Cubs

BURBANK - Some coaches in the same league aren't proponents of playing against each other before league begins. Count Flintridge Prep girls' Coach Todd Frost and Mayfield's Kevin Yamamoto in that group. Be that as it may, the Flintridge Prep and Mayfield girls' basketball teams, who are members of the Prep League, found themselves pitted against each other Wednesday in a consolation game of the 15th annual Pioneer Shootout at Providence High. Behind some clutch fourth-quarter shooting from Erika Lin, Mayfield posted a 36-30 victory against Flintridge Prep.

CLAREMONT - What would the Prep League's opening cross-country meet be without at least a couple of surprises? While Thursday's competition at Webb School included expected outcomes, such as the Flintridge Prep boys again flexing their muscles. There were also unexpected results, such as the one provided by the Flintridge Prep girls, which defined the event. The Rebels, who finished fourth at last year's Prep League finals, shocked the league by delivering a 41-49 victory over reigning league champ Mayfield, which entered the race as the No. 2-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division IV. “It's been, oh I don't know, at least four or five years since we beat Mayfield,” Prep co-Coach Mike Roffina said.

Sometimes it seemed as if goalkeeper Justin Stahl faced the entire Loyola team himself, as the Golden Knights struggled to keep up with the Cubs in a 3-1 loss on Friday. It was the first league road loss of the season for St. Francis. ?We had enough moments, where if we had done some things better, it could have made a difference,? said St. Francis Head Coach Glen Appels. ?But they were definitely the more aggressive team.? The Cubs forced the issue on offense, attacking their own zone and keeping the Golden Knight defense on its heels all game and finding ways to challenge Stahl throughout the contest.

Hamlet Nalbandyan GLENDALE -- It would have been great to see another Loyola and Mater Dei matchup at Moyse Field, but that's not going to happen this year. That's because Eisenhower High upset the Monarchs last week in the CIF Southern Section Division I quarterfinals, winning, 34-23. But that doesn't mean Moyse Field will not be treated to another great football game today. Loyola (11-1) faces Eisenhower in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. at Moyse Field.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — By the time the Flintridge Prep girls' basketball team allowed Mayfield to get on the scoreboard, the rout was well under way. The Cubs' first basket came at the 2:12 mark of the first quarter. At that point, the Rebels had already staked a 14-point advantage. The lead only continued to increase, as the Rebels walked away with a convincing 68-23 home win in a Prep League matchup on Tuesday. "We played defense extremely well," said Rebels junior guard Courtney Robinson, who finished with a game-high seven steals.

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan SOUTHEAST GLENDALE -- Loyola High football Coach Steve Grady could have downplayed his defense's dominance and ability as much as he wanted, but reality set in Saturday's 35-0 victory against St. Ignatius of St. Francisco in the season opener for both teams. The 26th-year coach, who has a remarkable .772 winning percentage (234-64-5), has mentioned that his defense -- which has only four returning players from last season -- isn't as strong as many have made it out to be. But following a dominating performance against an overmatched team at Glendale High's Moyse Field, Grady gave credit where it was due. Led by UCLA-bound tackle Kevin Harbour (6-foot-4, 256 pounds)

LOS ANGELES — Without hesitation, St. Francis High soccer Coach Glen Appels immediately beckoned his team to look forward. All their thoughts and motivation were to be directed toward Crespi and Monday’s Mission League finale. And just like that, the Golden Knights walked away from a rain-drenched Loyola High field, leaving behind a hard-fought 1-0 loss to the rival Cubs. Indeed, any loss to the Cubs is difficult to swallow for the Golden Knights, but Appels sees no other choice.

Saro Sarkisian NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- After the Loyola baseball team scored five runs in the top of the first inning Friday at Stengel Field against Burroughs, it seemed the Indians were in for a long night. And they were, until the seventh inning, when they scored four runs to tie the game. But the Cubs proved too strong, scoring a run in their final at-bat to get the win, 10-9, in a Mickey Mantle League game. The win was the fifth straight for the Cubs.

Two groups toured the Valley Sun office on May 26. Tyler Chew, a Tiger Cub Scout from Pack 360 and a student at Dunsmore Elementary School who came last Friday with his family was joined by members of Pack 317, whose students attend Holy Redeemer and Fenton Avenue schools. The Chew family and the scouts learned how newspapers facilitate communication in a community, from classified and display advertisements to sports and news stories. "I learned that the newspaper gets stories to the printer via computer," said Tyler, who was joined by his mother and siblings Emily, Brandon and Sarah.

