Kohlmeier gets No. 300
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Hamlet Nalbandyan
In one night, the Hoover High boys’ basketball team did what it
couldn’t do for five-plus years.
Thanks to the dominating inside play of Ara Mahdessian, the
Tornadoes upset rival Crescenta Valley High, 52-43, in a Pacific
League contest at the Falcon gym, and in the process, set numerous
milestones.
No. 1: The Tornadoes beat CV for the first time since an 85-70
victory in the championship game of the Burbank-Hoover Tournament on
Dec. 4, 1998.
To find out the last time the Tornadoes beat the Falcons in league
play, you’d have to go back to a 79-72 victory Feb. 11, 1997, which
was the last year Hoover made the postseason.
Ironically, Hoover’s victory against CV on Friday gave the
Tornadoes their 11th win of the season, which meets the minimum to
earn an at-large berth into the CIF Southern Section Division IAA
playoffs.
But those weren’t the only milestones set Friday for the Tornadoes
(11-10, 3-3 in league). With the huge win, Hoover Coach Kirt
Kohlmeier won his 300th career game in 24 years at the helm.
“This means a lot to us, that we were able to give coach his 300th
against CV,” said Mahdessian, a senior who scored a game-high 23
points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Mahdessian’s play was the difference for the Tornadoes, who fell
to CV, 41-31, the first time around, due to the fact they couldn’t
penetrate CV’s stellar defense.
“All year long, our strength has been our inside scoring,”
Kohlmeier said. “That’s the key to our success. The icing on the cake
is our outside shooting.”
It was Friday.
Clinging to a four-point lead midway through the fourth, Hoover
received a pair of clutch three-pointers from Armen Baghdasarian and
Chris Rivera that put the game on ice for Hoover.
Afterward, CV Coach Adam Jacobsen said he wasn’t surprised with
the result.
“Our guys didn’t play hard enough and didn’t make smart decisions,
so how can they expect to win?” said Jacobsen, whose team dropped to
15-6, 3-3. “That’s the two best things we do, and we didn’t do them.”