Vikings

LOS ANGELES — Whether or not the Flintridge Prep football team makes a third straight playoff appearance this season will have nothing to do with the nonleague losses they’ve sustained. Nonetheless, the 47-0 loss the Rebels were dealt by visiting Campbell Hall on Saturday night at Occidental College, which dropped them to 0-3 to start the year, could take a toll on the morale of a team. “These kids are really taking it on the chin in a lot of ways, there’s just not a lot of good things that have happened so far [this season]

VALENCIA ? Had you told Crescenta Valley High girls' basketball Coach Jason Perez that Falcons leading-scorer Molly Roach would score more than her season average and his defense would hold Valencia under its season average, he would have thought it a winning formula. On Saturday, Roach scored a game-high 24 points, giving the host Vikings fits all night long. The Falcons also held the No. 7 Vikings to 59 points, nearly seven under their average. And it still wasn't enough, as a valiant Falcons effort concluded with a season-ending 59-55 loss to the Vikings in a CIF Southern Section Division I-A first-round game on Saturday night at Valencia High.

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.

For the first three innings of Saturday's National Division game of the Babe Herman Tournament, the Crescenta Valley and Eastern high baseball teams lit up the scoreboard for a combined 14 runs. For the next four innings, however, the Falcons and Vikings could hardly get a runner on base, as they combined for just two hits. With the score tied at 7, the scoring resumed in the eighth inning at Stengel Field. That's when Eastern, out of New Jersey, took a one-run lead before the Falcons rallied for a 9-8 victory when Kyle Murray singled home Patrick Adams to end it. The Falcons (8-4)

The La Cañada girls' basketball team only led by six points after the first quarter, but would not have a hard time beating Blair at home Wednesday night. Led by the duo of Joy Lelo and Emily Ballard, the Spartans brushed aside the Blair Vikings 62-36. The Vikings (9-6) came out with more intensity, jumping out to a 5-0 lead, however, it would be their only lead of the game. From there on, the Spartans (8-7) defense stepped up and took the Vikings out of their game plan.

Marina High will launch its football season Friday in Rancho Cucamonga against host Los Osos. Game time is 7 p.m. Marina is looking to better last year's mark of 1-9, when the Vikings didn't post a win until the ninth week of the regular season. As the record might suggest, they struggled offensively. In eight games, they were held to a touchdown or less. But with a new season, brings new hope. They'll start off by facing a Los Osos team that went 6-5 a year ago and qualified for the Division II playoffs.

BURBANK ? In the relative scheme of things, it?s a bit of revenge at the very least for the members of the Crescenta Valley High girls? basketball team. Still smarting a bit from being ousted from the playoffs the last two seasons by Valencia, the Falcons did a few things correctly in earning a 43-41 victory against the Vikings on Tuesday afternoon in a Burroughs High Summer League contest. Crescenta Valley led throughout most of the 40-minute game despite squandering a nine-point lead midway through the second half.

BASEBALL La Canada 28, Blair 0: The Spartans scored 10 runs in the first inning and had 23 hits on Thursday in a Rio Hondo League road contest. La Canada added eight runs in the second inning and three in the third. Kelson Brown and Mitchell Maseredjian each had a team-high four hits for the Spartans, who also received three hits apiece from Stanley Kim, Kevin Thompson and Chris Walters. Maseredjian also contributed a career-high eight runs batted in and five runs.

EL MONTE - After a grueling run through the stacked Mission League, the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division III-A playoffs came easy to the St. Francis boys' basketball team. It was bad news for Mountain View, the home team and St. Francis' opponent, Wednesday as the Vikings had trouble keeping up with the Golden Knights, who ran away with a dominating 64-33 victory. "We play all year long against a ridiculously tough schedule, I think we're ready to go by this time of the year," said St. Francis co-Coach Ray O'Brien, whose team held a 41-13 rebounding advantage in the game.

