Hoover Scores Late Basket to Beat CV Boys' Varsity Cagers, 44-43

The Crescenta Valley boy's basketball team held a lead over the Hoover Tornadoes squad for all but 11 seconds of their league match up last Friday night.

However, the Tornadoes scored a basket with 11 seconds left to go in the game to give them a 44-43 lead, which ended up being the final score as the Falcons were unable to regain the lead as time ran out.

The Falcons (8-16 overall, 1-7 in league) dominated the first quarter, going on a 10-0 run to extend their early lead to 16-6. Falcons' Noah Garcia had seven of his 11 points early on to give the Falcons a 16-11 lead going into the second quarter.

"CV came out with confidence," said Hoover Coach Vigen Jiizian. "It caught us off guard."

The confidence would continue into the second quarter, as the Falcons continued to be aggressive on both sides of the ball.

But, costly turnovers would be the story of the night for the Falcons.

After being up by eight points, the Falcons turned the ball over twice on three possessions, letting the Tornadoes score six straight points to cut their lead down to two points.

"We didn't take care of the ball," said Falcon Coach Shawn Zargarian. "We haven't been doing a good of that lately."

The fourth quarter proved to be brutal for the Falcons. The Tornadoes took advantage of more costly turnovers by the Falcons, notably Eugene Yi, to let themselves back in the game.

Falcon Eric Strangis picked up his fifth foul and had to be a spectator for the final two minutes of the contest.

Questionable foul calls against the Falcons squad down the stretch were costly, but Zargarian would not blame the loss on the referees.

"You just have to play the game. There is nothing you can say about foul calls."

The Falcons could have used Strangis, though.

With 17 seconds remaining and behind one point, the Tornadoes offense took the ball down the court. They scored to take the lead for the first time with 11 seconds left.

The Falcons gave the ball to Garcia, but he couldn't get a good shot off.

The Tornadoes sweep the season series against Crescenta Valley.20060210iuc8ggncPhoto by Michael Yeghiayan(LA)UNDER THE BOARDS -- Crescenta Valley's Noah Garcia is shown fighting for the ball under the basket in a previous game this season. He pumped in 11 points in the Falcons' 44-43 loss to Hoover last Friday.