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By Maya Morales Signal Staff Writer
The L.A. County Parks and Recreation Department announced the deaths of “Monty,” a 36-yearold horse, and “Bertha,” a female 36-year-old bison in the care of William S. Hart Regional Park.
“Monty” was a “handsome, chestnut quarter horse with an impish personality” who first served as a working rodeo horse, and then a patrol horse, according to the news release from county parks officials. He retired to Hart Park after his injuries took him out of service in 2003.
Bertha was the matriarch of the Hart bison herd and lived her entire life at Hart Park, born from the original descendants of the Walt Disney bison herd, Regional Park Superintendent Chris Mowry said in an interview Thursday afternoon.
Both animals were under continual veterinarian care, but declining health conditions led to the decision to euthanize Monty on Tuesday and Bertha on Wednesday, according to the news release.
“Monty was very playful. One time we were in there cleaning up in his spot and he grabbed the shovel, started swinging it and helped us clean up,” said Mowry. “And Bertha loved her treats. She loved romaine lettuce, pumpkin and special attention.”
He added that the Hart Park staff deeply love their animals and losing one of the animals leaves a hole in the family.
“When we lose one of our animals, we honor them, we want them to remember them,” said Councilwoman Laurene Weste, president of the Friends of Hart Park.
“As we mourn the loss of these dear animal residents, we also remember the many ‘golden’ years
where they thrived at Hart Park,”
L.A. County Parks Director Norma E. García-González said in a statement. “Monty and Bertha will forever be remembered by our staff,
the veterinarians, and our many guests to the park. They will always be beautiful animal spirits that touch our lives.”
By Tyler Wainfeld Signal Staff Writer
After 14 years on the Santa Clarita City Council and serving five times as mayor, Cameron Smyth put down the gavel for the final time on Tuesday.
In his departing speech, Smyth, a Hart High graduate and son of former Councilman Hamilton “Clyde” Smyth, shed a tear or two, along with a few laughs, as he bid adieu.
“I don’t know how many people get the privilege to be the mayor of their hometown,” Smyth said, “but I’m one of them, and it’s been the honor of my life. Thank you.”
According to City Manager Ken Striplin, Smyth has had a hand in more than $700 million being used for capital projects during his time as a council member.
Due to the city of Santa Clarita moving to district-based elections following a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit, two districts were on the ballot in November, with one being a composed of a majority Latino population and considered the “remedial district.”
That race was won by Patsy Ayala, who had been serving on the city’s Planning Commission until she was sworn in as a council member on Tuesday to serve as the District 1 representative and the first-ever Latina
on the council. Her district is largely Newhall with a gerrymandered portion of western Canyon Country.
“I’m very happy to take this obligation,” Ayala said, “and I am here because I heard your voices, I heard your dreams, and I heard your concerns, and you can be sure I’m going to continue advocating and listening to those voices that led me here today.”
The other district had no challengers to incumbent Jason Gibbs, who was appointed to represent District 3, which is mostly Saugus with some of Valencia. Gibbs had previously won election in 2020, before the city was divided into districts, and served as mayor in 2023.
The council made the decision to have Gibbs’ district be up for election this year, meaning Smyth was ineligible to run.
Councilman Bill Miranda will serve as the mayor for the next year, while Councilwoman Laurene Weste will serve as the mayor pro tem.
“I look at 2025 as a very, very exciting year for us here in Santa Clarita,” Miranda said. “But I look at it as an opportunity for all of us, all of our citizens — left, right, in-between; male, female, in-between; Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jew, in-betweeners — to all work together. Let’s make a point of all working together this year.”
There was a slight hiccup during that process, as Councilwoman Marsha McLean said she felt it was only proper to return to the normal rotation of mayor and pro tem after she gave up her spot in the rotation so that Smyth could be mayor at the end of his tenure.
“I wanted Cameron to be able to be mayor, pro tem and mayor,” McLean said, “and I gave that up, and I fully expected that I would have been nominated and voted in as mayor pro tem last time, and I kept quiet about it, and I, you know, I try to be gracious about it, but at this point in time, I think if we don’t go back to honoring people’s service and allow them to serve in their term, I really am sorry about that and I regret that a whole lot.”
In attendance at City Hall on Tuesday was a who’s who when it comes to Santa Clarita’s shakers and movers. Present to honor Smyth were: former Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, who took Smyth’s seat in the Assembly in 2012; Edel Alonso, president of the College of the Canyons governing board; Gary Martin, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency board of directors; Linda Storli, president of the William S. Hart Union High School District board of trustees; and representatives for local elected officials — Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita; Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Santa Clarita; Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo,
D-Chatsworth; and L.A. County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger. That’s just a few on a long list of people who thanked Smyth for being involved in one project or another during his 20 years representing Santa Clarita in public office. Each of the council members also shared some words.
