Falcons Try to Overhaul Star System

BURBANK — Damian Scribner finds himself in a delicate situation.

His first few months coaching the Crescenta Valley High girls’ basketball team have been spent building team chemistry--between himself and his players and between his established star, Michelle Greco, and her teammates.

Early on, it was a weird science that promised a strange summer.

But after the Falcons’ 60-31 victory over Simi Valley in the third-place game of the Bell-Jeff tournament Saturday night, Scribner has concluded that the Falcons will again rank among the region’s top teams next season.

“We’re definitely not at the destination that we want to be yet, but I’m happy with the progress that we’ve had,” said Scribner, who replaced Marc Ward after coaching the Falcons’ junior varsity team for five years.

Scribner is especially pleased that the Falcons’ 15-3 summer record has been achieved largely without Greco, The Times’ Valley player of the year last season.

Greco, who averaged 24.6 points a game as a junior, has traveled the country participating in all-star camps and tournaments this summer while her Crescenta Valley teammates have worked to become a better supporting cast.

If Saturday’s victory was any indication, the Falcons’ efforts have paid off.

Greco, who was benched after Crescenta Valley pulled away in the first half, was content to pass to teammates and finished with 10 points.

Point guard Tara Gregory led the Falcons with 16 points and Kelly Paige scored 13. Danielle Proctor and Kristie Umemoto, who both played on the junior varsity team last season, contributed 11 and seven points.

“Sometimes when you have an athlete of Michelle’s caliber, you tend to get caught up in watching her, and I think that happened sometimes last year,” Scribner said. “Now, instead of Greco scoring 40 points a game, we’ve been having several people in double figures.”

Crescenta Valley was 29-4 and reached the Southern Section Division I-A championship game last season. Greco practically carried the Falcons through the playoffs, averaging more than 30 points a game and rarely coming off the court.

But if the team can have similar success next season, Greco says she won’t mind shouldering a lighter load.

“We have a strong team,” she said. “With me playing all the time, I know it takes away from other girls on the team. With me gone, some other girls have been able to step up and play, and now we’re working a lot better as a team.”

Gregory agreed, saying, “It’s given everybody else a chance to step up, and we have. This year, there will be a lot more options, and it makes us all the better when Michelle is here.”

While Scribner hopes his players will enjoy success, he also wants them to enjoy themselves.

“They’re such a high-profile team now, and I think some of the players had lost the fun aspect of it in all the winning and all the expectations and the pressure,” he said.

Crescenta Valley felt pressure after Scribner took over. The Falcons lost in the first round of the L.A. Watts Summer Games in his first game.

But the Falcons rebounded to win the championship of a tournament at College of the Canyons.

They lost to Ayala in the Bell-Jeff tournament semifinals but bounced back again against Simi Valley, which was missing three starters because of injuries and family obligations.