Crescenta Valley High boys' basketball team has semis on their mind

Basketball: Fourth-Seeded Falcons set to travel to top-seeded El Toro for right to advance to CIF Southern Section Division I-A championship contest.

February 23, 2013|By Charles Rich, charles.rich@latimes.com

CV's basketball team cheers on their team during… (Cheryl A. Guerrero/Staff…)

In reaching the CIF Southern Section Division I-A semifinal game for the second straight season, Crescenta Valley High boys’ basketball Coach Shawn Zargarian reflected on his team’s latest accomplishment.

Having lost 80% of last season’s starting lineup, it appeared to be a tall order for the Falcons to make another deep playoff run.

“I was telling the players that I couldn’t be more proud in terms of how far they have come,” Zargarian said. “We lost a lot of solid players, but there’s just something special about this team and what they’ve been able to get done this year.

“I haven’t seen something this special in quite a long time. We don’t have the offensive firepower that we had last year. This year, we try to find ways to manufacture points and we are better defensively.”

Fourth-seeded Crescenta Valley (23-7) will travel to face top-seeded El Toro (26-5) in a semifinal matchup at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will meet second-seeded Santa Monica or sixth-seeded Dana Hills in the championship contest.

Senior guard Cole Currie, the team’s returning starter from a squad that advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 1994, enjoyed another big performance in putting the Falcons in line for a rematch with the Chargers. He finished with a game-high 27 points and nine rebounds Friday to lead the Falcons to a 68-54 quarterfinal home victory against Long Beach Millikan.

Currie said there are some similarities between this season’s and last season’s Falcons teams. However, the latter version has carved a new identity.

“Both teams were extremely close and there’s that camaraderie,” said Currie, who helped the Falcons finish second in the Pacific League. “On the court, last year’s team had good inside scoring, while this team relies more on the three-pointer.

“We’ve also changed our defense in terms of coverage. We like our chances. We just have to keep doing the things we’ve done well, and I think we play well on the road.”

Crescenta Valley and El Toro, which shared the South Coast League championship with Mission Viejo, are no strangers to each other. The teams met in the playoffs last season with Crescenta Valley earning a 61-49 quarterfinal win at home.

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