Santa Monica

GLENDALE — Charting the progression of the Crescenta Valley High softball team from the beginning of the season to now is a bit of an arduous task. It’s difficult to really notice improvement when a team hasn’t lost a game. But heading into today’s CIF Southern Section Division III quarterfinal Falcons at Santa Monica tilt at 3:15 p.m., one of the biggest questions is what has changed since they last met? The 28-0 Falcons have won 21 games since they defeated the Vikings, 5-3, on March 17 in the championship game of the High Desert Tournament in Lancaster, grabbing a Pacific League title and claiming the CIF tournament’s No. 1 seed along the way. Santa Monica on the other hand, has gone 15-3 since then, picking up the Ocean View League title in the process.

I was a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker when it had an office on the corner of 9th and Wilshire in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and am now a real estate broker in Glendale. I would like to point out a few problems with rent control that I have not seen addressed previously. When market rents are not allowed when a unit becomes vacant, there is an influx of renters from areas where there is no rent control, like Pasadena, or from areas where market rents are allowed when the unit becomes vacant, like Los Angeles.

SANTA MONICA — For 98 minutes, the improbable seemed possible for the Flintridge Prep's girls' soccer team. Yet, with one bounce of the ball, the Rebels' upset hopes were crushed, as host Santa Monica, the No. 3 seed, scored the game's only goal with two minutes remaining in overtime, ending Flintridge Prep's season with a 1-0 loss in Friday's CIF Southern Section Division III first-round playoff match. "No coach could be prouder of any team," Flintridge Prep Coach Sean Beattie said.

SANTA MONICA — Sona Karakashian and Joyce Librando came up big when their team needed them most. After losing its first two doubles sets, the Glendale High girls' tennis team's No. 1 duo found itself in position to win the match. Karakashian and Librando regrouped to win the final set of the day to propel the Nitros to a 10-8 road victory against Santa Monica on Thursday in a CIF Southern Section Division II wild-card match. Glendale (11-4) will next face host Los Alamitos in a first-round match at 2 p.m. Thursday.

SANTA MONICA — Early in Saturday night’s CIF Southern Section Division I-A girls’ basketball second-round playoff game, both teams came out pressing. Whereas host Santa Monica’s press was of the full-court variety and set a tone of defensive intimidation, the pressure Crescenta Valley applied was mainly to itself. The Falcons couldn’t get acclimated to the intensity of the game early enough to avoid falling into a 15-point hole before scoring their first points just inside the 2:00 mark of the first quarter.

SANTA MONICA ? It was Kali Cancelosi?s turn. With a much-ballyhooed Crescenta Valley High offense, a top-flight defense and fellow junior right-hander Heather Bacon to rotate trips to the circle with, Cancelosi?s still made the most of her chances to shine this season. None were brighter than her performance on Thursday afternoon at Santa Monica, as Cancelosi crafted a three-hit, shutout gem to lift the Falcons past the Vikings, 3-0, in the CIF Southern Section Division III quarterfinals.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - In an ending symbolic of most of the match, the Glendale Community College women's volleyball team got close, but just couldn't catch Santa Monica City College. The Vaqueros rallied from a seven-point deficit, when the Corsairs needed only six more to win, to close to within three in the third game and came all the way back from an early eight-point deficit to tie the fourth game only to be denied a shot at a fifth game when Santa Monica closed out the Western State Conference match, 25-17, 23-25, 25-19, 25-19.

Maybe the first round victory will suffice until next season. Heading into the CIF Southern Section Division I-A playoffs as the No. 15 seed, the Falcons knew they’d have to face No. 2 Santa Monica if they beat West Covina in the first round, and probably at Santa Monica. Unsurprisingly, after Crescenta Valley beat West Covina, the San Antonio league’s No. 3 team, the Falcons had to travel to Santa Monica to face the Vikings. Though they put up a good defense effort, Santa Monica put up a better one and the Vikings defeated the Falcons, 60-30, last Saturday.

Peter Samore The Glendale Community College mens' and womens' cross-country teams rolled by Riverside and Santa Monica colleges in the Oiler Invitational Saturday at West Los Angeles College. The men took the top five spots and seven of the top eight to collect 15 points to beat Riverside (68) and Santa Monica (91). GCC had five runners finish in the top nine in the women's race to finish with 28, beating Riverside (40) and Santa Monica (60). Points are awarded based on an individual runner's place of finish.

