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Boys’ Basketball Preview: Success takes different forms for local boys’ basketball teams

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Success in the local boys’ basketball scene will depend heavily on which teams can integrate new players and develop on the fly, while more veteran squads will have to show progress from last season.

At St. Francis, much has changed for a Golden Knights team that is a season removed from one of the greatest years in school history.

St. Francis recovered from a fifth-place finish in the Mission League and earned an at-large berth and second seed in the CIF Southern Section Division III-A playoffs.

The Golden Knights capitalized by winning four playoff games, including a thrilling 56-53 win against crosstown rival La Cañada in the semifinals, before falling to Oak Park, 60-53, in the division title game.

With the postseason not quite done, St. Francis defeated Kearny, 67-62, in the first round of the CIF State Division III playoffs before losing at Santa Margarita, 77-66.

From that squad, the Golden Knights graduated five seniors, including forwards Evan Crawford and Noah Willerford, while All-Area Player of the Year Kyle Leufroy transferred to a prep academy in Northern California.

“This is definitely a different squad from last year,” said St. Francis co-Coach Ray O’Brien, who shares the top responsibilities and last year’s All-Area Coach of the Year honors with Jeff Stephens. “We still have some players coming back from football and we’re really young, so it will be a while before we’re set.”

Leufroy averaged 20.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and four assists per game, while All-Area first-teamer Crawford tallied 10.5 points, nine rebounds and four assists in each contest.

O’Brien and Stephens will lean on a trio of returning players to lead the way in senior guard Michael Allen, senior forward Markar Agakanian and senior guard Michael Ibarra.

Allen averaged eight points, five assists and five rebounds per game last season, while Agakanian was a strong defender and Ibarra a top contributor off the bench.

“We believe we have solid senior leaders and players,” O’Brien said. “Their value isn’t just going to be in playing time, but in also helping with the development of the younger players.”

St. Francis does has some size returning in 6-foot-5 senior forward Brodie Felkel and 6-4 senior forward John Carroll, while junior guards Kyle Cheung and John Stephens figure to play a big role in St. Francis’ success.

As for Crescenta Valley, the Falcons are coming off an “interesting” 2013-14 season.

On one hand, Crescenta Valley had a wildly successful campaign in which the team finished 20-9 overall, 12-2 within the Pacific League and clinched a share of the program’s first league championship since 2004.

Yet, the good vibes were somewhat stunted when Crescenta Valley lost in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs, 59-49, to Trinity League power Orange Lutheran.

“We didn’t start well at all last year and really didn’t start to put it together until the second half of league,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Shawn Zargarian, the reigning Pacific League Coach of the Year. “I would like to put together a better preseason, but we also need to develop as a team.”

For the Falcons, there is a giant hole after the graduation of senior forward Eric Patten, an All-Area first-teamer who averaged 18.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.

While Crescenta Valley doesn’t have a player on its 15-person roster to replace Patten, the team will rely on its staples – strong three-point shooting and a harassing defense – to be competitive once again in a wide-open Pacific League race.

“We’ve always believed that our strength has been our defense because that’s something we can control regardless of who have,” Zargarian said. “If we want to be successful, we’ll have to get back on defense, limit teams to one shot and defend as best as we can.”

The Falcons return a trio of captains in senior guard Berj Krikorian, senior guard Kyle Currie and senior forward Thulani Kachingwe.

Also back this season is junior Arin Ovanessian, a key junior varsity call-up from a year ago, senior forward Jimmy Smiley, junior guard Chris Reik and newcomers Journey Shank and Gabriel Ajemian.

One squad aspiring to knock Crescenta Valley off its perch is Hoover, which is coming off a 14-12 campaign and a sixth-place finish in league.

While the Tornadoes only have 12 players on their roster, longtime coach Jack Van Patten isn’t deterred, but enthused.

“We’re deep from one to 10 and feel like we can play with anyone in this league, it’s wide open,” Van Patten said. “We basically have most of the same guys from last year who have gained experience. They like to get after it and they will this year.”

Hoover graduated one big player in All-Area second-teamer Teo Davidian, the team’s emotional leader who averaged 17 points per game.

“We can’t replace Teo with one player, but I do think that overall we’re deeper across the board,” Van Patten said. “I can’t tell you who are season starters are going to be because it’s a game-to-game thing, but we’ll have a good lineup out there.”

Van Patten will rely on a rotation that includes seniors Kevin Nazari, Chris Sarkisian, Argin Sarkisian, Arman Pirijanyan and junior Niko Kalpakian.

There were certain times last year where Glendale showed promised, as the squad upset third-place Muir (80-77) and almost knocked off league co-champion Crescenta Valley (65-62).

Yet, those moments didn’t take place enough for a squad that will now try to improve upon an 8-19 campaign last season.

“There were so many games where we were one person or one play away from winning and it didn’t happen,” Glendale Coach Steve Snodgress said. “We were a team of juniors still learning and still progressing last year. Now these guys are seniors and they don’t want to repeat the same mistakes.”

While Glendale graduated four seniors, including 6-foot-8 center Arthur Terzyan, the team welcomes back a wealth of players, including team captains Alex Mirales and Eric Kirakosian, who didn’t play together much in the starting lineup because of varying injuries.

Even though the Nitros have several shooters, if there’s a last second shot to be taken, the ball will likely go into the hands of senior forward Raffi Jivalagian.

“This team is going to have to share the ball because we have about six seniors who can shoot,” Snodgress said. “If you make me pick one guy to take a last shot, I would say Raffi then.”

Three seniors who will be counted upon are forward Tyler Lousararian and guards Bobby Ekimyan and Eddie Uluchyan.

A little down the road, Flintridge Prep faces many challenges in building a new identity in a somewhat changed Prep League.

The reigning seven-time league champs have one of the area’s smallest rosters with 10 players, only one of whom is a senior.

Add that the Rebels also lost of the services of All-Area guard Robert Cartwright (21 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 steals per game) and Flintridge Prep won’t resemble last year’s squad, which finished 11-14.

“We’re definitely going to be different with the departure of six seniors,” Rebels Coach Garrett Ohara said. “We have a fair amount of returners, but we’re still kind of young. With a small roster, team chemistry is going to be very important and we can’t afford injuries.”

Not only did the Rebels lose Cartwright, but also their No. 3 scorer in Kyle Hamane (8.5 points).

The good news, however, is junior guard Andrew Tsangeos returns after averaging 10 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game and will be joined by lone senior Chris Brummett.

“Chris is our four-year guy and he’s going to be a leader on the team with Andrew,” Ohara said. “But it’s not going to be all on their shoulders.”

Junior forward Dante Fregoso, the reigning All-Area Boys’ Volleyball Player of the Year, is also back and healthy after averaging seven points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Tsangeos and Fregoso will be part of a starting lineup that includes freshman guard Jonathan Le, sophomore forward Jake Althouse and sophomore guard Kendall Kikkawa.

As for the league, Claremont Webb was replaced by Lynwood Firebaugh, the league’s first public high school.

“It’s a little different, but we hope to be near the top,” Ohara said. “It’s a competitive league and we think we can be competitive too.”

Basketball is back at Glendale Adventist Academy after the program took a one-year hiatus. School athletic director and co-coach Chris Lindstedt did not provide any further information at time of publication.

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