Some Teams Will Try to Measure Up

GLENDALE —  Sizing up the Pacific League basketball race:

“Glendale High is small and getting smaller,” first-year Coach Steve Snodgress said.

Crescenta Valley’s John Goffredo invoked even more exaggeration while describing his most diminutive team in 19 seasons as coach.

“I’ve got the smallest team in the history of high school sports,” Goffredo said.

Lack of height is the bane of any basketball team. And this season, every league team figures to have difficulty measuring up to Pasadena, which has five players standing at least 6 feet 5 and appears to be the favorite to win the league title.

Yet, things are looking up at Hoover, where Coach Kirt Kohlmeier will attempt to lead the Tornadoes to a second consecutive league championship.

Senior center Andy Russell (6-4) and junior forward Mark Hull (6-5), among the league’s best players, are the only Hoover players taller than 6-1. But Kohlmeier says this team is among the tallest squads in his 18 seasons.

“For us, that’s tall,” Kohlmeier said. “All I’ve ever had here is a small team.”

And, in most seasons, a mediocre one.

That changed last season, when Hoover, expected to be an also-ran, posted a 16-10 record and charged to its first league championship since 1984.

“I’m sure we surprised some people,” Kohlmeier said. “Hopefully, we can expand on that.

“We were a true team. Everyone did what needed to be done in order to win.”

Leading the way were Hull, who averaged 12.3 points, and Russell, who averaged 10.6 points and 10.3 rebounds, and was an all-league selection. Both are expected to improve on last season’s performances.

“Mark has a beautiful shot,” Kohlmeier said. “Andy, he’s got the golden work ethic. He’s just a hard-working kid who won’t let anyone stop him.”

Stopping Pasadena will be difficult. The Bulldogs, forced to forfeit all but one of their victories last season for using an ineligible player, have the talent to contend for another Southern Section title after winning a championship in 1995.

Senior center Lucas Gladden (6-6), a member of the 1995 team, is a Division I college prospect and probably the league’s best player.

“We’ve got the talent and we have the size,” second-year Coach Tim Tucker said. “If we come to play, it’ll be tough to beat us.”

Especially without size. Crescenta Valley’s tallest player is 6-4 senior forward Adam Reynolds. However, starting center Wellard Cortez is only 5-9 and one of four starters shorter than 6 feet.

Jokes aside, Goffredo said it is the smallest team in the 35-year history of the school. “But we’ll play very hard,” he said.

Snodgress, a former assistant to Coach Bob Davidson, who resigned after last season, said tall players perennially are in short supply at Glendale.

“This [season], we go from small to smaller,” Snodgress said.

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AT A GLANCE

* THE PROVEN: Senior center Lucas Gladden, arguably the league’s best player, and senior forward Damon Ragland were members of Pasadena’s 1995 Southern Section II-A championship team. Junior Mark Hull and senior Andy Russell of Hoover last season led the Tornadoes to their first league title in 12 years. Senior forward Steve Collins and junior point guard Joe Bakhoum are Muir’s top players. Senior forward Armen Kazaryan of Glendale averaged seven points and six rebounds.

* THE PROMISING: Senior guard Andrius Ragasukas of Crescenta Valley led the Falcons in scoring during December. Teammate Derek Dawson, a junior forward, transferred from Maranatha. Sophomore guard Krikor Karamanoukian of Glendale scored 13 points in a nonleague game against Hollywood and leads the Dynamiters with 20 steals. Sophomore forward Clayton Coleman (6 feet 5) is among six Pasadena players taller than 6-4.

* FAST FACT: Crescenta Valley has reached the playoffs 16 times in Coach John Goffredo’s 18 seasons.