Ayala beat out Bryce Jepsen and Tim Burkhart, a fellow planning commissioner, for her seat. She garnered 4,563 votes, a little over 400 more than Jepsen, who came in second.
According to L.A. County data, 12,813 votes were cast in that race out of 23,054 registered voters, on par with the 66.12% voter turnout that was reported countywide.
The 2013 Woman of the Year for the state Senate’s 21st District, Ayala had previously served on the staffs for Wilk and Valladares, when Valladares was a member of the state Assembly. Ayala moved to Santa Clarita from Mexico in 2000.
Smyth leaves having served in public office for many of the last 24 years. Between his stints on the City Council, he was a member of the Assembly from 2006 to 2012. He was first elected as a council member in 2000 and then again in 2016 after leaving the Assembly due to term limits.
“And with that, I’m out,” Smyth said before walking off the dais and taking a seat among those who had thanked him.
Newhall resident scammed out of $54,000 by person already under investigation
By Perry Smith Signal Senior Staff Writer
ANewhall resident in his 80s who thought he was helping his grandson make bail was scammed out of $54,000 by a suspect who’s been the subject of a monthslong investigation by the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, according to court records obtained by The Signal.
The victim, whom The Signal has chosen not to identify, received a phone call from a person who identified themselves as “James Royce,” which detectives believe to be an alias.
The man said the victim’s grandson had been in a car collision and he was now incarcerated. Payment was required in order for the grandson to be released from custody.
The victim was instructed to put cash in a box and leave it for a Lyft driver to pick up and deliver it back
to a person who was pretending to be his grandson’s attorney.
Between July 22 and July 23, three boxes with payment inside were handed to separate drivers, which were identified in a detective’s court statement as totaling $54,000. The victim later was able to contact his grandson and learned that he had not been in an accident nor was he facing incarceration.
After receiving the theft report, station detectives began trying to figure out who ordered the Lyft deliveries for the packages in October, with mixed results.
All of the drivers were tracked down by station detectives using a combination of security footage from gated Friendly Valley home where the victim lived, which is a senior-only community, and electronic records. However, the drivers appeared to have no knowledge of what was in the packages they were driving around, according to the investigating officer’s report.
Station officials did not release any information about the suspect Tuesday, only indicating that an arrest had not been made at this time.
Deputy Robert Jensen, spokesman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station, described the incident as both heartbreaking and an important cautionary tale for a number of reasons.
The first thing he wanted to make sure people were aware of is that the Sheriff’s Department will never solicit for money over the phone, even though the suspect in this crime actually was pretending to be an attorney representing the victim’s grandson. Such claims are part of common scam techniques, he said.
However, Jensen also said there are two ways people can check if their loved one might be in a custody situation that could require a family member’s help.
The two ways to check LASD custody records, he said: online, through the Sheriff’s Department’s custody records website, a person can tell if
a loved one is in jail by searching at app5.lasd.org; but the surest way is to call the station at 661-260-4000, Jensen said. Someone there is happy to walk a member of the public through the next steps or look up the name of someone who might be in custody, if a person isn’t computer-savvy.
“The Sheriff’s Department takes crimes against the elderly, vulnerable populations and dependent adults very seriously — and in many cases, they come with bail enhancements,” Jensen said, referring to holds that can keep suspects in custody while they await a court date.
He also shared a public-information video posted by LASD officials January 2020 called “Scam school,” which focuses on spotting cybercrime, technology, and current criminal techniques from the perspective of fictional scam artist Phillip Shampford’s Scam Training, or “PSST.”
By Michael Picarella Signal Staff Writer
She said she could only read the words to “Beside Me Always” at her son’s funeral 32 years ago. She wrote the song about her child. At the time, however, Judy Unger told herself she’d never sing again.
Unger sang the song during the Santa Clarita Valley Chapter of the Compassionate Friends’ 23rd annual Candle Light Remembrance Program Sunday evening at Bethlehem SCV Church in Canyon Country. She and other parents whose children died young shared an evening of music, spoken word, memories and support with family, friends and loved ones.
“When my tears are flowing,” Unger sang, “and I’m not sure where I’m going; I feel your love, then you’re beside me; always in the breeze that’s blowing.”
According to chapter co-leader Diana Briones, who lost her daugh-
ter in an auto collision 27 years ago, the Candle Light Remembrance Program, which welcomed about 80 guests, was intended to honor the
children, grandchildren and siblings who left the world too soon.
“The annual worldwide candle-lighting ceremony is believed to be the largest mass candle-lighting service,” she said at the beginning of the event on Sunday. “Candles are first lit at 7 p.m. in New Zealand, eventually encompassing the world, through the world, with a 24-hour wave of light.”
