Granada Hills

BURBANK - Before turning into a nailbiter, Tuesday's matchup between the Glendale High girls' basketball team and Granada Hills started as a defensive struggle. Ultimately, the contest resulted in a Nitros defeat. Glendale fell to Granada Hills, 33-30, at John Burroughs High in the consolation bracket of the Magnolia Optimist tournament. "I don't expect them to go on a scoring spree," said Nitros Coach Tania Adary. "I just want them to play defense. If they're scoring 15 points in a half, and the other team is scoring five or 10, I'm happy.

GLENDALE - While the Glendale High baseball team is only six games into its season under first-year co-coach Chris Funaro, the Nitros' new leader has developed two different lineups - one geared toward offense and the other defense. Funaro went with the defensive grouping Saturday in a Babe Herman Tournament contest with visiting Granada Hills. Unfortunately for the Nitros, it showed as they were held to three hits and shut out in a 5-0 loss to bring their record to 1-5 this season.

Top of the late morning to you. Today's news bites come from all around. Dip in and check 'em out.  Rep. Howard Berman, locked in a tough election campaign against fellow Democrat Rep. Brad Sherman , issued a press release condemning a New Mexico group who advocates shutting off aid to Israel. Confused yet? North Hollywood Patch  Ultazone in Sherman Oaks is offering unlimited Laser Tag tonight as part of a doggie fundraiser. So, yes, you still look dorky, but it's for a good cause.

GLENDALE — For Crescenta Valley 9-10 Softball All-Star Coach Dan Abboud, the proof his team is ready to compete in the Section 2 Tournament wasn't in the squad's lopsided wins to open the District 16 All-Star Tournament, but rather in the come-from-behind 6-4 win it notched over Burbank on Tuesday in the title game to advance to the Sectionals. "I was a little concerned at the beginning [of the District All-Star tournament] where we were coming and steamrolling all these teams and, really, I believe what makes a good team is a team that can come from behind and that's what we did," said Abboud, whose team trailed Burbank, 3-0, early but rallied to win behind runs batted in by Alli Lombardo, Roxy Raad and Alexis Abboud and 4 2/3 strong innings in the circle from Lombardo.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — No matter how early in the season it is, soccer can be frustrating just the same. Take for instance Thursday night, as St. Francis High opened up its 2008-09 season with a pool play match in the Ralph Brandt Tournament at its own Friedman Field. The Golden Knights got off 22 shots, but just one went in. Visiting Granada Hills, in turn, was able to muster but six, but one went in. It all equated to a 1-1 stalemate between St. Francis and Granada Hills.

From Staff Reports Odds and ends from the local high school girls' tennis scene: Clear cut: They completed arguably their toughest stretch of the regular season and will next attempt to defend their Pacific League title. Learning lessons count and Crescenta Valley High girls' tennis Coach Tom Gossard might have learned one from CV's matches in late September against Upland and Granada Hills, a traditional L.A. City Section finalist. CV split the two matches, starting with a win Sept.

Saro Sarkisian NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Glendale High boys' basketball players Riley Van Patten and Isa Hall proved Thursday against Granada Hills that they might be a force to be reckoned with when the regular season tips off in November. Van Patten and Hall led the Nitros to an impressive 57-47 victory against the Highlanders in the first round of the Vaquero Summer Tip-Off Tournament at Glendale Community College. The Nitros advanced to the winner's-bracket quarterfinals and will play La Salle -- a winner against Van Nuys Grant -- at 11:55 a.m. today at GCC. "I thought Riley and Isa played well against a good basketball team," Nitro Coach Steve Snodgress said.

Charles Rich A horde of players had enough stamina to curl their fingers around the chain-linked fence. Exhaustion had accumulated from tightly gripping their racquets and there were enough energetic shouts of encouragement in between lengthy volleys. Unfortunately, a streak had to be snapped between two of the more prominent girls' tennis programs in the region. Crescenta Valley High saw its 48-match regular-season winning streak come to a halt Friday after it tied visiting Granada Hills, 8-8, in an intersectional match.

Arenas -- Barrett Michelle Arenas of Granada Hills and Sean Gabriel Barrett of Glendale have announced their engagement and plan to marry in July. The bride-to-be is the daughter of Gladys Valencia of Granada Hills. She was raised in Glendale and graduated from Holy Family High School in Glendale in 1999. She will soon graduate from Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles with a bachelor's degree in psychology and a minor in child development. The bridegroom-to-be is the son of Richard and Ginger Barrett of Glendale.

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan Melody Mawhinney has been in these situations before. She's been a dominant leader who has constantly carried the Crescenta Valley High girls' soccer team. And she's been the backbone of a team that has had its struggles, but has still managed to pull off wins in pressure situations. So, Friday's quarterfinal match of the Hart Tournament was no different for the Crescenta Valley High girls' soccer team, which defeated Granada Hills, 3-2, in penalty kicks after the clubs played to a scoreless regulation tie at Newhall Hart High.

