Falcons roll to another victory
LA CRESCENTA — The Crescenta Valley High boys’ basketball team had little knowledge about Sun Valley leading up to Wednesday night.
The Falcons have been around nearly 50 years, while the Wildcats had a grand total of three games in their brief history. It didn’t matter much to Crescenta Valley Coach Shawn Zargarian.
“We try to teach to not look at the opponent or scoreboard and just play the right way,” said Zargarian after host Crescenta Valley rolled to an easy 85-31 victory against Sun Valley in a pool-play contest of the Falcon Classic.
Crescenta Valley (2-0) moved a step closer to possibly competing in the tournament’s championship game Friday. A Falcon pool-play victory at 7 p.m. today against Antelope Valley would place them in the title game against Chatsworth at 7 p.m. The loser will meet Flintridge Prep in the third-place contest at 6:15.
On Wednesday, the Falcons had little difficulty against a Sun Valley squad that dropped to 0-4 and is a member of the L.A. City Section. Crescenta Valley, which opened the tournament Tuesday with a 78-55 victory against South Pasadena, scored the game’s first 13 points.
Crescenta Valley received a game-high 19 points from sophomore guard Cole Currie, including 11 in the first quarter. Currie had three three-pointers in the first quarter.
“We knew nothing about them,” said Currie, who made a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter that gave the Falcons a 27-1 advantage. “[Sun Valley] played hard throughout and we were able to take care of our business.
“My teammates did a good job of finding me in the first quarter and I happened to feel good with my shooting.”
Crescenta Valley received 18 points, eight rebounds and three steals from junior center Christian Misi. Misi registered 10 points and six rebounds in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Falcons got a layup from senior guard Chris Chemlkeian to make it 31-1 with 7:16 left. Sun Valley didn’t make its first field goal until sophomore forward Brian Conchas converted on a layup with 6:40 left that cut the deficit to 31-3.
Crescenta Valley owned a 48-15 halftime advantage.
A Misi basket extended Crescenta Valley’s lead to 60-15 with 5:06 left in the third quarter.
Crescenta Valley received nine points apiece from junior center Rudy Avila and senior guard Oshin Mahmoodian and eight from junior forward Davis Dragovich.
Sun Valley, which began the tournament Monday with a loss against Antelope Valley and will conclude pool-play competition against South Pasadena at 4 p.m. today, got 15 points from Conchas and six each from senior guard Jesus Ortiz and sophomore guard Cesar Verduzco.
Zargarian said Antelope Valley might be a difficult test for the Falcons.
“They are real good because they are athletic, quick and can score,” Zargarian said. “It should be a tough game.”
