The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene.
TWO HOOPS
SQUADS IN TOP 10
The CIF debuted its basketball polls for the first time in the 2006-07 season on Tuesday.
One boys' basketball team made the list, as Hoover is ranked eighth in the Southern Section Division II-AA poll.
Off to a 14-4 start, one of the biggest reasons Coach Vigen Jilizian's Tornadoes were likely ranked was due to their narrow 48-46 loss to Pasadena — the division's No. 1 team.
Of course, Hoover is likely to slip after its 46-43 loss to Burbank on Tuesday.
Coach Kenny Fisher's Flintridge Prep girls' basketball team also made the cut — the only area girls' basketball squad to do so. With a 14-3 record on the season, the Rebels are the third-ranked team in Division IV-A.
Despite losing having lost to Burbank, which remains unranked, in Pacific League play, Crescenta Valley stayed as the sixth-ranked squad in Division IV, as the division did not report.
St. Francis' boys' soccer team is ranked eighth in Division I.
— Grant Gordon
PARQUE ON THE
COMEBACK TRAIL?
Apparently, former Crescenta Valley High graduate Jim Parque has announced his willingness to return to Major League Baseball.
According to MLBtraderumours.com, the former Pacific League Most Valuable Player will hold an open workout in February in an attempt to return to the big leagues.
The 30-year-old Parque, who graduated from Crescenta Valley in 1994 before attending UCLA, last pitched in the majors in 2004. He's battled numerous arm injuries since being drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 1997 in the first round (46th overall) of the supplemental round.
Parque, a left-hander, enjoyed his best season in 2000. He went 13-6 with a 4.28 ERA before suffering a torn labrum.
In parts of six seasons, Parque is 31-34 with a 5.42 earned-run average. He helped the White Sox win the American League's Central Division championship in 2000.
— Charles Rich
FALCONS NOW
FLYING HIGH
It appeared to be yet another lost campaign for the Crescenta Valley High boys' soccer team after the Falcons lost their first four games of the season.
The start wasn't what second-year Crescenta Valley Coach Randy Lilavois had in mind. However, Lilavois and his athletes didn't stray away from being patient.
In order to be successful, the Falcons, who last appeared in the playoffs in 2001, knew they'd have to win many one-goal matches.
It's seemed to work for the Falcons, who were 8-2-3 in their last 13 matches and 8-6-3 overall.
