Falcons

GLENDALE — Pavle Atanackovic was shocked when he earned All-Pacific League honors after serving as place kicker for the Crescenta Valley High football team. As a member of the school's boys' soccer team, there weren't any similar surprises after he finished this season with a team-high 33 goals to help lead the Falcons to their second league championship in a row and a trip to the CIF Southern Section Division III quarterfinals for the first time in the program's history.

LA CRESCENTA — Neither the Crescenta Valley High girls' volleyball team, not that of Holy Family entered the playoff round of the 2010 Crescenta Valley Girls' Varsity Volleyball Tournament on Saturday with a chance to win a Gold Division championship. But both squads approached their Silver Division berths as a chance to improve their late season form and end the two-day event on a better note than it began. Today was much better than yesterday," Crescenta Valley first-year Coach Steve Umemoto said on Saturday afternoon after his team had won its final two matches, including a 25-19, 25-15 win over John Marshall to clinch 11th place.

LA CRESCENTA — The Crescenta Valley High girls’ basketball team certainly wasn’t lacking intensity in its season opener on Tuesday night, an asset that aided the Falcons well against an overmatched and often times overwhelmed Villanova Prep squad. The Wildcats came out confused and haphazard in their passing and ball control and the Falcons never gave them time to figure it out, storming to a 22-point first quarter lead and coasting to a 66-11 win in pool play of the Falcon Tip-Off Classic at Crescenta Valley.

The Falcons ran a trick play through the air. Unfortunately, a straightforward ground game was all the Golden Knights needed to expose all of what Crescenta Valley had up its sleeve, as St, Francis defeated the Falcons, 27-13, at Glendale’s Moyse Field on Friday night. “There’s more where that (trick) play came from,” said Falcons head coach Tony Zarrillo. “It’s an offense that is conducive to trick plays. There will be more tricks along the way.” Zarrillo was referring to the fourth quarter touchdown pass from his quarterback, Karsen Reedy, to Mike Bako.

The following are updates on area athletes at the collegiate level. Kevin Orozco (Crescenta Valley High, 2008) senior, University of San Francisco men's soccer: After doing whatever was asked of him for the Dons defense, Orozco was rewarded with a honorable mention for the All-West Coast Conference team, which was announced Nov. 15. "In his second season at USF, Kevin had a very strong year for us," San Francisco Coach Erik Visser...

BURBANK ? Burroughs High pitcher Kyle Hart has taken some hard-luck losses this season, but wouldn?t be denied on Friday, pitching a five-hit, 3-0 shutout against Crescenta Valley at Burroughs. The Falcons now seem to be battling a run of tough luck of their own, as the loss was their second in a row in the Pacific League. ?Kyle is a big-game guy and we knew he would come up big for us and it?s just a matter of us playing behind him,? said Burroughs Coach Tom Crowther, whose team, a winner of six straight, played error-free defense.

LA CRESCENTA — The shooting woes wouldn't disappear and the defensive mistakes added up for a long night for the members of the Crescenta Valley High girls' basketball team. Playing against powerful Muir in a Pacific League home contest, the Falcons couldn't click and found themselves on the short end of a 56-35 defeat. "For whatever reason, we started the game lacking a little bit of focus," said Crescenta Valley Coach Jason Perez, whose team fell to 13-11, 6-6 in league with league games left against host Glendale on Tuesday and visiting Arcadia on Thursday.

LA CRESCENTA — Through the early stages of the season, the Crescenta Valley High and Glendale girls' tennis teams find themselves going in opposite directions. The Falcons came in loaded with experience and talent, while the Nitros entered play inexperienced and seeking to rebuild. The talent level between the two squads proved to be noticeable during the first of two head-to-head meetings Tuesday afternoon. Erin LeVoir highlighted a splendid performance in singles, as she didn't lose a game, and the Falcons won all nine singles sets to earn a convincing 16-2 Pacific League home victory.

BURBANK — Following its defeat in the teams' early-season nonleague meeting a year ago, the Crescenta Valley High softball team couldn't wait for its rematch with Burbank. Evidently, the feeling was not mutual on the part of the Bulldogs. Burbank looked lost at the plate against Falcons pitcher Kali Cancelosi, and after a couple of rough innings in the field, the Bulldogs' body language suggested they wished they were elsewhere. The result was a 16-1 mercy-rule-shortened, five-inning Pacific League victory for Crescenta Valley at Burbank's McCambridge Park.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Day or night, there's been no stopping the Crescenta Valley High baseball team's lethal lineup. The Falcons have proven to be a juggernaut with the aluminum bats, whether it's competing in a Pacific League game in the afternoon or evening or participating in a Babe Herman Tournament contest at night. It's been the same result for the Falcons, who banged out 16 hits in a 15-2 win against Oak Park on Monday night in a National Division game of the 45th rendition of the Babe Herman Tournament.