a share of the league title after recording a 3-2 road win against Pasadena Poly in the final game of the regular season.

With the future looking bright, Flintridge Prep had plenty of talented players. Sophomore forward Julia Gonzalez put up some fantastic numbers, registering 24 goals and a school-record 32 assists. Gonzalez was named the All-Area Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year.

Freshman forward Helen Schaefer contributed a school-record 38 goals and 14 assists. The Rebels also received excellent seasons from midfielders Mona Cesario and Katherine Pinney and defender Hannah Barakat.

Chavez was named the All-Area Girls’ Soccer Coach of the Year.

10 Flintridge Prep girls’ basketball — Over the last several seasons, the Rebels have been one of the elite teams in the Prep League and made deep postseason runs. After some heartache in the CIF Southern Section Division V-AA playoffs the past few seasons, the Rebels finally reached the summit by winning the program’s first CIF championship in March.

Under co-coaches Kevin Kiyomura and Jayme Kiyomura Chan, Flintridge Prep finished 21-5, 11-1 in league for first place. The momentum carried over into the playoffs, with Flintridge Prep posting a 39-34 overtime victory against Mission College Prep in the title contest. Flintridge Prep then advanced to the CIF State Division V Southern California Regional quarterfinals.

The Rebels had a superb cast that included senior forward Tala Ismail (10 points and 8.7 rebounds per game), junior guard Taylor Yoshida (13 points per game) and junior Renae Tamura (11.5 points per game). Tamura, a guard, was chosen the division’s player of the year.

Kiyomura and Kiyomura Chan were tabbed the division’s co-coaches of the year after leading Flintridge Prep to its first championship game since 2007.

Honorable mention: Flintridge Prep boys’ basketball, Flintridge Sacred Heart swimming, St. Monica Academy volleyball, Flintridge Sacred Heart volleyball, Crescenta Valley baseball, Glendale softball, Crescenta Valley boys’ swimming, Hoover wrestling.