By Brandon HENSLEY

High school students may know something about cramming the night before a big test, but members of the Crescenta Valley High boys’ basketball program are getting a taste of what cramming in the summer feels like.

With 23 summer league games scheduled in June before the CIF-mandated dead period, many new Falcon faces are learning at a quick pace what it takes to compete on the varsity level.

The Falcons were 2-3 heading into Wednesday’s action at the Crespi Showcase. They won the Tuesday game vs. Royal at Burbank High 61-43 in what Coach Shawn Zargarian called the team’s easiest offensive game so far. One of the notable players from that game was returner Arman Pezeshkian, who Zargarian believes will be a key player next season.

“In the five games we’ve played, I’d probably say he’s scoring 20, 25 points a game,” Zargarian said. “He’s one of those guys we had on varsity last year, and he helped us out a little bit, but now he’s just blossoming.”

Pezeshkian will be joined by returners Christopher Arzoumanian (Pacific League honorable mention last year), Harout Tehanian and center Austin Novak. The team said goodbye to a solid core this year in Trey Ballard, Journey Shank and Koko Kechichian. Ballard and Shank were All-League first team, while Kechichian made second team.

Tyler Carlson is a varsity newcomer, but is expected to give the team a lift. He played on the JV last season as a freshman and before that was the first seventh grader to ever make the starting five on the Rosemont Middle School team.

Carlson, who can play either guard position, has a steady approach to his game, which is reminiscent of Ballard.

“As far as skill level, IQ, he’s got all of it,” Zargarian said.

While Zargarian didn’t seem to have much criticism for players like Carlson, there were moments on Tuesday when he was more intense with others. It was the first time he was that engaged with the new guys; right now, he said, he’s focused on discipline and effort, aspects of the game the players can control.

“So if that stuff’s not happening, I’ll get up and get in their faces,” he said.

The boys’ final game is scheduled for June 27 at Burbank High. Since the earlier start date for school in GUSD, Zargarian said he’s evolved his scheduling to end the summer earlier. This way, it gives everyone a chance to enjoy the weeks before school, including having vacation time.

“I give no practices, so I try to overload the games. I’ve evolved into that over the years,” Zargarian said. “I don’t want to practice. The guys don’t want to be in the gym and I want them to enjoy summer time.”

  Brandon Hensley