La Salle

LA CRESCENTA - With little opportunity to squeeze in a nonleague match, the Crescenta Valley High and La Salle boys' tennis teams found an opening in their respective schedules to meet. Thanks to a solid all-around performance from Crescenta Valley's doubles teams, the Falcons posted a 17-1 home win Wednesday afternoon. Crescenta Valley (5-7) swept all nine doubles sets to improve to 4-1 in its last five matches. La Salle, which won the Del Rey League championship last season, dropped to 8-6. Crescenta Valley's No. 2 doubles team of Patrick Chong and Patrick Meserkhani swept, 7-6 (7-4)

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE - La Salle High boys' soccer Coach Dan Sheridan called the St. Francis program one of the "best in the valley," in the past 20 years, and mentioned it was beneficial for his team to play the Golden Knights. Although Sheridan had to settle for a 0-0 outing against St. Francis in Tuesday's season opener for both teams, the head coach was pleased with his squad's performance against a talented Golden Knights program at Friedman Field. While Sheridan was pleased with his defense, his counterpart was simply disappointed.

PASADENA - While the passing was sloppy, communication lacked and mother nature interfered with modest rain, there wasn't much that separated the Crescenta Valley High and La Salle girls' soccer teams - except for perhaps one hustle play. A rebound goal from senior Katie Callister in the first minute of extra time accounted for the offense in Friday's nonleague affair as the visiting Falcons defeated the Lancers, 1-0, at Kohorst Field. “La Salle is very good and they have a lot of things going, so it was nice to get a win,” Crescenta Valley Coach Jorden Schulz said.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — Something didn’t seem right while Flintridge Prep boys’ water polo Coach Keean Ferguson watched his team perform Monday afternoon. Unfortunately for Ferguson, it’s an act he’s seen unfold more than once throughout the first part of the season — lackluster efforts from some of his athletes. Flintridge Prep appeared out of sync throughout a 12-6 Prep League loss to visiting La Salle. “For the most part, we did what we wanted to defensively,” said Ferguson, whose team fell to 6-5 and 0-2 in league.

PASADENA - The first three quarters belonged to the St. Francis High boys' basketball team when it took on La Salle Wednesday night, but one play changed all that. The Lancers' Jordan Hill brought his team and home fans back in the game with a two-handed dunk late in the third quarter. The jam sparked a La Salle run that cut what was a 13-point deficit to six, but St. Francis withstood the comeback attempt to pull out a 57-52 victory in the quarterfinals of the La Salle/Temple City Holiday Classic.

BURBANK - During the first half of its summer league game against La Salle High on Wednesday night, the Glendale girls' basketball team fell in a rut. The Nitros were stagnant throughout the game's opening 20 minutes and were in need of somebody to help them turn the corner on offense. Glendale found Tara Abdul-Ahad to lead a second-half charge. Abdul-Ahad scored 18 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to lead Glendale to a 40-28 victory at Burbank High. "I'm always looking for that first shot," Abdul-Ahad said.

ARCADIA - Just one evening removed from pulling off an extra-inning comeback win in pool play of the Apache Invitational, the St. Francis High baseball team came close to an encore in the tournament's consolation round on Saturday. The Golden Knights finally got to La Salle starter Bowdien "Bubba" Derby in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring twice to slice a four-run deficit in half, but they couldn't finish the senior right-hander off. Instead, it was Derby finishing St. Francis off, when he got out of the sixth with the go-ahead run at the plate and retired the side in order in the seventh to cap a complete-game 6-4 victory with six hits and three earned runs allowed, while fanning 10. "That's baseball, those guys can't be expected to give us a walk-off every game," said St. Francis interim Coach Aaron Milam, who got a single and a double from David Olmedo-Barrera and a two-run double from Cole Ramseyer.

Crescenta Valley High had the odds stacked in its favor. Despite owning a two-set lead and then a three-game lead in the final set, the Falcons boys? tennis team found itself on the wrong end of a 9-9 (80-78) loss to visiting La Salle in Wednesday afternoon?s nonleague match at CV High. ?That?s a tough one,? said Falcons Coach Sarah Wiggins, whose team dropped to 2-2. ?It?s always tough when you have the lead late [and let it go].? With two sets yet to finish, the Falcons had a 9-7 advantage over the Lancers (3-0)

Charles Rich LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Austin Cyr's teammates have vacated the premises long before he begins to practice penalty shots. It's not as if the St. Francis High boys' soccer player doesn't want to go home and visit with family or study a new mathematics formula. Cyr's mastered the formula for taking penalty shots. Cyr scored on a penalty shot to lead St. Francis to a 2-1 nonleague match victory against visiting La Salle on Tuesday. Daniel Paladini also scored for St. Francis (7-0-1)

Flintridge Prep allowed five unanswered goals in less than five minutes in the second quarter, as it suffered a 9-3 loss to visiting La Salle on Tuesday afternoon in a Prep League match. The Rebels (4-7, 0-7 in league) jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the second quarter before the Lancers (9-8, 3-2) made their move on offense to complete a two-match season-series sweep between the programs. ?I was ecstatic with the start,? said Supple, who saw his team lose its third consecutive match.

