Rio Hondo

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — With Ben Slyngstad stellar in his start on the hill and the Flintridge Prep baseball team’s offense continuing to produce, the Rebels sustained their hopeful march to the postseason in the form of a brisk, 90-minute demolition of Rio Hondo Prep. Slyngstad struck out seven and allowed just three hits and no earned runs, while the offense exploded for eight fifth-inning runs to make it an early day, as the Rebels routed the Kares, 11-1, in a mercy-rule shortened Prep League outing Thursday afternoon at the Glendale Sports Complex.

LOS ANGELES — It isn’t fair, said Flintridge Prep Head Coach Perry Skaggs, that his team has to play Chadwick and Webb again today to determine the second-best team in the league. “I feel we should be secured as the No. 2 seed at 3-2 (in league), having beaten Chadwick and Webb on the field,” Skaggs said. “I believe we’re putting our kids in undue risk. I don’t think it’s necessary.” Flintridge Prep lost their Prep League finale to Rio Hondo Prep, 54-7.

ARCADIA — With two weeks to prepare for one of the top teams in the region, the members of the Flintridge Prep football team came into Friday night’s Prep League opener against Rio Hondo Prep optimistic. Fresh from a bye week, the Rebels came in thinking they stood a chance against the defending league and CIF Southern Section Northeast Division champions. From the opening whistle, Flintridge Prep was swarmed by bigger and more talented athletes, and couldn’t match up, in a 48-0 road loss.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — A five-run, two-out rally by visiting Rio Hondo Prep in the second inning of Thursday's game put the Flintridge Prep baseball team in quite a hole. An even bigger cluster of runs, also with two outs, scored by the Kares in the fifth inning was enough to bury the Rebels. The end result was a five-inning, 13-2 Prep League loss for Flintridge Prep, the school's first-ever mercy-rule defeat at the hands of Rio Hondo. "Today's game was ugly, that's really the only way to describe it," Rebels Coach Robert "Buzz" Cook said.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — Defensive improvement has been a constant throughout the season for the Flintridge Prep softball team. It’s helped put the Rebels in first place in the Prep League and in the hunt for a playoff spot for the second season in a row with three weeks remaining. However, Flintridge Prep encountered some defensive struggles at the wrong time in a 3-2 league home loss to Rio Hondo Prep on Friday afternoon. Rio Hondo Prep (9-5, 6-2) took advantage of three Flintridge Prep (6-7, 4-2)

ARCADIA — With a Prep League title on the line and classic rivalry unfolding on the field, the Flintridge Prep football team needed to be as close to perfect as possible. Friday night against Rio Hondo Prep, the Rebels may have waited more than a bit too long to bring their best game to the Kares. A furious comeback attempt kept Flintridge’s hope alive into the fourth quarter despite a hefty deficit, but with the clock against them, the Rebels could not avoid a 31-14 defeat.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — The Prep League baseball game on Thursday afternoon between Flintridge Prep and visiting Rio Hondo Prep essentially came down to the ability to extend innings at the plate. Quite simply, the Kares had success in that area. The Rebels did not. Rio Hondo Prep worked seven walks, stole four bases and pushed across four two-out runs, taking an early lead and cruising to a 10-4 victory at the Glendale Sports Complex. The Rebels outhit Rio Hondo, 10-9, and had a few chances to rally, but left 11 runners on base and made seven first-pitch outs, with four of those coming with runners in scoring position.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- As one of three sophomores on the Glendale Community College men's basketball team, there's plenty on the plate of Mike Johnson. From helping transition the 13 freshman players to the collegiate level to being one of the team's leading scorers, the adjustments have gone well as of late for the 6-foot-5 wing. Johnson proved to be a good example on Wednesday night, as he scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half to lift Glendale to an 86-57 opening-round win against Rio Hondo in the Vaquero Classic.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — Coming off a loss to Chadwick in which it never got its offense on track, the Flintridge Prep football team started out Saturday night's game against Prep League rival Rio Hondo Prep exactly the way it needed to at La Cañada High. A promising start only gets a team so far though, and seemingly everything that followed the Rebels' first and only scoring drive in the first quarter was a setback culminating in a 33-3 loss to the Kares. "We came out fired up and our execution was very good that first drive," Rebels Coach Brad Miller said of the game's opening possession that resulted in a 35-yard Mark Chodas field goal and a 3-0 lead with just over six minutes elapsed.

Charles Rich The problem had been isolated and familiarity helped. Fortunately for the Glendale Community College men's basketball team, they had 20 minutes to curb the problem and play air-tight defense. GCC yielded five second-half field goals Thursday en route to a come-from-behind 65-54 victory against visiting Rio Hondo in a first-round game of the Vaquero Classic. The Vaqueros (5-8) will meet Bakersfield in a championship semifinal contest at 7 p.m. today at GCC. It proved to be a sharp contrast from the first half, when GCC surrendered 13 field goals.

