Corona Del Mar

Erik Boal LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- The La Canada High girls' basketball team had a lot to prove in its CIF Southern Section Division IIIAA second-round contest against visting Corona del Mar. The Spartans had to show that winning their first undefeated Rio Hondo League title in a decade was no fluke. Coach Tamar Hill's squad also had to demonstrate it was deserving of a first-round bye and that it could respond after a nine-day layoff. Midway through the third quarter of Saturday night's game at La Canada High, the Sea Queens found out the Spartans could do both, as they cruised to a 51-34 victory.

A space heater left on too close to a bed caused a two-alarm house fire in Corona del Mar early Thursday, leaving one woman hospitalized and another requiring treatment for first- and second-degree burns, fire officials said. Four generations of females were living in the home in the 500 block of Narcissus Avenue when the blaze erupted at 1:40 a.m., fire officials said. Another woman, who rents the upstairs of the house, was not home at the time of fire, officials said.

GLENDALE — When the girls’ soccer teams from Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and St. Lucy’s met in a nonleague scrimmage in November, nobody even kept score. The competitive tone of today’s CIF Southern Section Division II second-round match between the Tologs and Regents will be ratcheted up a few notches, to say the least. Meanwhile, Crescenta Valley will look to keep the scoring one-sided in its favor, as it has all season, when the Falcons continue their journey through the Division II bracket in a second-round match against Corona del Mar. Both teams will hit the road for 3 p.m. games, with second-seeded Sacred Heart and St. Lucy’s squaring off at Damien High in La Verne and fourth-seeded Crescenta Valley traveling to face the Sea Kings on their home field.

NEWPORT HARBOR — Simply stated, the season-long ills for the Crescenta Valley High’s girls’ soccer team when it came to finishing translated into the finish of the Falcons’ season. Despite its always-sturdy defense and plenty of scoring chances, the Falcons could not find the back of the net nor a repeat ticket to the quarterfinals, as Crescenta Valley was defeated by host Corona del Mar, 1-0, in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs on Wednesday.

TODAY Girls' Volleyball (3 p.m.) Laguna at Cougar Classic (at Capo Valley High) Boys' Water Polo (TBA) Laguna at South Coast Tourney Football (7 p.m.) Costa Mesa at Laguna SATURDAY Girls' Volleyball (8 a.m.) Laguna at Cougar Classic (at Capo Valley High) Cross Country (8 a.m.) Laguna at Stanford Invite (at Palo Alto) Boys' Water Polo (TBA) Laguna at South Coast Tourney TUESDAY Girls' Tennis (3:15 p.m.)

TODAY Golf High school girls -- Sage Hill at Fairmont Prep at Dad Miller, 3 p.m.; Estancia at Serrano tournament at Jess Ranch, 11 a.m.; Corona del Mar at Woodbridge. Soccer College men -- UC Irvine at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 7 p.m. College women -- Vanguard at Concordia, 3 p.m. Tennis High school girls -- Dana Hills at Corona del Mar, 3:15 p.m. Volleyball Community college women -- Orange Coast at Riverside, 7 p.m. High school girls -- Foothill at Newport Harbor, 4 p.m.; Estancia at Westminster, 4:30 p.m.; Ocean View at Costa Mesa, 3:15 p.m. Water polo Community college men -- Orange Coast at Saddleback, 4 p.m. Community college women -- Orange Coast at Saddleback, 3 p.m. High school boys -- Woodbridge at Newport Harbor, 3 p.m.; Corona del Mar at Northwood, 3:15 p.m.

TODAY Cross country High school boys and girls -- Newport Harbor at Sea View League meet at Irvine Park, 3 p.m. Field hockey High school -- Newport Harbor at Edison, 3 p.m. Football High school -- Corona del Mar at Northwood at Irvine, 7 p.m. Golf High school girls -- Newport Harbor at Aliso Viejo, 3 p.m.; Estancia at Westminster at David Baker, 2:30 p.m.; Northwood at Corona del Mar,...

Water polo fans know the Pacific Coast League is not easy, and it's hard to win league matches on the road. It looks even more difficult when your Pacific Coast League opener is on the road at Northwood, ranked No. 6 in CIF Southern Section Division I. Corona del Mar High's boys water polo ignored any possible excuses, and took an early lead in the league standings Wednesday in winning, 10-7, at Northwood. "Northwood, is always a tough road game.