PASADENA - Once again, the Flintridge Prep and Mayfield girls' soccer teams had to wait around for a while before they finally took the field against each other. Tuesday's match between the teams was delayed for half an hour because a Pasadena City College softball game occupied a third of the field at Robinson Park. The teams' first match earlier this season had to be rescheduled because of a similar conflict at the Glendale Sports Complex and was played on Saturday with the teams tying.

LA CRESCENTA -- Loyola High got the better of the Crescenta Valley boys' soccer team on Tuesday, but it didn't exactly get the Falcons' best. The battle of two highly-ranked CIF Southern Section heavyweights looked appetizing on paper, but lacked substance in the flesh - weary flesh in the case of the Falcons, who didn't seem to have much in the tank for their 10th match in less than two weeks and fifth in the last six days. "I think so," Crescenta Valley Coach Grant Clark said when asked if the grind had finally caught up with his players, who lost to the Cubs, 2-0, on Tuesday.

CLAREMONT - What would the Prep League's opening cross-country meet be without at least a couple of surprises? While Thursday's competition at Webb School included expected outcomes, such as the Flintridge Prep boys again flexing their muscles. There were also unexpected results, such as the one provided by the Flintridge Prep girls, which defined the event. The Rebels, who finished fourth at last year's Prep League finals, shocked the league by delivering a 41-49 victory over reigning league champ Mayfield, which entered the race as the No. 2-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division IV. “It's been, oh I don't know, at least four or five years since we beat Mayfield,” Prep co-Coach Mike Roffina said.

SOUTH PASADENA - What was supposed to be a measuring stick for the progress of both the Mayfield Senior School and Maranatha High girls' tennis teams instead resembled a middle-of-the-season league match Tuesday afternoon. The mild Crown City rivals opened the regular season with a back-and-forth affair secured over the final two sets by the Cubs in a 10-8 nonleague victory at the Arroyo Seco Racquet Club. “This win felt really good. Definitely, the girls stayed focus throughout the entire match,” Mayfield first-year Coach Silvana Stans said.

PASADENA - If a baseball team plans to implement small ball in order to manufacture runs, it better not make mistakes while in the field. If a squad relies on bunts, steals and infield singles to get runners home, then errors, hit batters and passed balls need to be held to a minimum. It was the little things that did in the St. Francis High baseball team in losing its Mission League opener to Loyola, 6-2, at Jackie Robinson Field at Brookside Park on Monday afternoon. "Coaching is interesting," said St. Francis assistant Coach Aaron Milam, whose team fell to 3-5. "It's like a video game.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE - For the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and Mayfield School swimming teams, the goals are the same at this early point in the season - work on dropping time and get ready for the start of their respective league seasons. When the two teams put those goals into practice head to head, however, there was very little ground to be shared, as the Tologs dominated Tuesday's nonleague meet at Sacred Heart, 107-55. "We're off to a good start," said Tologs Coach Steve Bergen, whose squad won all but one event on the day to improve to 2-0 on the season.

PASADENA - More than half the Prep League season still remains, but the significance of Friday afternoon's meeting between the Flintridge Prep and host Mayfield Senior School girls' soccer teams wasn't lost on either side. The Rebels bounced back from a tough defeat two days earlier, while keeping their ambitions of defending their league championship alive thanks to a 2-0 win at Robinson Park. The triumph keeps the Rebels (9-2-1 overall, 3-1 in league) within striking range of first-place Poly (12-1, 3-0)

It was a story that captured the hearts of Southern Californians in the days just prior to Christmas - two starving mountain lion cubs rescued off the streets of Burbank. The cubs are doing just fine now, yawning and purring in an animal sanctuary in San Luis Obispo County. They want for nothing but names, something their current guardians want our community to help out with. I'll get to the details on that in a moment. The emaciated female cubs, believed to be between two and three months old, were hiding under a parked car a few blocks away from beautiful downtown Burbank.

Two emaciated mountain lion cubs rescued from the streets of Burbank on Tuesday will live out their days at an animal sanctuary. The female cubs, believed to be between 2 and 3 months old, were not with their mother long enough to learn life skills, such as hunting, said Cindy Reyes, executive director at the California Wildlife Center in Calabasas where the cubs were briefly housed this week. The cubs - which were days from starving to death when Burbank animal control officers rescued them from under a parked car after some residents tried hitting them with broomsticks to shoo the cats away - face many months of rehabilitation.