Hat Trick

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — The holiday season can't come at a better time for the slumping Flintridge Prep girls' soccer team. Exhausted from competing in a slew of matches in December, the injury depleted Rebels are in the midst of a frustrating winless skid that they will try to forget, at least temporarily. Flintridge Prep dropped a 4-0 road nonleague decision to intracity rival La Cañada on Thursday, sending the struggling Rebels to their fourth loss in the last five matches.

Local sports roundup items.BOYS' BASKETBALL La Cañada 78, South Pasadena 46: Adam Malik finished with 23 points to lead the host Spartans to their 52nd consecutive Rio Hondo League victory Tuesday, which is a league record. La Cañada (21-4, 9-0 in league) set the previous-best mark of 51, which lasted from 1998-2001. Rhett Anderson had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Spartans, who got 11 points from Abe Malik and eight from Josh Lelo. Arcadia 62, Hoover 32: The host Tornadoes (18-7, 5-4 in Pacific League)

Grant Gordon In Hoover High and Pasadena's first meeting, there were no Pacific League implications and there was no Yura Movsisyan. And, in the first meeting, the Tornadoes shut out the Bulldogs. In the second meeting, with first place in league on the line, Pasadena's Movsisyan was on the field and promptly tallied a hat trick as the Bulldogs defeated the Tornadoes, 4-2, on Tuesday afternoon at Hoover High. "Without a doubt [he changed the complexion of the match]

GIRLS' SOCCER Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy 4, Mission Hills Alemany 2: Hannah Hand tallied a hat trick -- including a second-half penalty kick -- giving her 17 goals and 40 points on the season, and 39 goals and 102 points in 58 career matches to lead the Tologs to Friday's Mission League road victory. Whitney Davis and Katie Woods assisted on Hand's other two goals for the Tologs (13-2-2, 2-0-1 in league), who received a goal from Lauren Bustos off a Katrina Payne corner kick, giving her 10 assists.

SPORT Basketball SCHOOL CV YEAR Senior THIS SEASON Leads the area with 437 points (31.2 per game average). LAST WEEK AT A GLANCE Moved into fifth place on the school's career-scoring list with 56 points in two games last week, giving him 1,893 in his four-year varsity career, which surpassed Harvey Mason. SPORT Soccer SCHOOL Hoover YEAR Junior THIS SEASON Has 22 points, including area-leading 10 goals, for Hoover (7-5)

Erik Boal GLENDALE -- o7 In an attempt to keep track of local high school players who now compete in college, the News-Press will devote a space to a weekly update.f7 Jenny Rowland (Flintridge Prep, 2001) freshman forward, Air Force Academy women's soccer -- It may have taken a few matches for the Flintridge Prep graduate and 2001 News-Press All-Area Player of the Year to get acclamated to the college game, but once she did, the Falcons have reaped the benefits, riding a four-match unbeaten streak.

Judy Seckler MARK KEPPEL ELEMENTARY -- Why a hat? If you talk to Keppel PTA mom Mandy Gustafsen, she'll reel off a bunch of frightening statistics about the increase in skin cancers in this country. A hat is the only thing that gives good coverage, Gustafsen said. Melanoma, which kills 1 million people a year, is the result of an accumulated lifetime exposure to the sun up to the age of 18, she pointed out. Not to sound all gloom and doom, but Gustafsen thought that recent changes underway in Keppel's dress code created a perfect opportunity to introduce wide brim hats as an optional accessory to the uniform policy.