Currie plays role of hero in victory

LA CRESCENTA — With seven seconds left, his team down two points in its rivalry game on senior night, sophomore guard Cole Currie took the inbounds pass, raced up the floor and hoisted up a last-second, three-pointer from the left wing.

Currie’s heroic shot swished through, sending a shockwave of euphoria through the Crescenta Valley High gym Thursday night.

And with it, the Crescenta Valley boys’ basketball team outlasted visiting Arcadia, 69-68, in a climatic shootout.

“It felt good,” Currie said of his game-winner. “I knew as soon as I shot it, it was going to go in.”

Currie was rushed by his teammates at midcourt, as Arcadia watched the joyous celebration.

“As soon as it went in, all the emotions came out,” Currie said. “I’ve hit game-winners, but not at the buzzer like that and definitely not in this atmosphere.”

And Curries was exactly who the Falcons wanted to have the ball.

“We wanted to get the ball into Cole’s hands,” Falcons Coach Shawn Zargarian said. “He mishandled it a little bit, but you got to give the kid credit. He got it up the floor, took a tough shot and nailed it.”

Currie scored 14 points in the game, but of course none were bigger than his final three. He made four treys in the game.

And that was really the story for the Falcons, who were red hot from distance from the outset. Crescenta Valley (20-7, 12-2) hit nine three-pointers in the first half and netted 13 threes by the end of the game.

Junior center Christian Misi scored a team-high 21 points for the Falcons. He scored down low and also got into the three-point barrage, hitting four treys for Crescenta Valley.

“Misi has been our horse all season long,” Zargarian said.

Arcadia (12-14, 6-8) fell behind, 15-5, in the opening four minutes, as the Falcons connected on five straight three-pointers.

But they battled back with point guard Kiran Koneru and forward Robert Haines.

Koneru scored a game-high 27 points and Haines added 25 points.

Crescenta Valley led, 35-32, at halftime.

Haines scored five quick points during a third-quarter surge where the Apaches took a 47-43 lead.

The Falcons ended the third quarter on an 8-0 run and went back up, 51-47.

Crescenta Valley trailed, 63-58, with just 2:20 left in the game.

Currie hit a three-pointer with 19.5 seconds left, tying it, 66-66.

Koneru penetrated and nailed a floater in the lane, which put Arcadia up two points, before Currie ended things for good.

“I knew we had to get stops and we did a poor job of that tonight,” Currie said. “Whoever got the ball last was going to win it.”