Southern Section

Andrew Landeros GLENDALE -- It's time for the top boys high school golfers in South California to put all there fears aside and try to be as aggressive as they can if they plan to win the CIF/Southern California Golf Assn. Junior Championship at 8 a.m. today in Murrieta at the SCGA Members' Club. More than 100 competitors -- top qualifiers for the CIF L.A. City, Central, San Diego and Southern sections -- will tee it up in the 18-hole tournament to find out who is the best.

The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene: ANOTHER LONG TRIP FOR WILDCATS After a 67-59 loss to Corona del Mar on Saturday in the CIF Southern Section Division III-A Final, Renaissance Academy will make its third straight trip to the CIF State tournament. The Southern Section's divisions were changed up for a more competitive makeup. The state playoffs teams are put into divisions according to population. Renaissance Academy (23-2) is seeded third in Division V, but must travel to face Reedley Immanuel (24-9)

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — After coming within a few minutes of reaching the CIF Southern Section Division I championship match last week, the St. Francis High soccer team will continue its season for at least one more match. The Golden Knights will now travel down a path they’ve never been on, taking part in the CIF Southern California Division II Regional Championships. St. Francis will meet visiting Canoga Park in a first-round match at 5 p.m. today at Friedman Field.

Hamlet Nalbandyan There has definitely been plenty of hoopla surrounding Village Christian softball pitcher Lauren Nydam during her high school career. And thus far, the La Canada Flintridge resident is showing she's worthy of all the attention. The 6-foot right-handed hurler, whose pitching coach Heather Lindstrom predicted would be one of the finest pitchers ever from this area, has put up the numbers and collected the accolades that suggest she just might be. The sophomore's recent honor is a first-team nod on the All-CIF Southern Section Division V team, the second in as many years for Nydam.

Erik Boal What a career: Crescenta Valley's Jeanine Deno has been one of the area's all-time prolific scorers during her four years in a Falcon uniform, and her numbers prove it. Following a 23-point performance against Hoover on Tuesday, Deno -- who leads the area, and all of the Southern Section, with a 27.3 point-per-game average -- has 2,210 career points, according to the records kept by her dad, James....

Erik Boal Odds and ends from the local high school girls' tennis scene: Battle tested: Barring a total collapse, the Crescenta Valley High girls' tennis team will win its fourth straight Pacific League title. Glendale and La Canada should be in strong position to secure CIF Southern Section postseason berths and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy will be battling Sherman Oaks Notre Dame for the final playoff spot in the tough Mission League. But even if it doesn't qualify for the playoffs, the award for the most improved team this year is without a doubt Flintridge Prep.

LA CRESCENTA — The memory of the last playoff semifinal the St. Francis High soccer team competed in is still quite fresh in the team’s collective memory. The Golden Knights’ loss to Millikan, one that eliminated them from the CIF Southern Section Division I title hunt, came just nine days ago, but they’ve already got a chance to rewrite their semifinal story line. St. Francis takes on San Diego Section Division II champion El Cajon Valhalla today at 5 p.m. at Friedman Field for the right to advance to the CIF Southern California Division II Regional Soccer Championships title game on Saturday.

LOS ANGELES ? With right around three minutes remaining in a contest that had never really been one, the clock finally began to run. Right around a minute earlier and the Price starting five had finally exited the game. Right around a minute earlier than the exit, Price center Terron Sutton was on the receiving end of an inbound alley-oop pass that he promptly dunked for a crowd-inciting 55th point to Renaissance Academy's 19. Maybe Price ran up the score. Maybe it was just playing its game and getting ready for another trip to a state championship.

Erik Boal LONG BEACH -- When it comes to the girls' 100-yard breaststroke and the Mission League, no one has been more dominant over the past three years than Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy junior Melissa Siracuse. But following an eighth-place finish at last year's CIF Southern Section Division II finals, Siracuse had to focus on a defined goal in order to elevate her performance to a championship-caliber level. Enter Tolog Coach Steve Bergen, who informed the three-time league champion of the school record that was established in 1984, providing Siracuse's necessary motivation for this year's finals.

Hamlet Nalbandyan Bruce Breeden has been pleading his case all season. "Just come and watch her play," the Crescenta Valley High girls' basketball coach has said on numerous occasions, asking the 300-plus Division I women's basketball programs to give his star player a chance. "Come and watch her compete, and you'll see what we've known all this time." Up to this point, they haven't been listening. Even after having one of the finest four-year careers of any CIF Southern Section player, Jeanine Deno remains one of the best-kept secrets in the state.