GLENDALE - While the Glendale High baseball team is only six games into its season under first-year co-coach Chris Funaro, the Nitros' new leader has developed two different lineups - one geared toward offense and the other defense. Funaro went with the defensive grouping Saturday in a Babe Herman Tournament contest with visiting Granada Hills. Unfortunately for the Nitros, it showed as they were held to three hits and shut out in a 5-0 loss to bring their record to 1-5 this season.

So much for taking a break from participating in the Pacific League. Four of the league's eight baseball teams - including Crescenta Valley High and Glendale - will be a part of the 47th installment of the four-day Babe Herman Tournament, which will begin Saturday and run through Wednesday across venues from Glendale to the San Fernando Valley to the Inland Empire. The Falcons and Nitros will be joined by league members Pasadena and Arcadia in the 14-team tournament. The event will be presented by the West Glendale Kiwanis Club, Glendale Parks and Recreation and the Crescenta Valley Baseball Program.

Top of the late morning to you. Today's news bites come from all around. Dip in and check 'em out.  Rep. Howard Berman, locked in a tough election campaign against fellow Democrat Rep. Brad Sherman , issued a press release condemning a New Mexico group who advocates shutting off aid to Israel. Confused yet? North Hollywood Patch  Ultazone in Sherman Oaks is offering unlimited Laser Tag tonight as part of a doggie fundraiser. So, yes, you still look dorky, but it's for a good cause.

BURBANK - Before turning into a nailbiter, Tuesday's matchup between the Glendale High girls' basketball team and Granada Hills started as a defensive struggle. Ultimately, the contest resulted in a Nitros defeat. Glendale fell to Granada Hills, 33-30, at John Burroughs High in the consolation bracket of the Magnolia Optimist tournament. "I don't expect them to go on a scoring spree," said Nitros Coach Tania Adary. "I just want them to play defense. If they're scoring 15 points in a half, and the other team is scoring five or 10, I'm happy.

SAN MARINO —The Crescenta Valley 9-10 All-Star Softball team looked like it was going get blown out in the second round of the Section 2 Tournament against Quartz Hill on Saturday. Quartz Hill carried a five-run lead into the bottom of the sixth inning, but Crescenta Valley put together some last-second offense and scored three runs in the final frame. It wasn't enough, though, as Quartz Hill shut the door for what ended up being a narrow, 7-5, victory at the San Marino Little League Fields.

SAN MARINO — Before winning in rather unconventional fashion, the Crescenta Valley 9-10 All-Star Softball squad received a key defensive play from one of its outfielders. In an inning that had the District 16 champions three outs away from advancing to the second round of the Section 2 Tournament, Crescenta Valley right fielder Peyton Lindman Marshall caught a fly ball hit to her, then threw a runner out at second base for the double play. It stopped the bleeding that was District 40 champion Granada Hills scoring three in the inning to tie up the ballgame.

GLENDALE — For Crescenta Valley 9-10 Softball All-Star Coach Dan Abboud, the proof his team is ready to compete in the Section 2 Tournament wasn't in the squad's lopsided wins to open the District 16 All-Star Tournament, but rather in the come-from-behind 6-4 win it notched over Burbank on Tuesday in the title game to advance to the Sectionals. "I was a little concerned at the beginning [of the District All-Star tournament] where we were coming and steamrolling all these teams and, really, I believe what makes a good team is a team that can come from behind and that's what we did," said Abboud, whose team trailed Burbank, 3-0, early but rallied to win behind runs batted in by Alli Lombardo, Roxy Raad and Alexis Abboud and 4 2/3 strong innings in the circle from Lombardo.

BURBANK — One night removed from its first loss of the season, the Crescenta Valley High girls’ basketball team got back to winning in a big way on Saturday night, controlling Granada Hills from beginning to end in a 52-34 victory in the third-place game of the 28th annual Magnolia Park Optimist Club Tournament at Burroughs High. “I wanted to see how we would bounce back,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Jason Perez, whose team (7-1) lost to Beverly Hills on Friday night in the semifinals.

It is rare for opportunity to come knocking several times in one game, but the Golden Knights sure are happy they answered the door at the last call. St. Francis sophomore forward Christian Swart found the back of the net with 6:38 remaining, as the Golden Knights (1-0-1) squeaked passed North Hills Monroe, 1-0, in the second game of the Ralph Brandt Soccer Tournament on Saturday night here at Friedman Field. The Golden Knight defense limited Monroe (0-2) to just three shots all game, and did not allow a shot on goal in the final 22 minutes.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — No matter how early in the season it is, soccer can be frustrating just the same. Take for instance Thursday night, as St. Francis High opened up its 2008-09 season with a pool play match in the Ralph Brandt Tournament at its own Friedman Field. The Golden Knights got off 22 shots, but just one went in. Visiting Granada Hills, in turn, was able to muster but six, but one went in. It all equated to a 1-1 stalemate between St. Francis and Granada Hills.