GLENDALE - The Hoover High boys' basketball team found out quickly that Friday's playoff opponent was nothing like its competition in Wednesday's opening round. That was bad news for the Tornadoes. After getting away with playing a sub-par game in the opening round against Firebaugh, the Tornadoes didn't have much leeway against third-seeded Corona del Mar. Hoover fell behind early and couldn't catch up, falling, 55-32, at home in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3-AA playoffs.

The following are playoff previews of Friday's events involving local teams. BOYS' SOCCER Crescenta Valley at Placentia Valencia, 5 p.m. : After winning the CIF Southern Section Division IV championship last season, the Falcons will try to win a Division III title. Crescenta Valley is 20-3-7 after taking second in the Pacific League. Valencia, which finished second in the Empire League, is 15-5-5. The winner of the Crescenta Valley-Placentia Valencia match will meet Century or Murrieta Valley in a second-round match Wednesday.

NEWPORT HARBOR — Simply stated, the season-long ills for the Crescenta Valley High’s girls’ soccer team when it came to finishing translated into the finish of the Falcons’ season. Despite its always-sturdy defense and plenty of scoring chances, the Falcons could not find the back of the net nor a repeat ticket to the quarterfinals, as Crescenta Valley was defeated by host Corona del Mar, 1-0, in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs on Wednesday.

GLENDALE — When the girls’ soccer teams from Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and St. Lucy’s met in a nonleague scrimmage in November, nobody even kept score. The competitive tone of today’s CIF Southern Section Division II second-round match between the Tologs and Regents will be ratcheted up a few notches, to say the least. Meanwhile, Crescenta Valley will look to keep the scoring one-sided in its favor, as it has all season, when the Falcons continue their journey through the Division II bracket in a second-round match against Corona del Mar. Both teams will hit the road for 3 p.m. games, with second-seeded Sacred Heart and St. Lucy’s squaring off at Damien High in La Verne and fourth-seeded Crescenta Valley traveling to face the Sea Kings on their home field.

GLENDALE ? From the season?s beginning, the Wildcats of Renaissance Academy have never hesitated to state that winning an all-too elusive CIF title was, indeed, their year?s goal. Now, they find themselves only two victories away from accomplishing it. Tonight, Renaissance hosts visiting West Valley at 7:30 at Blair High in a CIF Southern Section Division III-A semifinal. The only hiccup thus far for the top-seeded Wildcats in the postseason has been they?re not playing who they thought they?

For the area's boys' volleyball teams in the Pacific League, success is a matter of keeping up with perennial powers Arcadia and Claremont. This season, Crescenta Valley High kept pace to the tune of a 6-4 league record ? good for third place ? leading to an appearance in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs. The Falcons also succeeded in landing four of their players on the All-Pacific League team, which is voted on by the league's coaches. At the forefront of that effort were senior outside hitter Mike Cho and senior middle blocker Mazen Jahchan, both of whom garnered All-Pacific League first-team honors for the Crescenta Valley.

GLENDALE — Just five days removed from its loss to Corona del Mar in the CIF Southern Section Division III-A championship, the Renaissance Academy basketball team was back on the court in its third consecutive bid for a state championship. The Wildcats won their first-ever state playoff game Thursday night with a Division V opening-round 61-58 victory at Reedley Immanuel in a game that came down to the wire amid some casualties. Josh Thomas had a team-high 18 points, including the pull-up jumper that put the Wildcats ahead by five points with under a minute to play, but was hobbled by an ankle injury in the third quarter.

ANAHEIM — The words of Renaissance Academy forward Hector Harold following Saturday's 67-59 loss to Corona Del Mar in the CIF Southern Section Divison III-A championship spoke volumes about the team's frustrating three-year quest to capture a most elusive prize. "[The championship] is right there," said the sophomore, who scored 11 points in Saturday's game before fouling out in the fourth quarter. "It's like a carrot, and we're on a treadmill." If the title chase is indeed a treadmill, then the Wildcats are getting quite a workout.

ANAHEIM — There were plenty of moments during Saturday's CIF Southern Section Division III-A championship at the Honda Center in Anaheim when the Renaissance Academy basketball team took a staggering shot from Corona Del Mar straight on the chin and remained standing. While never taking a lead, Renaissance answered every Sea King's run with a run of their own, to stay within three points until inside of the final two minutes. They parried effectively enough to survive to the end, but the No.2-seed Wildcats (27-2)