Crescenta Valley boys’ water polo rolls to nonleague win at Pasadena Poly
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PASADENA — It was a game that had to be played and so the Crescenta Valley High boys’ water polo team certainly took advantage of the situation.
A once lively and challenging nonleague rivalry with Pasadena Poly that produced quite a few thrillers over the years lacked the same sort of oomph as the Falcons emptied their bench and lit up the scoreboard in a 19-7 victory Thursday afternoon in Pasadena.
PHOTOS: Crescenta Valley trounces Pasadena Poly, 19-7
“Today presented a great opportunity for our guys to work on things from practice,” Crescenta Valley Coach Jan Sakonju said. “Poly always has very smart players, both individually and from a team concept. They still present a challenge where if we don’t execute, they’ll make you pay.”
Crescenta Valley’s execution was nearly flawless, however, as the Falcons scored the game’s first 10 goals in taking a 10-0 advantage after one quarter.
Vasil Halchev led the charge in the first quarter by scoring all three of his goals, while the final score came on a shot from Tae Hoon Kim with 32 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Reagan Hesse also added two goals in the first quarter and ended up finishing with a team-best four goals, four assists and four steals.
“We countered hard against Poly and set up our offense,” Hesse said. “I was a little surprised by how we started and the final score. I thought it would be a little closer.”
Poly (3-8) eventually broke its scoreless stretch with a goal from Matt Arena at 6:14 in the second quarter to pull within 10-1.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, it wasn’t until the final seconds of the first half on a long-distance goal from Dean Behary that the home squad scored again.
In between Poly’s two goals, Crescenta Valley responded with four scores and took a 15-2 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Sakonju took advantage of the secure score by inserting his bench into the contest.
“I carry a pretty big roster to allow players to earn a spot on the team and get some playing time,” Sakonju said. “After the starters established themselves and took control of the game, I was able to put in a good combination of starters and reserves.”
Crescenta Valley added goals from Chris Menke, Hesse, Luke Wade and Julian Bartolone in the third quarter in taking a 19-4 advantage.
While much of Thursday’s focus centered on Crescenta Valley’s offense, the Falcons defense was smothering in picking up 16 steals, with three from Wesley Hovanesian (one goal).
“I mainly focused on framing the hole set, pressing the perimeter, getting a steal and heading down for a goal,” said Hovanesian, the younger brother of former girls’ standout Shannon Hovanesian.
If there was a positive note for Panthers Coach Ryan Katsuyama, it’s that his team didn’t quit.
The Panthers received two goals from Luke Scheidemantle to win the fourth quarter, 3-0.
“I told the guys to keep fighting and to keep working,” Katsuyama said. “We were trying players in different positions in the second half. We wanted to get some looks and it was a great opportunity to see what our guys could do. We knew the game was out of hand, but we still wanted to get some value.”