Pacific League honors standouts
GLENDALE— With five local Pacific League basketball teams making postseason trips, it is fair to say that the 2006-2007 season was successful in many ways for area teams.
Behind much of that success was the play of some outstanding individual athletes.
For their accomplishments, five local players were selected to either the All-Pacific League first or second team.
After guiding the Crescenta Valley High’s girls’ team to a third-place league finish, Falcons forward Molly Roach was selected to the first team.
“There wasn’t any question, she was one of the top-three players in the Pacific League,” Crescenta Valley Coach Jason Perez said.
Roach proved to be a scoring catalyst for the Falcons, as she led the league in scoring with a 16.4 points per game average. She finished second in the league in three-pointers with 65.
The senior finished with 20 or more points in nine contests, including a season-high 26 in a win over Pasadena on Jan. 24.
Joining Roach as a first-team selection was Glendale’s Melia Basavand.
The senior guard finished the year with a 13.3 points-per-game average and led the league in three-point baskets with 74.
The Nitros were narrowly beaten out for the league’s fourth-place spot by an Annette Arzoo-led Hoover squad.
A first-team selection a year earlier, the senior guard was selected to the second team this year.
“Second team is nothing to sneeze about,” said Hoover Coach Jack Van Patten in reference to the league cutting down the number of selections from seven to five. “It was much more selective this year.”
Earning honorable mention nods was Arzoo’s teammate Aileen Vartanian, Crescenta Valley forward Cassie Pappas and Glendale’s Lara Kadehjian.
On the boys’ side, all three area schools were represented with a first-team selection, with Crescenta Valley’s Clay Sierra, Hoover Zarah Zargaryan and Glendale’s Hamlet Hovhanesian receiving nods.
Filling up the stat sheet is nothing new for Zargaryan, who routinely took over games with his scoring and rebounding abilities.
An All-Area selection last year, the senior had some memorable moments in his final season, including a career-high 43 points to go with 10 rebounds in a road win over Crescenta Valley. In another outing, against Muir, Zargaryan finished with 22 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and five blocks in the victory.
In his first season on varsity, Sierra, a junior, slowly developed into the Falcons’ go-to-guy.
“Clay was our best player this year,” Falcons Coach Shawn Zargarian said. “He did it on both ends of the court.”
Sierra nearly averaged a double-double, recording 13.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
For the Nitros, Hovhanesian was one of the league’s top shooters.
The senior guard averaged 18.4 points per game, including hitting 38 three-pointers.
Players named as honorable mention were Eric Strangis of Crescenta Valley, Haig Darakjian of Glendale and Artash Davtyan of Hoover.