Speed leads Mission League honorees

GLENDALE — Having endured postseason-less campaigns a year ago, the St. Francis High and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy basketball teams restructured their respective foundations by hiring new coaches.

For St. Francis co-coaches Jeff Stephens and Ray O’Brien and Flintridge Sacred Heart Coach Gino Pacella to have any shot at guiding their programs back to the postseason, they needed to count on certain players to help get their teams over the top.

Several standout athletes made significant contributions to get the Golden Knights and Tologs back in the playoffs this past season, as was evidenced by Malik Speed and Tommy Jordan of St. Francis and Vanessa Romero of Flintridge Sacred Heart being named to the All-Mission League teams.

Speed earned first-team honors. Jordan and Romero secured second-team accolades.

“It’s a great honor because the Mission League is tough and there are a lot of great players out there from each team,” said Speed, who picked up all-league second-team honors last season. “It was a goal of mine to get on the first team and it means a lot.

“I tried to help my team out all of the time, and I guess the people saw that.”

Speed, a senior guard and a reigning All-Area football first-team member, averaged a team-high 17 points per game in 26 games played to help the Golden Knights finish the season at 11-16 and 3-11 in league for seventh place, while competing against perennial powerhouses such as Loyola and Harvard-Westlake.

Jordan, a junior guard, averaged 14 points and four rebounds per game in 27 games played to propel the Golden Knights, who received an at-large postseason berth before falling to top-seeded Bishop Montgomery, 67-59, in a CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA first-round road playoff game.

“Malik was voted on to the first team easily,” Stephens said. “They all recognized his ability because he requires so much attention from anybody we played and he made the other players around him better.

“Tommy is just a smart player. He stressed playing defense and he always found a way to compete. We are going to look even more to his leadership next year.”