Spartans receiving no challenges in league play
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From Staff Reports
Finally, a challenge: No, Friday’s La Canada boys’ basketball result
was not a misprint.
The Spartans (22-2) beat Blair by a modest 60-51 margin in a Rio
Hondo League road game.
What’s the big deal? Well, the Vikings are the only league team
that’s kept things interesting against the Spartans.
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AREA BOYS’ BASKETBALL LEADERS
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NAME GAMES POINTS AVG
1. Chris Johnson, St. Francis 23 398 17.3
2. Scott Burton, St. Francis 21 359 17.1
3. Umar Khan, La Canada 22 409 17.0
4. Ramses Barden, Flintridge Prep 17 273 16.1
5. Philip Anderson, La Canada 24 377 15.7
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NAME GAMES REBS AVG
1. Matt Oliver, Crescenta Valley 25 226 9.0
2. Ramses Barden, Flintridge Prep 17 148 8.7 3. Philip Anderson, La Canada 24 175 7.3
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NAME GAMES ASSISTS AVG
1. Matt Oliver, Crescenta Valley 25 193 7.7
2. Umar Khan, La Canada 24 105 4.4
3. Andrew Beck, Flintridge Prep 22 70 3.2
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* Note: All statistics based on what’s reported to the News-Press. To report statistics, please fax to 241-1975 by 4 p.m. Monday, e-mail to hamlet.nalbandyan@latimes.com or call 637-3226.
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La Canada is 8-0, and on its way to a third consecutive undefeated
league championship.
This year, they have outscored league opponents, 556-368. In other
words, they’ve won by an average of 23.5 points per game.
Blair is the only team to keep the margin of defeat in single
digits, and just one other team has kept it under 20, that being
Monrovia when it lost, 49-36.
La Canada’s biggest win came in the league opener at Temple City.
Tom Hofman’s squad trounced the Rams, 88-56.
Late-season slide: It wasn’t that long ago that the Glendale High
boys’ basketball team was thinking Pacific League title.
But after starting the league season with a heartbreaking loss at
Crescenta Valley and impressive victories against perennial powers
Muir and Pasadena, Steve Snodgress’ squad has made a complete U-turn.
Glendale (12-11, 3-5 in league) has dropped four of its past five
league contests, and dropped them big.
The downward spiral began with a 58-36 loss at home against
Arcadia.
The Nitros came back to defeat Hoover, 54-43, but the score is
misleading, considering they trailed by as many as nine in the second
half before regrouping.
The second half of league has seen Glendale hit rock bottom. A
59-46 loss against CV was followed by an 86-52 debacle at Muir.
Friday’s 66-31 shellacking at Pasadena -- during which Glendale
shot 10 of 50 (20%) from the field -- added further insult to
injury.
But not all is lost of the Nitros. If they win their remaining two
games -- at Arcadia and against visiting Hoover -- they could still
finish third in league.
The teams ahead of Glendale for the third spot are Pasadena (4-4)
and Arcadia (4-4). The Bulldogs are at CV and host Muir this week,
and the Apaches host Glendale and CV.
With that scenario, it is likely that both Pasadena and Arcadia
could finish 0-2, and Glendale finishes 2-0.
Shooting for history: It’s hard to believe that since CV joined
the Pacific League in 1978, the Falcons have won just three league
titles, which includes this year’s crown.
But what’s even more difficult to grasp is the fact that CV’s
never won the title outright. That could change today, when Jim
Smiley’s squad hosts Pasadena at 3:15 p.m.
A win today or Thursday at Arcadia will give the Falcons that
elusive outright league championship. CV shared league titles with
Pasadena in 1978 and 1995.
Both years, the teams went 9-1, and in both seasons, the Bulldogs
were eventual CIF champions.
Feeling secure: Despite going just 4-3 in the past three weeks --
including a 48-46 victory against visiting Pasadena Poly on Friday, a
team it beat by 37 on Jan. 17 -- it appears as if the Flintridge Prep
boys’ basketball team has weathered the storm in the latest CIF
Southern Section Division IVA rankings.
The Rebels (14-8, 6-0 in Prep League) are ranked No. 3 behind
defending-champion L.A. Verbum Dei (13-9) and No. 2 San Juan
Capistrano St. Margaret’s (21-1), and are positioned just ahead of
No. 4 San Pedro Mary Star of the Sea (15-9), a team Garrett Ohara’s
squad defeated, 47-25, in a Jan. 6 nonleague road game.
Assuming Flintridge Prep defeats Claremont Webb and Rancho Palos
Verdes Chadwick in its final two league games, and assuming the top
four teams don’t incur any changes between today and Sunday’s
announcement of the playoff pairings, then the Rebels will be in a
more favorable position entering the postseason than they were last
year, when they reached the semifinals.
Should Ohara’s squad be seeded No. 3, that means a potential
playoff rematch with Verbum Dei wouldn’t occur until the division
final, which is scheduled for March 4 at Loyola Marymount University.
Of course, that would mean the Rebels would have to get past other
potential playoff opponents like Huntington Beach Brethren Christian,
Oxnard Santa Clara or Malibu Kilpatrick before possibly meeting St.
Margaret’s in the semifinals.
But as long as Flintridge Prep can avoid Verbum Dei until the
final, Ohara says he likes his chances of getting there.