First published in the Feb. 19 print issue of the Glendale News Press.
By Nathan Cambridge
Glendale News-Press
The Crescenta Valley High School varsity boys’ basketball team saw its season end in the CIF-SS Division 2A second round after falling at El Dorado High in Placentia, 49-44, on Tuesday evening.
Senior Gavin Shaghoian led all scorers with his 17-point performance while seniors Quinlan Daly and Ryan Raad recorded nine and eight points, respectively, for the Pacific League champion Falcons. Senior John Hebert had four points, junior Mike Grigoryan recorded three points and senior Allen Boghosian finished with one point for CVHS, which concluded the season with a fine 18-4 overall record.
CVHS 56, MARANATHA 52
In a tight game, host Crescenta Valley surged ahead in the fourth quarter and held on for a victory over Maranatha High of Pasadena in a first-round playoff game on Feb. 11.
“We found a way to get stops. We found a way to finish it at the end,” CV coach Shawn Zargarian said. “I’m really proud of our guys. Any kind of a playoff win is a good thing. We are very excited about it.”
Nothing was decided after three quarters with the score knotted at 37 apiece. The Falcons scored the first five of the fourth period when Allen Boghossian drained a three-pointer from the corner off an inbounds pass, and next time down the court Quinlin Daly sank a jumper off an assist by Gavin Shaghoian. This ignited a 17-6 Falcon run to seize control, with Daly accounting for nine of the points. The senior had an awkward shot, seemingly pushing the ball up and through the rim, making the score 54-43 just before Maranatha called a timeout with 2:15 to play.
Then the Minutemen went on a 7-0 run to draw within four at 54-50 with a minute to play.
Down the stretch, the Falcons almost gave the game away at the free throw line by missing the front end of three straight one-and-one opportunities over the final 1:19.
However, with eight seconds left, Boghossian hit both free throws to essentially clinch the victory. Maranatha’s Alec Smith made a lay-up with three seconds to go to set the final margin.
Daly went off in the second half, scoring 18 of his game-high 25 points after the break, including 11 in the final quarter. Shaghoian scored 15 points on five makes from beyond the arc. Boghossian joined them in double figures with 11 points. Center John Herbert had three points and Sebastian Tahmasian rounded out the hosts’ scoring with two points.
“It was an amazing win. First playoff game [and we’re] super excited. This is where it starts,” Daly said of the Falcons’ postseason journey.
In the first quarter, Crescenta Valley built a 9-2 advantage before Maranatha surged ahead with an 8-0 burst. In the waning seconds, Falcon Ryan Raad dished it to Herbert underneath for a lay-up and an 11-10 advantage after the first. The final points of the second period came on a Pope three-pointer that made the score 25-25 at the break.
After Maranatha made the first basket of the third quarter, Daly went on a personal 7-0 run, only to see the Minutemen march back and score the next seven to retake the lead. When the dust settled at the end of the third, both teams had notched 12 points in the quarter and the score remained tied going into the fourth.
“Obviously, drawing a team like Maranatha in the first round [is tough],” Zargarian said. “I know they are an at-large team, but I’ve had a lot of battles with [Coach Tim Tucker] when he was with Pasadena. I expected nothing less than what just happened.”
