La Canada showing its Spartan fighting spirit
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La Canada was one of the better rags-to-riches stories during the last boys’ basketball season, making improbable postseason runs to the Southern Section Division III-AA title game and the Division III regional final. Duplicating the feat this season was thought to be impossible, considering every starter from that group graduated, most notably Adam Malik.
Turns out, maybe it’s mission possible. The Spartans are off to a good start, far better than most expected, after defeating King Drew Medical, 67-64, in Thursday’s semifinals of the La Canada Holiday Classic. Next up: Malcolm Lee and JW North in Friday’s championship game at 7:30 p.m, a test that should reveal plenty about the team’s true direction.
‘We had a great bunch of guys last year, a team like that only comes around once in a lifetime,’’ La Canada Coach Tom Hofman said. ‘This team is special in its own right. These kids have a lot of potential. We’re exceeding expectations right now. Guess the cupboard isn’t bare after all.’’
Will Baldwin is the leading scorer, averaging 16.6 points a game. Steven Johnson is a next with 13.3. Jeff Grigg and Clarke Anderson aren’t too far behind, contributing 12.1 and 8.9 ppg., respectively. Expecting this group to live up to the accomplishments of Malik & Co. is somewhat unreasonable. We should allow them to forge their own identity, something the Spartans are doing already.
-- Sean Ceglinsky