Boys’ Basketball Preview: City trio all has young talent

While the jersey colors of the St. Francis High, La Cañada and Flintridge Prep boys’ basketball teams vary, each squad will share one distinct tint this season: green.

That’s because while all three programs have talent to boast, key losses have the Golden Knights, Spartans and Rebels respectively young and inexperienced heading into the 2014-15 campaign.

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.

The Golden Knights’ biggest victory last season may have very well come against the Spartans in the semifinals at Maranatha High on Feb. 28.

The loss capped a great season for La Cañada, which went 23-7, captured an undefeated Rio Hondo League title and picked up three postseason victories.

“What the players learned from that game is that if they work hard, the opportunity will be there,” Spartans Coach Tom Hofman said. “This year’s team is every bit as good as last year’s. We have some kids back from that run and they realized the mistakes we made in that St. Francis game.”

While the Spartans graduated 13 seniors from last year, there hasn’t been a dip in the ranks as Hofman’s 19-player roster is one of the biggest in the area.

As a bonus, La Cañada returns Rio Hondo League MVP and All-Area first-teamer Koko Kurdoghlian (guard) and All-Area second-teamer Grant Arthur (guard).

Kurdoghlian averaged 15 points and nine rebounds a game last season, while he collected 120 assists and 65 steals. Arthur is back after averaging 12 points per game.

Kurdoghlian and Arthur will be flanked by a few other talented shooters in junior guard Daivon Grayson, senior guard Ben Choi and sophomore forward Sean Estes, while sophomore guard Justin Kouyoumdjian will provide valuable minutes as a reserve.

“We can be a very good team, but we’re young and lack a good amount of experience,” Hofman said. “Our biggest issue is playing defense. We have a lot of offensive-minded players on this team, a lot of shooters. Getting them to play defense will be a challenge.”

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.”