A number of parents read poems or sang songs in memory of their kids. Alice Renolds, co-leader of the SCV Chapter of the Compassionate Friends, read a poem called “A Call to the Heavens” about the golden flame of candlelight shining for the children in heaven in memory of her
two sons, Tim and Danny, who were killed in a car crash in 2000.
At 7 p.m., the group illuminated candles and stood up one by one as Renolds listed off the names of lost loved ones. Then a video presentation showed pictures of those the group was honoring and remembering.
“When all the candles were lit and our precious children’s names were read,” Briones said in closing, “it brought such a beautiful light and brought us all a little closer.”
The service came to an end, and the group of people gathered closer together to converse freely, support one another and be true compassionate friends.
For more information about the SCV Chapter of the Compassionate Friends, go to CompassionateFriends-SCV.org.
The community got a chance to wake up last weekend to have breakfast with Santa, play Christmas games, do Christmas arts and crafts, ride a Christmas train and take pictures with the jolly old elf himself.
The city of Santa Clarita hosted its 14th annual “Breakfast with Santa” event over the weekend at the Canyon Country Community Center. According to Jennifer Lindstrom, a recreation supervisor with the city, the event was booked back in the fall and was full both days at 180 people per day.
“We have a lot of families who come year after year,” Lindstrom said. “It’s become part of their annual holiday tradition.”
Some of the activities at the two-day event included face painting, cookie decorating, a giant elf
bounce house to go in and bounce around, an inflatable gingerbread course to navigate, a baseball game to hit baseballs and a train ride around the parking lot.
Just after 9 a.m. on Saturday, about 170 people had already checked in to have some holiday fun.
Brooke Wilk and her husband, Scott Wilk Jr., son of former Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, came with their kids on Saturday. They were visiting Santa Claus and taking pictures with him.
The family was at the “Breakfast with Santa” event for the first time. They enjoyed breakfast, did some of the arts and crafts, and were on their way to ride the train.
“This is great. The kids just love it,” Brooke said. “We got pancakes, bacon, eggs. The kids made reindeer food.”
Asked what was in that reindeer food, she said oatmeal and sprinkles. Her husband added, “Reindeers eat well.”
Both parents said they’d definitely be back in years to come.
Brian Derderian and his family go to the event about every other year. Derderian was with his two sons on Saturday hitting baseballs at the inflatable baseball-hitting station while the rest of his family was off doing something else. Ronan and Logan Derderian said they were having fun.
If the sounds of laughter and chatter throughout the community center weren’t enough to prove the event was a good time for those participating, the smiles and busy activity should’ve made the case. Those who attended certainly seemed to be feeling the Christmas spirit.
William S. Hart Union High School
District junior high schools – Arroyo Seco, La Mesa, Placerita, Rancho Pico, Rio Norte and Sierra Vista – have been ranked in the top 14% of middle schools in the state of California by U.S. News & World Report.
The publication’s new Best Middle Schools rankings, released Nov. 14, compared the Hart district’s junior high schools against 7,166 public middle schools in California.
Schools were evaluated based on their performance on state standardized tests in reading/language arts and mathematics, according to a Hart district news release. To ensure a fair assessment, U.S. News considered both the raw test scores and the school’s socioeconomic context, the release said, adding that this approach rewards schools that consistently achieve high performance for all students.
“We are excited to see that our junior high schools were highly commended in U.S. News & World Report’s new Best Middle School rankings,” Interim Superintendent Michael Vierra said in the release. “This recognition reinforces the hard work and dedication of our teachers
and staff who strive to provide an exceptional education for all students and prepare them for future success in high school and beyond.”
nHart District junior high schools’ ranks are:
nRancho Pico Junior High School (top 2%).
nRio Norte Junior High School (top 5%).
nArroyo Seco Junior High School (top 8%).
n
nLa Mesa Junior High School (top 14%).
Learning Post Academy’s junior high school program was also recognized, ranking in the top 7% in the state.
By Perry Smith Signal Senior Staff Writer
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station Capt. Justin Diez was happy to report Tuesday that, reflecting a countywide trend, local crime numbers are trending down for the SCV.
Throughout the SCV, the total number of Part-I crimes — which includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault in the violent crimes category, and burglary, larceny theft, grand theft auto and arson in the property crimes category — was down 0.66%, for the first 11 months of this year compared to the same time last year, Diez said.
The downward trend is more notable in context of the recent crime trends in Los Angeles County and in the SCV, he added during the quarterly afternoon meeting of the Santa Clarita City Council’s Public Safety Committee.
In January, the year-end numbers
•
for 2023 indicated the SCV saw a nearly 10% increase over 2022. As late as this summer, it appeared the city could see another nearly double-digit gain, until the numbers started to drop.
