Rain washes away Sacred Heart senior night
The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene.
RAIN POSTPONES
LOCAL EVENTS
Several soccer matches were postponed Monday because of rain.
A Mission League girls’ soccer match between rivals Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and Harvard-Westlake will now be played at 5:15 p.m. Feb. 10 at Occidental College, according to Flintridge Sacred Heart co-Coach Frank Pace. The match will remain as the Tologs’ senior night.
Hoover High and Burroughs had two soccer matches postponed, as well, and both will be made up next Monday, Hoover Athletic Director Jack Van Patten said. The boys’ match will now be played at 3:30 p.m. Monday at Luther Burbank Middle School and the Hoover’s girls’ contest will be at home at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
BARDEN, GIANTS
TO SUPER BOWL
With the New York Giants’ 20-17 overtime road victory against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in the National Football Conference’s championship game, the Giants will next compete against the New England Patriots at 3:30 p.m. PDT Feb. 5 in the Super Bowl at Indianapolis. A local tie will be present in Giants wide receiver Ramses Barden, a 2004 Flintridge Prep graduate who was selected by the Giants in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft.
Barden, who began the season on the physically unable to perform list because of an ankle injury, was inactive for Sunday’s contest. Barden, a former News-Press Athlete of the Year who excelled in football, basketball and volleyball for Flintridge Prep, didn’t play in earlier playoff victories against the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers.
He last played Dec. 24 against the New York Jets. Barden caught one pass for four yards. In six games this season, he’s caught nine passes for 94 yards. In his career, Barden has 15 receptions for 174 yards in 17 games.
New York will seek its first Super Bowl title since 2007, when it recorded a 17-14 win against New England.
PAPAZIAN LOSES, BUT
IMPRESSES IN UFC DEBUT
On Friday night at the UFC on FX card in Nashville, Jared “the Jackhammer” Papazian made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut and lost a hotly contested majority decision to Mike Easton on the main card.
Scores were 30-27, 29-28, 29-29 in favor of Easton, who won the spirited three-round bantamweight (135 pounds) fight that saw both fighters engage in a mostly stand-up fight in which neither gave any quarter and, at multiple points, saw both trading punch for punch in some dynamic exchanges.
Papazian, who is cornered by Glendale’s Alberto Crane, saw his record fall to 14-7, while Easton improved to 12-1. Papazian has often trained locally at the Glendale Fighting Club and Main Event Gym.
In other fight news, it was announced on Monday that Gegard Mousasi will fight Mike Kyle on March 3 in Columbus, Ohio, in the co-main event of Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey,” which will be headlined by the Glendale-trained Ronda Rousey challenging Miesha Tate for the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title.
Mousasi (32-3-2) and Kyle (19-8-1) could possibly vie for the promotion’s vacant light-heavyweight title, which Mousasi at one point held.
Mousasi has often trained in Glendale, particularly at the Glendale Fighting Club, and as of late has often been cornered by Glendale fighter Roman Mitichyan.
AREA TEAMS
EARN RANKINGS
Seven local teams received top-10 CIF rankings after the CIF Southern Section office unveiled its latest polls Monday.
Four high school boys’ basketball teams are ranked, highlighted by Renaissance Academy at No. 1 in Division VI. Crescenta Valley is ranked sixth in Division I-A, Flintridge Prep is sixth in Division V-AA and St. Francis is ninth in Division III-A.
Crescenta Valley’s undefeated girls’ water polo team is No. 3 in Division V.
Two soccer teams are also ranked. Crescenta Valley’s boys’ squad is No. 5 in Division IV and Flintridge Prep’s girls’ team is tied for 10th in Division III with Chino Hills and Righetti.