Two local softball teams will participate in the CIF Southern Section playoffs after the CIF office unveiled its playoff pairings Monday. Crescenta Valley High and Holy Family will have little time to prepare for their postseason contests, as both the Falcons and Gaels will take part in wild-card games Tuesday. Crescenta Valley (14-10-1) will make the short trip to Pasadena to face La Salle (12-12-1) in a Division III contest at 3:15 p.m. Holy Family (6-14) will host Frazier Mountain (14-7)

OFFENSE QB - Joshua Muema-Washington, Senior, Muir Pacific League Player of the Year led the Mustangs to an eight-win season, as he threw for 2,597 yards and 19 touchdowns. Was also fleet-footed, rushing for five touchdowns on the ground. RB - James Williams, Sophomore, Burbank Enjoyed a phenomenal breakout season, earning Pacific League Offensive Player of the Year honors after dazzling to the tune of 1,443 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns. His yards came on 133 carries and a 10.8-yard average.

Twelve months of preparation, of regret and of second-guessing boiled down to 13 seconds for La Salle High senior cross-country runner Daniel De La Torre. The Alhambra native trailed Sir Francis Drake's John Lawson, the defending state champion, by that large margin at the two-mile mark of their three-mile race at the CIF State Division IV championships at Fresno's Woodward Park on Nov. 24th in the season's final race. “When I saw how far ahead Lawson was in front of Daniel at the two-mile mark, well, you probably don't want to know what I was thinking,” said Lancers Coach Fred Riley.

In helping the La Salle High girls' volleyball team win its first CIF Southern Section championship, Haley DeSales brought a series of intangibles. Her powerful offensive wizardry, shrewd defensive presence and calm leadership skills on the court paved the way for DeSales to become a complete player. DeSales won't take the lion's share of credit in the aftermath of what the Lancers accomplished, though, knowing she had her teammates at her side to help her take on all challenges.

Carmen Costa, Junior, Outside Hitter, Westridge All-Prep League first-team honoree finished with 362 kills, 88 digs and 34 aces. DeeDee Logan, Sophomore, Outside Hitter, Pasadena Poly Notched 317 kills and 340 digs and was named to All-Prep League and All-CIF first team. Josie Luck, Senior, Opposite Hitter, Mayfield Averaged 3.6 digs and 2.3 kills per match to earn All-Prep League and All-CIF first-team accolades. Loren Shin, Sophomore, Libero, La Cañada All-Rio Hondo League first-team pick had 297 digs and 23 aces.

PASADENA - While the passing was sloppy, communication lacked and mother nature interfered with modest rain, there wasn't much that separated the Crescenta Valley High and La Salle girls' soccer teams - except for perhaps one hustle play. A rebound goal from senior Katie Callister in the first minute of extra time accounted for the offense in Friday's nonleague affair as the visiting Falcons defeated the Lancers, 1-0, at Kohorst Field. “La Salle is very good and they have a lot of things going, so it was nice to get a win,” Crescenta Valley Coach Jorden Schulz said.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE - La Salle High boys' soccer Coach Dan Sheridan called the St. Francis program one of the "best in the valley," in the past 20 years, and mentioned it was beneficial for his team to play the Golden Knights. Although Sheridan had to settle for a 0-0 outing against St. Francis in Tuesday's season opener for both teams, the head coach was pleased with his squad's performance against a talented Golden Knights program at Friedman Field. While Sheridan was pleased with his defense, his counterpart was simply disappointed.

PASADENA - Whenever the Glendale High football team had seized momentum, La Salle had a quick response. So rapid that the Nitros could barely lay a finger on La Salle all-purpose standout Israel Lacy, who enjoyed arguably the biggest game of his career. Lacy scored on two kickoff returns and rushed for one touchdown Friday night to lead host La Salle to a 45-16 nonleague victory against Glendale at Kohorst Field. “I have to give the guys in front of me all the credit because they opened up quite a few huge holes,” said Lacy, who helped the Lancers improve to 2-0. “I saw those holes and busted right through.

ARCADIA - While the Crescenta Valley High and La Salle girls' tennis teams began their respective seasons with a nonleague match against each other Tuesday afternoon, both teams have different expectations. For the Falcons, under new coach Sam Hyun, they are looking to challenge for the Pacific League title with rival Arcadia. The Lancers are seeking to find depth in their lineup so coach Tim Pawley can field a sturdy team in the Del Rey League. Crescenta Valley passed its first test, as No. 1 singles player Alexa Gregorian swept her three sets to pace the visiting Falcons to a 17-1 victory at Orange Grove Tennis Courts.