Westridge

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Whether Flintridge Prep or Westridge, all eyes were on the doubles matchup of Christina Yu and Annie Zaro and Grace Pa and Alyssa Sugemoto. With Westridge clinging to a slim one-set lead, a Flintridge Prep win would tie the match on sets and give the Rebels a win on games. But it wasn’t to be, as Westridge prevailed, 10-8, in Thursday’s Prep League match at Scholl Canyon. Shortly after the match, Rebels Coach Katie Hawkins was quick to tell Zaro and Yu that it wasn’t their set alone that swung the match, the Rebels were all in it together.

LA CANADA - In the jockeying atop the Prep League girls' basketball standings, Flintridge Prep held onto its title of No. 1 contender to four-time reigning league champion Pasadena Poly with perhaps its biggest league victory to date. The CIF Southern Section Division V-AA fourth-ranked Rebels employed an absolutely smothering defense in forcing 27 turnovers and 27% shooting from visiting Division IV-A 12th-ranked Westridge in an important 53-42 victory Thursday afternoon on senior day. The Rebels (14-5 overall, 7-1 in league)

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — There's a chance that the Hoover High girls' tennis team might qualify for the postseason. To accomplish that feat, the Tornadoes will need to finish among the top four teams in what's shaping up to be a wide-open Pacific League. When not participating in a league match, Hoover Coach Julie Hoppe would like for the Tornadoes to compete against difficult opposing squads. The Tornadoes had that opportunity Wednesday against visiting Westridge. In a match that began in sunlight and ended in moonlight, Hoover suffered a 13-5 defeat.

SOUTH PASADENA — Shortly after his second summer league game with the Hoover High girls' basketball team, new Coach Stan Watson was hustling to his third. With four of his players riding along with him, Watson and his squad left behind a 32-26 victory over Westridge at the South Pasadena Summer League. "I'm still in the process of learning names, developing our defensive strategy and learning our offensive sets," said Watson, who replaced Martik Ghookasian as the Tornadoes coach last week, taking over a program that will look to make the postseason for the first time since 2007.

GLENDALE — Entering its final Prep League game of the season Thursday afternoon, the Flintridge Prep softball team had two pieces of business to attend to. First, the Rebels wanted to exact revenge by beating Westridge. If they could accomplish that feat, it would give them a share of the league championship for the first time since 1995. Behind a no-hitter from Denise van der Goot, the Rebels rolled to a 10-0 league home win against Westridge in six innings. Van der Goot struck out 13 and faced the minimum 21 batters.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — They might still be stuck on zero, but there’s been small signs of improvement. That’s the latest evaluation given by Flintridge Prep girls’ water polo Coach Josh Moser, whose team suffered an 11-4 Prep League home loss to Westridge on Thursday afternoon. Flintridge Prep (0-12, 0-8 in league) did some things better Thursday compared to its recent matches, like scoring two man-advantage goals. Still, the Rebels aren’t yet talented enough to overcome mistakes made from their obvious inexperience.

Flintridge Prep lost to Westridge on Tuesday, but that was to be expected. After a few foul-ups and miscommunications by Prep cost them the first game, 12-25, it looked like Westridge was going to sweep easily. ?We did not look good in that first game,? Prep Coach Sean Beattie said, who went on to say that a few of the girls were playing in the first game and playing nervous. ?We were shanking balls hit right at us and overpassing. But after the end of the first, I said, ?Hey, relax.

PASADENA — The Flintridge Prep girls’ soccer team hoped to ride a wave of momentum from a big win on Friday into Saturday’s Prep League contest against Westridge. Rebels Coach Esteban Chavez said his team’s 3-0 win over the Tigers Saturday at Maranatha High came more in spite of the previous day’s monumental defeat of Chadwick than because of it. “We didn’t really take control of the game until the end,” said Chavez, whose team moved closer to solidifying at least a third-place finish in league with the win. “They got drained emotionally, physically and psychologically yesterday because they left everything [on the field]

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — With every Prep League win it puts in the books, a playoff berth for the Flintridge Prep softball team is looking more and more like sure thing. So is the Rebels’ offense, which, after clobbering Westridge, 19-2, in five innings Tuesday at Prep, has averaged just over 17 runs per contest over its last three. Abbey Deckop and Denise van der Goot each homered for the Rebels, who racked up 21 hits and broke the game open with an eight-run second inning, in which 13 batters came to the plate.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — During any of its doubles matches on a warm Thursday afternoon, rarely did the players on the Flintridge Prep girls’ tennis team attack the net. That proved to be the gist of why Flintridge Prep struggled throughout an 11-7 Prep League loss to Westridge at Scholl Canyon Tennis Center. “The girls are struggling with the fact that they are resistant to play near the net,” said Flintridge Prep co-Coach Ron Catano, whose team dropped to third place in league behind Chadwick and Westridge with two league matches remaining.