Qualifying to Saturday's CIF Southern Section Track and Field Divisional Championships at Mt. San Antonio College required the local entrants who earned such advancement to turn in very good results at last weekend's divisional prelims all over Southern California. This weekend, however, the bar will be raised from very good to exceptional. Of course, that's to be expected as divisional championships and CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet berths are on the line with the trip to Cerritos College available for the top 12 finishers in the 800-meter, 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs and top nine in every other event.

After recording a par on the first hole, Colin Morikawa encountered immediate difficulty. Participating in the CIF Southern Section Northern Individual Regional on Monday at River Ridge Golf Club's par-72 Vineyard Course, the La Cañada High boys' golfer found himself in an unusual situation. The reigning All-Area Boys' Golfer of the Year quadruple-bogeyed the par-four second hole, seriously reducing his chances of extending his splendid season. Morikawa shook off the tough situation and finished with a 73 to finish in a seven-way tie for fifth at the event.

Six local schools participated Saturday in the CIF Southern Section Division prelims at various locations across Southern California. The following is a roundup of those who advanced to the CIF finals next Saturday. DIVISION I BOYS Crescenta Valley and Glendale at Trabuco Hills High: Michael Davis of Glendale and Gabe Collison of Crescenta Valley punched their tickets to the division finals on Saturday at Mount San Antonio College. Davis, who advanced to the state meet in the 200-meter dash last season, clocked 21.41 in the event Saturday to take third.

At first glance, it appeared as though the St. Francis and Crescenta Valley boys' golf teams would enter the season in a state of transition. The Golden Knights and Falcons changed their identity at the top by bringing in new coaches in Kyle Ostrom and Lee Pope, respectively, to revamp their teams. Looking to meet different expectations bestowed by Ostrom and Pope, St. Francis and Crescenta Valley struggled earlier on before seeing their fortunes change to put them in line for potential playoff contention.

There was no clean sweep in local boys' volleyball when the CIF Southern Section released its playoff pairings Saturday morning. Reigning Prep League champion Flintridge Prep will carry the torch as the lone postseason entry when the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs begin Tuesday evening. Flintridge Prep (17-7) will host Cerritos Whitney (14-5), the Academy League third-place entry, in the first round on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Even though the Rebels are no stranger to the postseason, there are still several unknowns.

With an eye on the future, the CIF Southern Section remembered its past when it unveiled its “100 Athletes for 100 Years” on Saturday at a reception in Los Angeles. The list featured three former local standouts who helped blaze trails along the Glendale sports landscape. Frank Wykoff and Frank Albert of Glendale High and Hoover's Jack Davis, all of whom are deceased, were bestowed with recognition as being among the 100 greatest CIF Southern Section athletes.  Criteria for receiving the accolade included participation in a CIF Southern Section sport and having success at all levels (high school, collegiate, Olympic and professional ranks)

All those mornings of getting up early for practice, followed by three additional hours of practice after school might have seemed overwhelming at first for Gabriel Isacson. If the goalkeeper for the Crescenta Valley High girls' water polo team wanted positive results and the challenge of vying for a CIF Southern Section Division V championship, the practice sessions would be paramount for her to succeed. "Our practices were a lot harder," said Isacson, a senior who was named All-CIF Southern Section Division V Player of the Year after helping lead the Falcons to the program's first CIF championship.

It will be hard to top last year's dramatic conclusion, as the Crescenta Valley High boys' swimming team just edged Damien, 301-293, for the CIF Southern Section Division II title in the last race of the meet. The Falcons will look to match it and maybe even save some of the drama, though that's easier said than done. “Well, it's not a surprise to anyone the talent that we have on this roster,” Falcons Coach Jan Sakonju said of how last season will impact 2013. “We were the CIF champions last year, obviously, there are teams focused on beating us because they want to win CIF this year.” Before CV has another shot at CIF it will have to take care of business in the Pacific League.

In reaching the CIF Southern Section Division I-A semifinal game for the second straight season, Crescenta Valley High boys' basketball Coach Shawn Zargarian reflected on his team's latest accomplishment. Having lost 80% of last season's starting lineup, it appeared to be a tall order for the Falcons to make another deep playoff run. “I was telling the players that I couldn't be more proud in terms of how far they have come,” Zargarian said. “We lost a lot of solid players, but there's just something special about this team and what they've been able to get done this year.