MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Peterson

(Pasadena) – Crescenta Valley rallied from a 14-point third quarter deficit and went on to beat Pasadena 76-75 Saturday night at the Dog House at Pasadena.

The Falcons found themselves down by 12 at halftime and then 14 early in the third quarter at 41-27 when they begin to rally.

Pasadena jumped out to a 23-13 lead at the end of the first quarter behind 6′ 11″ center Josh Irving who had 8 points including a couple of jams.

Derek Jordan scored six points in the second quarter and the Bulldogs maintained the advantage and took a 34-20 lead into the break.

After being down 14 Crescenta Valley finally made it’s move. An 8-1 run cut the lead to seven and with just over a minute remaining in the quarter the Falcons were down by three. CV tied it at 54 as the quarter came to an end.

Vaughn Zagarian, the Falcons leading scorer, had 21 points in the third quarter as he hit 10 free throws, and CV outscored Pasadena 32-20 in the third.

In the fourth quarter Crescenta Valley grabbed the lead at 63-62 on a layup by Michael Sahagian. Sahagian got loose inside for another bucket two minutes later to put the Falcons up 67-63 with 2:58 left.

It was 71-65 CV with 1:34 left when Pasadena’s Troy Wilson knocked down a basket and was fouled to complete the old fashioned three-point play to make it 71-68.

Des Every hit a couple big baskets for Pasadena on the next two possessions to keep the Bulldogs in the mix but Crescenta Valley continued to hit its free throws.

It was 76-72 with 10 seconds left when Wilson buried a long three to get Pasadena within one. But the clock ran all the way down to .07 seconds left before Pasadena finally fouled to stop the clock.

Andrew Ghazarian missed both free throws but all the Bulldogs could manage was a desperation heave by Ike Mitchell as the clock ran out.

For Crescenta Valley Zagarian, who is averaging over 36 points per game, was right at his average as he finished with 36. Sahagian, who is putting up about 17 per game, scored 21 including 13 in the fourth quarter. No other Falcon scored in double figures but Ghazarian added six points.

For Pasadena Wilson led the team with 19 points and Every had 14. Brandon Carpenter had 10 and Mitchell and Irving each had eight. Irving who scored his 8 points early, left the game in the first half with an ankle injury and was unable to return.

The win was huge for the Falcons as it left them alone in first place in the Pacific League with a perfect record of 6-0. CV is 16-7 overall.

Pasadena fell to 14-7 and 4-1 in the Pacific.