LA CAÑADA - While half the Prep League was on spring break Thursday afternoon, the other half prepared for the second half of the season with a competitive league tri-league meet at La Cañada High that may have been more hotly contested than expected. In what may very well foreshadow a close Prep League championship later this season, the host Flintridge Prep boys defeated Pasadena Poly, 64-63, while the Panthers' girls exacted a measure of revenge by scoring 81 points in topping the Rebels (51)

LA CANADA - In the jockeying atop the Prep League girls' basketball standings, Flintridge Prep held onto its title of No. 1 contender to four-time reigning league champion Pasadena Poly with perhaps its biggest league victory to date. The CIF Southern Section Division V-AA fourth-ranked Rebels employed an absolutely smothering defense in forcing 27 turnovers and 27% shooting from visiting Division IV-A 12th-ranked Westridge in an important 53-42 victory Thursday afternoon on senior day. The Rebels (14-5 overall, 7-1 in league)

GLENDALE - Having not played a match in 15 days, the Flintridge Prep girls' soccer team took on Westridge on Tuesday and hoped to shake off any cobwebs that might have lingered from the extended time off. The Rebels also had to take the field without standout defender Abby Letts, who was serving a one-game suspension after getting double yellow cards in the team's Prep League contest Jan. 14 against Pasadena Poly. Any notion of Flintridge Prep suffering from rust was dispelled in the first few minutes, as the team scored an early goal.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE - A light fog rolled up the hill and onto the pool deck at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy before the Tologs were set to begin their season Thursday against Westridge. The weather elements initially caught Flintridge Sacred Heart first-year Coach Carlos Ponce off guard, leaving him to wonder how his team would respond to the strange conditions. Ponce's concern immediately disappeared once the whistle blew, as Flintridge Sacred Heart enjoyed a big five-goal first quarter en route to a convincing 18-3 nonleague win. “Fog can throw your mentality off and it can be hard to get up for the game,” said Ponce, who received a match-best seven goals from Hannah Walleck and four from Kelsey Gorman.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - There's plenty of motivation this season for Marel Tavatian. Before embarking on helping the Westridge tennis team try to win a second straight Prep League championship, the No. 1 singles player spent time working on her conditioning. It's helped make a difference during the early portion of the season. Tavatian's work on the court has been impressive as a result. “I've been working on my fitness, and it's helped me improve being quicker,” said Tavatian, who swept her three sets without losing a game Wednesday afternoon in Westridge's 18-0 league win against rival Flintridge Prep at Scholl Canyon Tennis Center.

PASADENA - There aren't many worries when the singles players on the Westridge tennis team step on to the court. Maral Tavatian, Lena Tavatian and Erin McDonald each bring experience and composure, something that's given the rest of the Tigers assurance that they have a legitimate opportunity to win the majority of their matches. It proved to be the case once again Monday afternoon, when Westridge met visiting Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in a nonleague match at Muir High.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE - Piecing together a lineup wasn't a problem for the Westridge girls' tennis team. Hoover, on the other hand, would have likely been satisfied having a full compliment of players. The wide gap between the team's lineups showed when the Tigers and Tornadoes met Wednesday afternoon in a nonleague match at Hoover. Aided by three forfeit wins in doubles, Westridge began its season with an 18-0 victory. Westridge Coach Jerry Rivera, whose team won the Prep League championship last season, saw his team lose just seven games Wednesday.

It's not always about the wins or personal statistics. For Kelly Korras, a former Glendale Community College pitcher and current Westridge School softball coach, her international softball debut this summer was all about the experience. "It was a dream come true," said Korras of competing in the International Softball Federation's (ISF) 13th Women's World Fastpitch Championship, which is held once every two years, with South Africa. "I have always wanted to be able to compete at that level and I finally got to. I learned a lot from watching the other teams and playing against them.

It's been a busy year for Kelly Korras, but the former Glendale Community College softball pitcher and new Westridge softball coach won't get much of a summer break. That's fine by Korras, as she'll spend a chunk of her summer training for and pursuing her dream of playing softball at the international level after she was selected to the South African national softball team for the upcoming International Softball Federation's 13th Women's World Fastpitch Championship, which kicks off July 13 in Canada.