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Sports

Second-half Rally Keys Falcons' Win Over Glendale

Sarah Yoon scores nine points in the fourth quarter to lead Crescenta Valley.

For three quarters the girls basketball team was frustrated by a feisty Glendale squad, but a huge fourth quarter turnaround carried the Falcons to a 47-40 victory over the Nitros on Tuesday night.

“We started flat,” Falcons coach Jason Perez said. “We looked confused and we played confused. But at some point a light bulb went off in their heads and they figured it out.””

The Falcons were led by senior forward Sarah Yoon who had a game-high 16 points. Her ability to drive to the basket and knock down free throws brought the team out of the doldrums. In the fourth quarter, Yoon would outscore the entire Nitros team 9-7.

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The teams played tight early on; players were evenly matched in size and talent. Glendale’s ability to drive on the Falcon’s man-to-man defense kept the Nitros in the lead for the entire first half, but they were never able to pull away.

The Falcons didn’t look sharp in the first half. They weren’t able to assert their presence down low, and poor rotation from the guards led to offensive miscues. Freshman forward Ella Stepanian, who averages 10 points per game, ended the half with only two. Despite all of their struggles, however, the Falcons only trailed 20-18 at halftime.

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“Our girls, this year, have had trouble running their offense,” Perez said. “We’ve had major issues just being able to execute. It’s been a frustrating thing.”

The third quarter saw things get worse for the Falcons. Crescenta Valley couldn’t hit a shot on the perimeter, while the Nitros, led by the 3-point shooting of senior point guard Serah Mirzaeian, went on a 13-4 run for an 11-point lead.

But something changed with the Falcon players at that point in the game, and Crescena Valley began to find its groove. A five-point run to end the third quarter at 34-28 brought the game back in reach.

The fourth quarter saw the momentum of the game move completely in favor of the Falcons. Suddenly, the passing and rotation of the Falcon offense was sharp, and Glendale began to look sloppy.

“There were no adjustments, no switches,” Perez said. “All of a sudden, in the fourth quarter, it just clicked. They figured it out — it was all them.”

Yoon’s command of the fourth quarter came from three separate steals she converted at the other end for three-point plays.

At the 2:49 mark in the fourth quarter, Crescenta Valley (10-8) took its first lead of the game. Then with just 55 seconds remaining, Stepanian drained a 3-pointer that effectively iced the game for the Falcons.

“That was a big three,” said coach Perez, “and a freshman hit it for us.”

With the win, Crescenta Valley evens its Pacific league record at 3-3. The Falcons next game is on Friday at Arcadia.

“Our season has had a lot of ups and downs,” Perez said. “Tonight was one of the ups.”

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