By Brandon HENSLEY

If you watched the Crescenta Valley High School alumni basketball game this year and thought the “old” guys didn’t seem as old, that’s because they weren’t. Infused with a shot of youthful energy, the CV alumni defeated the Falcons varsity team 83-72 on Nov. 22, in the annual day-before-Thanksgiving game that serves as an unofficial start to the season.

Missing this year were regular alumni players such as Nathan Sinning, Matt Oliver and Greg Goorjian, who averaged almost 44 points a game in the late 1970s. Instead, alumni coach John Goffredo welcomed a couple of new additions to his lineup in Arin Ovanessian and Christian Misi.

Both guys played for varsity coach Shawn Zargarian. They aren’t the only ones; Narbeh Ebrahimian and Eric Strangis are alumni game regulars who also played for Zargarian during their time at CVHS.

“I’m starting to experience my guys in the alumni game, which means I’ve been doing it for a really long time. It feels good to see them out there,” said Zargarian, who played under Goffredo in the ’90s and took over the program in 2005.

Ovanessian graduated in 2016, and Misi was part of the 2012 team that made it to the CIF semifinals, and the state playoffs.

Despite the younger blood for the alumni, the varsity burst out of the gate with a 9-3 lead. Lacking size, but executing a game plan based on frenetic energy and ball movement, the Falcons led into the third quarter.

It was there, though, when the alumni took over. Goffredo’s son, Jimmy, who graduated in 2003 and played at Harvard, was sharp from the outside, taking and hitting more three-pointers than he had in recent years.

Zargarian attributed the alumni’s experience in pulling off the comeback.

“In my mind, it’s very simple. They’re so smart that they make the right adjustments in the second half … they’re not going to make the same mistakes again.”

Paired alongside Jimmy was Chris Tarne, a teammate of Jimmy’s in high school. Dubbed by some as the “Tarnado” back then for his quick, flashy play, it was Tarne’s first alumni experience. Zargarian said he saw him at a recent Clippers game and asked him to return. Tarne, a firefighter, had to find a way to fit the game into his schedule.

The impact of the Jimmy-Tarne tandem was minimal, though, as Ebrahimian and Strangis dominated most of the game.

For the varsity, the three players who will most likely have the biggest impact on the season were prominent in this game. Chris Arzoumanian had 17 points on five three pointers, and Arman Pezeshkian led the team with 25 points.

Tyler Carlson (10 points) is a sophomore who will be counted on this year because of his skill and versatility. Carlson, playing in his first varsity alumni game, said he was nervous on the drive to the gym, and had sweaty palms when he checked into the game in the first quarter.

But he looked composed, and he and his team held their own against always-aggressive alumni.

“I felt like there was nothing to lose; just play physical, hit them back,” he said.

Carlson was the first-ever seventh grader to start on the Rosemont Middle School basketball team. He said he wasn’t as aggressive as he should have been back then. He remembers coach Brent Ballard telling him to take his defender off the dribble more.

That internal switch has flipped for Carlson, who is part of a Falcon system that will experiment with an offense predicated less on half-court sets, and more on the modern NBA game of improvisation.

“We want more of a drive and kick [offense], to get open threes,” Carlson said. “We always have the effort and energy, we just have to execute.”

The Falcons didn’t execute on defense at the end of the first half, as the alumni scored on an out-of-bounds play the length of the court with just seconds left. It was a frustrating play that closed the score to 41-37. Carlson said Zargarian called out the play, but the Falcons still weren’t ready for it.

In practice, Zargarian is a proponent of communicating.

“He wants a loud gym. If you’re not talking, you’re clapping; if you’re not clapping, you’re talking,” Carlson said.

After the game, several alumni spoke to the varsity in the locker room about what it means to be a Falcon. Pride, tradition and honor aren’t just three words painted on the walls of the gymnasium; they are pillars of Falcon athletic culture.

Years ago, younger players may have looked up to Goffredo, or Harvey Mason, who went on to play at the University of Arizona. Carlson said he looked up to Cole Currie and Dylan Kilgore, two players who ran with Misi just a handful of years ago.

“Those were the guys, and I wanted to be like them,” he said.

Now that Carlson is well on his way to having a successful high school career, what does this program mean to him?

“Fight hard, have pride. Keep the tradition. Everything that’s good, that’s a Falcon,” he said.

  Brandon Hensley, CV Basketball