NEWHALL - By a vote of 23-5, Crescenta Valley High's bid to leave the Pacific League and join the Rio Hondo League was denied at Friday morning's CIF Southern Section Foothill Releaguing Chair Committee meeting at Hart High. On a day in which four separate proposals affecting the Pacific League were considered and a few more including the Rio Hondo League were voted upon, weeks of speculation gave way to the status quo as none of the 14 schools that comprise either league were directly impacted.

LA CAÑADA - Looking around the court, Mike Lii has seen something stand out concerning the Flintridge Prep boys' volleyball team. “We are a lot more focused and we try to keep each other in check,” said Lii, who recorded 31 assists Wednesday to help host Flintridge Prep record a 28-26, 25-20, 25-18 Prep League win against Rio Hondo Prep and inch closer to winning its first league title since 2010. “We might not have been that way all the time the last couple of years, but we know what we need to do to be successful right now.” The Rebels have enjoyed plenty of success since opening the season with three losses in a row and are ranked eighth in the latest CIF Southern Section Division IV poll.

GLENDALE - It had been nearly two weeks since the Flintridge Prep baseball team had taken the field. Might there be a cause for concern about physical rust or mental distractions impeding the team's progress? "That was a big worry for me," said Flintridge Coach Guillermo Gonzalez. "We didn't practice during spring break. They came out ready to play today. " After 13 days away from the diamond because of spring break and a canceled game, the Rebels dominated Rio Hondo Prep, 12-2, in a Prep League game Thursday at the Glendale Sports Complex.

MONROVIA - Hoover High's inaugural season in the Rio Hondo League was described as a roller-coaster ride by wrestling coach Mark Bitetti. The Tornadoes won their first league dual against St. Paul, but dropped the next four en route to finishing fifth in the six-team league as a team. Things started moving in the right direction again for Hoover at its first taste of the league's individual finals Saturday at Santa Fe Middle School in Monrovia. Three Hoover wrestlers - Arthur Ghukasyan, Sebastian Ghauliance and Gio Martinez - advanced to the championship round of their respective weight classes, but it was Martinez who brought home the Tornadoes first-ever individual league title by pinning St. Paul's Mark Millan 1:05 into the second period of the 220-pound match.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- As one of three sophomores on the Glendale Community College men's basketball team, there's plenty on the plate of Mike Johnson. From helping transition the 13 freshman players to the collegiate level to being one of the team's leading scorers, the adjustments have gone well as of late for the 6-foot-5 wing. Johnson proved to be a good example on Wednesday night, as he scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half to lift Glendale to an 86-57 opening-round win against Rio Hondo in the Vaquero Classic.

They learned the basics of wrestling a year ago. They competed in tournaments and a few dual matches and have learned to be tougher. Now, the members of the Hoover High boys' wrestling team say they're ready for new challenges in the second year of the program's existence. “They learned the essentials of wrestling last year,” said Tornadoes Coach Mark Bitetti, a world history teacher at the school who started the program last year. “They're picking up where they left off.” Where they left off in 2011 was without a league.

LOS ANGELES - With all it's been able to accomplish in just one year, Flintridge Prep football Coach Antonio Harrison's goal was to get his team to believe it could pull off an upset victory over Rio Hondo Prep and put itself in the driver's seat for a Prep League title Friday night. An early touchdown and successfully recovered onside kick on the ensuing play definitely multiplied whatever faith the Rebels had in themselves, but the Kares showed why they're ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division, as they shrugged off a few early bumps in the road en route to a 48-12 league victory at Occidental College.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - With a team filled with six freshmen and four sophomores, games like Tuesday's Prep League contest against Rio Hondo Prep are bound to happen to the Flintridge Prep softball team. The Rebels struggled on the field and at the plate, committing nine errors and stranding five runners in a 9-2 home setback that kept Prep winless on the season at 0-11, 0-4 in league. "There are definitely some things we need to work on," Prep Coach Julie Jamie said. "It comes with time and experience.

ARCADIA - A few minutes after the Flintridge Prep baseball team suffered arguably its toughest loss of the season, Coach Buzz Cook briefly addressed his players in short right field. His message to Rebels was straight to the point. "I told them that they could be disappointed with the outcome, but by no means should they be disappointed with the effort," Cook said following Flintridge Prep's 5-4 Prep League road loss in 11 innings against Rio Hondo Prep on Thursday afternoon.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - Whether his team is coming off a win or a loss, Flintridge Prep boys' volleyball Coach Sean Beattie knows what to expect from his young squad - a high energy, upbeat group of players. The Rebels dropped their first Prep League match of the season just three days prior against Pasadena Poly, but were back on their home court Friday afternoon to take on Rio Hondo Prep in another league showdown. With their high-energy mantra not missing a beat, the Rebels won, 25-17, 25-23, 18-25, 25-19 and improved to 10-8 overall and 2-1 in league.