Rumors have circulated in recent weeks that the Blair High football team might not be quite ready to go when the season begins. The whispers have also reached second-year Hoover Coach Andrew Policky, whose Tornadoes would be without an opponent on Friday night if the Vikings don't have enough players to field a squad for both teams' season opener scheduled for 7 p.m. at Muir High. "I'm not sure whether or not they're going to have a team, I've heard they might just have JV," Policky said of Blair.

For the first three innings of Saturday's National Division game of the Babe Herman Tournament, the Crescenta Valley and Eastern high baseball teams lit up the scoreboard for a combined 14 runs. For the next four innings, however, the Falcons and Vikings could hardly get a runner on base, as they combined for just two hits. With the score tied at 7, the scoring resumed in the eighth inning at Stengel Field. That's when Eastern, out of New Jersey, took a one-run lead before the Falcons rallied for a 9-8 victory when Kyle Murray singled home Patrick Adams to end it. The Falcons (8-4)

EL MONTE - After a grueling run through the stacked Mission League, the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division III-A playoffs came easy to the St. Francis boys' basketball team. It was bad news for Mountain View, the home team and St. Francis' opponent, Wednesday as the Vikings had trouble keeping up with the Golden Knights, who ran away with a dominating 64-33 victory. "We play all year long against a ridiculously tough schedule, I think we're ready to go by this time of the year," said St. Francis co-Coach Ray O'Brien, whose team held a 41-13 rebounding advantage in the game.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE — Perhaps the Flintridge Prep boys' basketball team could have found a way to overcome committing 24 turnovers, or figured out how to make up for a night on which it shot less than 50% from the free-throw line. Maybe even getting outrebounded by St. Bernard or struggling mightily from three-point range alone might not have kept the Rebels from beating the Vikings in the second round of the CIF State Division V playoffs, but it wasn't just one of those deficiencies that plagued Prep Thursday night at St. Francis High — it was all of the above.

LA CRESCENTA — In her final playoff run with the Crescenta Valley High girls’ basketball team, Cassie Pappas finally beat postseason nemesis Valencia Valencia on Thursday night, but not without a huge helping hand from fellow senior guard Ani Ebrahimian. Ebrahimian game up with a huge steal late and scored eight fourth-quarter points, including two three-pointers and a pair of clutch free throws with 7.1 seconds left in the game to clinch a 53-48 win for the host Falcons in a CIF Southern Section Division I-A first-round game.

LOS ANGELES — Whether or not the Flintridge Prep football team makes a third straight playoff appearance this season will have nothing to do with the nonleague losses they’ve sustained. Nonetheless, the 47-0 loss the Rebels were dealt by visiting Campbell Hall on Saturday night at Occidental College, which dropped them to 0-3 to start the year, could take a toll on the morale of a team. “These kids are really taking it on the chin in a lot of ways, there’s just not a lot of good things that have happened so far [this season]

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — There’s nothing better than learning during the summer about strengths and weaknesses. That’s the approach the Glendale High boys’ basketball team has chosen to take for at least the next several days while competing in the 10th annual Vaquero Summer Shootout at Glendale Community College. Glendale found several things it did well and not so well during a 58-36 loss to Valencia in a tournament pool-play contest Thursday afternoon.

It is rare for opportunity to come knocking several times in one game, but the Golden Knights sure are happy they answered the door at the last call. St. Francis sophomore forward Christian Swart found the back of the net with 6:38 remaining, as the Golden Knights (1-0-1) squeaked passed North Hills Monroe, 1-0, in the second game of the Ralph Brandt Soccer Tournament on Saturday night here at Friedman Field. The Golden Knight defense limited Monroe (0-2) to just three shots all game, and did not allow a shot on goal in the final 22 minutes.

BURBANK ? In the relative scheme of things, it?s a bit of revenge at the very least for the members of the Crescenta Valley High girls? basketball team. Still smarting a bit from being ousted from the playoffs the last two seasons by Valencia, the Falcons did a few things correctly in earning a 43-41 victory against the Vikings on Tuesday afternoon in a Burroughs High Summer League contest. Crescenta Valley led throughout most of the 40-minute game despite squandering a nine-point lead midway through the second half.