Currie, Crescenta Valley High boys’ basketball shoot down Hoover
GLENDALE — Crescenta Valley High boys’ basketball Coach Shawn Zargarian smiled at the question.
Who is the better shooter: Crescenta Valley High graduate Cole Currie or his younger brother Kyle?
“His parents would be upset at me if I answered that question,” Zargarian said.
Cole is a 2013 graduate who is now at Tulane University and Kyle is a junior on the Falcons’ squad this season.
Cole made a name for himself with his sharp-shooting skills, as well as his speed and strength as a guard.
Kyle is nine inches shorter than his 6-foot-3 brother, but he’s also displayed his range from the field.
Like his brother did during his tenure at Crescenta Valley, Kyle caused havoc against Hoover. He made seven of eight three-point attempts en route to finishing with a game-high 25 points in a 68-43 Pacific League victory against host Hoover on Tuesday.
“He always misses one,” joked Falcons forward Eric Patten, whose 6-foot-6, 210-pound presence in the low post opened opportunities for Currie. “If there’s one guy I want to find when I’m being doubled, it’s Kyle. He can’t miss. Ever.”
The only shot Currie missed was in the first half.
He didn’t take a shot in the third quarter, when the Falcons (11-8, 4-2 in league) increased their halftime lead from 36-25 to 50-30. Despite being double- and triple-teamed, Patten used an array of power moves to finish with 10 points in the third quarter. Patten finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“Eric Patten has matured in the past months at an unbelievable rate,” Zargarian said. “He trusts his teammates. He knows his life is easier when his teammates are hitting their shots.”
Patten sat for most of the fourth quarter and watched Currie dominate, just like he did in the first half.
Currie hit each one of his four three-pointers in the fourth. He started the game by making two straight three-pointers as the Falcons took a 6-0 lead and never led by less than three.
Currie said that he competes against his brother in shooting contests, with each sibling winning his fair share of games.
“Kyle is a different kid than Cole,” said Zargarian, whose team finished 11 of 20 from three-point territory and 21 of 46 from the field. “He’s got a pure stroke.”
Zargarian knew that Hoover (11-7, 2-4) had its own top shooter in senior guard Teo Davidian.
That is why Zargarian designed a plan to stop the Tornadoes’ top scorer.
Zargarian had a number of Falcons, from Chris Bouchard to Arin Pezeshkian, face-guard Davidian as soon as he touched the ball.
Davidian made his first shot three minutes into the game, but didn’t make another basket until there were five minutes remaining in a 20-point game in the fourth quarter. Davidian finished with a team-high 12 points, seven from the free-throw line.
“I’ve seen Teo play for two, three years now,” Zargarian said. “He’s a good player. We did the best we could to slow him down. Our goal was to tire him out with different guys.”
Hoover made only three second-half shots.
“They played a very good game and we played a poor game,” said Hoover Coach Jack Van Patten, who also received 10 points from Argin Sarkisian. “That’s a bad combination.”