First published in the Dec. 18 print issue of the Glendale News Press.
After Crescenta Valley High School’s varsity boys’ basketball team opened the first quarter with an 11-2 scoring run, the Falcons never looked back and defeated visiting Burbank High, 53-47, in an exciting Pacific League game on Thursday, Dec. 16.
CVHS senior Quinlin Daly had a career night scoring a game-high 29 points, helping lead the Falcons (4-0 in league, 11-2 overall record) to their sixth consecutive victory. In the third quarter, Daly also hit all three of the Falcons 3-pointers, including back-to-back attempts to extend CV’s lead to 39-35 with about three minutes remaining.
“I think Q had 15 straight [points] in the third quarter tonight,” CVHS head coach Shawn Zargarian said. “That kid is an absolute pure scorer. He’s got a great stroke, he can shoot the threes, he’s got a great mid-range shot, and he’s able to get to the rim and finish. His ability to score saved us on the offensive end.”
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs (1-3 in league, 3-5 overall) fell to fifth place in the league standings while losing their fifth game in their last six.
“We were out two guards tonight, so for us, we needed to get this one,” Zargarian said. “Burbank got us last year on our home court, so we wanted to make sure we secured this one.”
Falcons freshman guard Vaugh Zargarian scored nine points, senior guard Eddie Hematsiraki had five points, and senior center John Hebert and senior forward Sean Kosco each added four points. Teammate Allen Boghossian scored his lone field goal in the fourth quarter with 7:06 remaining before both teams underwent a two-minute scoring drought.
It took two Bulldogs to accumulate Daly’s game-high total — senior guard Phoenix Mosely (16 points) and junior wing Sattwik Banerjee (13 points) combined for 29 points.
“As a unit, we didn’t get the shots we wanted so it was good that [Mosely and Banerjee] did what they did, but it wasn’t conducive to what we wanted to do,” Burbank head coach Sid Cooke said.
The last quarter was the Bulldogs best, as they outscored Crescenta Valley 23-11, highlighted by an 8-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to 46-40. However, Daly’s four-point play with 1:26 remaining to make it 51-42 helped solidify the Falcons’ victory.
Behind Mosely and Banerjee, Bulldogs senior wing Alex Emami, junior shooting guard Julian Gonzalez and senior strong forward Arman Danielian each scored five points, while senior teammate Nathan Contreras added one field goal from behind the arch.
“I don’t think we had enough energy as we should have,” Cooke said. “We just didn’t execute; we didn’t follow through with the game plan. They were the better team. They played as a team, and we didn’t.”
Crescenta Valley will enjoy a few weeks off before resuming league play at Hoover High on Tuesday, Jan. 4 at 6:30 p.m.
