Crescenta Valley Steps Up in Transition to Semifinals

The Crescenta Valley High basketball team has shown it can play on two levels.

The Falcons play well, and they play out of their minds.

Their performance Friday night was closer to the latter, and it yielded a 97-59 victory over La Sierra in a Division II-AA playoff game at Glendale College.

Crescenta Valley (22-4), which advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1978, will meet second-seeded Dominguez (24-2), a 95-50 winner over Santa Barbara.

The victory against La Sierra (19-9), the second-place finisher in the Sunkist League, was another in a series of impressive victories for the Falcons.

“We were getting better before Christmas,” Coach John Goffredo said. “Then we hit a little valley. I was worried that we’d peaked too soon. But now we’re on our way up again.”

The key to Friday’s victory was an adjustment the Falcons made midway through the first quarter. They started pressing and trapping and getting baskets off transitions, rather than holding the ball to set up in a half-court game.

After falling behind, 8-0, Crescenta Valley started a 13-0 run, which grew into a 46-13 deluge. La Sierra had 12 turnovers in the first half, and the Falcons scored mostly on fast-break layups.

“It suits us well,” point guard Robert Miller said of the transition game. “We’re really good on the fast break. We don’t do it much because it’s hard to control our shots, but that’s what they were giving us.”

Miller scored 18 points, including seven during an 18-3 run in the second quarter. Adam Jacobsen led all scorers with 34 points, including six three-point baskets in eight attempts.

Jacobsen, who added six rebounds and four assists, has scored 70 points in the Falcons’ two playoff victories this week.

Teammate Glenn Granz posted 16 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.

It was such a rout that freshman Jake Willis, the younger brother of Cal State Northridge’s Josh Willis, played in his first varsity game.

He ignited the crowd when he drove to the hoop and threw a behind-the-back pass at the last instant.

“Everyone feels great,” Miller said. “We’re so pumped up. This is what you play for: to go the semifinals of the playoffs.”