Pacific League will be cruise for Falcons

Mirjam Swanson

GLENDALE -- Odds and ends from the local high school girls’ water polo

scene:

Livin’ large in Pacific League: While Glendale, Arcadia, Pasadena,

Hoover and Muir highs all fight for the No. 2 and 3 spots in league and

thus the automatic CIF playoff berths, Coach Peter Kim’s Crescenta Valley

contingent will be fighting simply not to lose its edge.

Because the Falcons’ nonleague schedule was no joke. Bell-Gardens.

Harvard-Westlake. The Foothill B Team. Agoura. And so forth.

The Pacific League isn’t nearly as tough.

Arcadia is favored to claim runner-up honors. Glendale, Muir and

Pasadena have improved. Same goes for Hoover, which enters the season

with an 0-30 all-time league mark, but under first-year Coach Scott

Finney, is seriously threatening to win its first league match.

That leaves CV, and a lot of lopsidedness.

“It’s an honor to play them,” Nitro Coach Pat Lancaster said of the

Falcons. “We’re ecxited to play CV, the way CV was excited to play Bell

Gardens.

“They have a whole different agenda, CV is at a whole different

plateau. They have their eyes on a whole ‘nother prize, they’re focused

on the CIF finals -- our goal is just making the playoffs.”

That’s why the Falcons will slip in one last match against Agoura on

Jan. 25.

Commuter blues: All Christmas break, the Falcons practiced at the

Glendale High pool because construction on the CV campus made their pool

inoperable at times.

To avoid any hassle, Kim called Lancaster before the break to make

arrangements.

“We’re happy to let them use our pool,” Lancaster said. “As we come in

they’re leaving, so one thing’s for sure, they’re not scouting us.”

CV, it should be noted, allowed Lancaster’s boys’ team to share their

pool when the Nitro pool was being fixed up 10 years ago, according to

the long-time Nitro coach.