By Brandon HENSLEY

By the time readers review this issue of the CV Weekly, the Crescenta Valley boys’ basketball and soccer teams both will have played the first round CIF playoff games. Those came on Wednesday, with the basketball team traveling to Trabuco Hills High School in Orange County in a Division 1A matchup.

The Falcons’ varsity basketball team sort of stumbled their way to the finish line of their Pacific League season. They went 19-8 overall, and 9-5 in league – one game worse than they performed in 2015. The boys fell to Muir on Feb. 9, a game in which Head Coach Shawn Zargarian was ejected for arguing with officials and forced to serve a one-game suspension. Behind assistant coach DoVall Boykins, CV beat Arcadia in the season finale. If CV won yesterday, Wednesday, they will take on the winner of Paloma Valley and Walnut, which would be on Saturday at
7 p.m. (scores were not available as of press time).

The boys’ soccer team went 9-8-7 overall, 6-5-3 in league, good for third place, and faced Pioneer Valley on Wednesday in a Division III wild card match. If they advanced they would play at Claremont (16-4-2) on Friday. Coach Grant Clark’s team missed the playoffs last year. They lost in the first round in 2014.

The CV girls’ basketball team was strong again this season. They were 19-9 overall, 12-2 in league, which nabbed them second place. They host Knight High School (12-12 overall) in a Division 1A game today, Thursday, at 7 p.m. If they win, they advance to the second round on Saturday against the winner of Camarillo and Oxnard. The Lady Falcons advanced to the Division 1AA quarterfinals last season before losing to Millikan.

The CV girls’ soccer team fell one game short of winning the Pacific League.  They went 12-2, falling behind the 13-1 Arcadia Apaches. They travel to Alemany (7-5-8), the Sunshine League’s number one seed, today at
3 p.m. The winner will face either Poly/Riverside or Bellflower on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

The Lady Falcons’ water polo team is always a threat to win CIF. They did it in 2013, but came up short the last two years. Second-year Head Coach Ricky Mulcahey will lead his team, which won its seventh straight Pacific League title last week, into the Division IV playoffs today at Burbank High School at 5 p.m. The Falcons (26-4 overall) will face Arlington (16-9) from the Inland Valley. If CV wins, they play Saturday in the quarterfinals against either Ayala or Cerritos. The Falcons feature a strong offensive attack, led by seniors Audrey Taylor and Esma Dollaku, and freshman Alexandra Garas.

For full brackets of each sport, visit www.cifss.org.