GLENDALE - After having little to no offense to speak of in the first half of Wednesday's doubleheader, the Glendale Community College softball team disposed of visiting Santa Monica College with a mercy rule win to sweep the day. The Vaqueros won the opener in walk-off fashion as Claire Ortiz, a Crescenta Valley High graduate, drove in the winning run of the 1-0 game. PHOTOS: GCC beats Santa Monica CC in Western State Conference softball What was a one-run affair through four innings of the second game was blown open with Glendale scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the sixth en route to a 10-2 win at the Glendale Sports Complex.

For the second time in as many days, Crescenta Valley High's girls' doubles team of Viktoriya Shumakova and Jackie Dilanchyan had little difficulty continuing their late-season surge. Shumakova and Dilanchyan worked together to record another postseason sweep, losing just six games. Unfortunately for Crescenta Valley, it wasn't enough as its season finished Wednesday with a 14-4 road loss against third-seeded Santa Monica in a CIF Southern Section Division II first-round playoff match.

Heading down the stretch in the regular season, the Crescenta Valley High girls' tennis team gained steam by turning to its doubles pairings for crucial points. They came through again for the Falcons on Tuesday afternoon during a CIF Southern Section Division II wild-card road match against Fullerton. Crescenta Valley won eight of nine doubles sets, including sweeps from Viktoriya Shumakova and Jackie Dilanchyan and Sarah Oh and Angela Seo en route to an 11-7 victory. Crescenta Valley (13-5)

SANTA MONICA - A few minutes after seeing its season end Wednesday afternoon, the Hoover High boys' tennis team began focusing on 2013. After finishing fourth in the Pacific League, the Tornadoes got another taste of what it's like to participate in the postseason for the second straight year. That's something Hoover Coach Julie Hoppe said could prove to be a boon for the returning cast next season. "It was an invaluable experience," said Hoppe, whose team suffered a 17-1 CIF Southern Section Division II road loss to second-seeded Santa Monica.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - A rousing start was exactly what the Glendale Community College women's basketball team needed to get Coach Carrie Miller her first home victory since taking over the program last season. Before Miller realized it, the Vaqueros had an early sizable advantage before holding on for a 65-59 Western State Conference South Division victory against visiting Santa Monica City College on Wednesday night. "They are starting to run the things we ask of them and they came out and shot well to get us a quick lead," said Miller, whose team ended its five-game losing streak.

Glendale Community College football Coach John Rome has seen his team progress in various aspects at times this season, but the Vaqueros truly turned a corner on Saturday when they nailed down their elusive first win of the season at Santa Barbara. "Our season has sort of had three phases to it," Rome said after his team beat Santa Barbara, 38-17, to improve to 1-7 and 1-3 in the Pacific Conference American Division. "First, the defense was struggling to find its identity while the offense is moving the ball, then [starting quarterback]

Poachers mutilated a mountain lion found dead in the Santa Monica Mountains, officials said this week . The 7-year-old male, known as P-15, was discovered dead last month. He had been tracked for nearly two years by National Park Service scientists who had trapped him in Point Mugu State Park after spotting signs of territorial marking. They outfitted him with a GPS collar and released him as part of an ongoing study of mountain lion movement in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

BOYS' WATER POLO Hoover 11, Santa Monica 7: Hakop Kaplanyan scored three goals for the Tornadoes in a nonleague road win on Thursday. David Pogosian scored three goals, Hakop Baghumian had a goal and three assists and Sevada Khodaverdi saved nine shots for Hoover (4-3). Flintridge Prep 10, Villanova 6: Alex Blaine scored five goals in two games for the Rebels Thursday, as Prep opened the Malibu Tournament against Malibu and closed the day out with a match against Villanova.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — A lack of turnovers helped the Glendale Community College men's basketball team climb to the top of the Western State Conference's Southern Division. The Vaqueros entered Wednesday night's division home game against Santa Monica City College tied for first place with defending division-champion Citrus College and College of the Canyons. Unfortunately for Glendale, turnovers proved to be a sticking point. Glendale committed 22 turnovers en route to a 79-75 defeat.