“We’re doing much better than we have at the beginning of the year — finally, the crime rate has finally leveled off to what it was last year. We’re actually below where we were last year, which is good,” Diez said. “This is actually the first time that we’ve leveled off or gone below where we were last year, which is good.”
Countywide, Part-I crimes are down 0.44%, with a 1.64% reduction in violent crimes and a 0.13% decrease in property crimes, according to the numbers available online from the Sheriff’s Department.
The percentages given are based on the data from the LASD Sheriff’s Transparency website, which is updated with figures through the end of October. Diez shared the numbers of incidents for each month, which were
current as of Tuesday.
The SCV’s slight reduction was the statistical median for the other stations in the SCV’s North County region, which includes Palmdale and Lancaster, which saw gains of 11.12% and 5.51% respectively, and West Hollywood and Malibu/Lost Hills, which saw reductions of 15.29% and 13.03%.
Diez did not share any hypotheses on what might have precipitated the drop, but he did share some commonalities and patterns that crime analysts reported from the recent numbers.
For sexual assaults, there were 32 reported last year and 24 reported this year.
In all but one of the incidents the victim had “some sort of dating relationship or acquaintance” with the attacker, he said.
Both relationship violence and violence in multigenerational households were trending up, Diez said, based on the calls at the local station.
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station Captain Justin Diez addresses attendees during the An Evening of Conversation with Captain Jusin Diez event. Signal photo
loss prevention stopping them.”
Aggravated assaults are one violent crime area that rose, incidents that are largely tied to domestic violence, according to the captain.
“Our aggravated assaults are up eight over this time last year,” he said, noting it went from 211 to 219, about five incidents per week.
The next violent crime category, robberies, also showed a significant drop.
“We’re down on robberies 31 over last year: We were at 114 and this year we’re at 83, so that’s great,” he said.
Tracking the total number of robberies with great precision has become more difficult in recent years, Diez told the committee, because some national chain stores have much more lenient loss-prevention policies, while others remain proactive, and nearly all cooperate quickly with video surveillance.
However, if a store decides to increase its reaction in response to a rise in incidents, for example, then the loss-prevention officer’s attempt to stop a thief can turn a shoplifting larceny into a felony robbery. That’s referred to as an Estes robbery, Diez said, which also could be charged as a misdemeanor.
“So sometimes, when those robberies skyrocket up and you really dig down into it, you can see how many of those are your Estes robberies, it’s not so much the violent robberies,” he said, which is traditionally what people think of in a violent crime. “It’s the people that are trying to get, you know, get away with free stuff and
“Historically, the overwhelming majority of your aggravated assaults are involved domestic violence, or at least a large number of them are domestic violence,” he said, referring to past media coverage around the issue, which has noted a rise, particularly since the pandemic.
The lion’s share of Part-I crimes in Santa Clarita remain property crimes, and while those did report a drop, Diez also mentioned a difficulty in tracking these numbers because it’s hard to quantify larceny incidents accurately. That category includes everything from porch pirates to shoplifters whose thefts aren’t always reported.
“Our larceny thefts are our biggest number, our biggest Achilles heel, I mean historically throughout the state, even before COVID,” he said, adding for the year, they’re down 56.
“They started to level up at the beginning of the year, then they went up a lot, quite a bit, and now they levelled off,” he said.
Grand theft autos are another major area of concern in the property crime category, where deputies have seen a major spike in recent years.
In the SCV, there were 39 more stolen cars this year compared to the same time last year, and that figure is up 200 for the year since 2019, the last full year before COVID.
By Habeba Mostafa Signal Staff Writer
Imagine an event so sweet, you would hardly believe it’s nonfiction. During The Santa Clarita Public Library’s 17th annual Family Literacy Festival, families and children entered a real-life Candy Land at the Old Town Newhall Branch on Saturday for this year’s theme titled, “Sugar and Spice, Reading is Nice!”
Receiving a paper that embodied the iconic board game, families could earn stamps from the 16 vendors or four craft stations to earn a free book and prize once at the finish line.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., simultaneously during the Old Town Newhall Farmers Market, attendees could partake in crafts and activities, including felt candy lollipops, candy necklaces, dessert suncatchers, candy magnets, a photo booth, a storytime from 1 to 2 p.m. and sensory stations.
“Wonder Wheels,” which included
emergency vehicles, trash trucks and the city fleet, were available for children to see firsthand.
Performers included Masanga Marimba and Liza Purdy, Alan Bruni and Stephen Petree Performance, as well as the Alan Bruni Drum Circle, and attendees of all ages could join along.
Sammy Clarita, Elephant and Piggie, Pete the Cat and Esteban the Green Crayon were also available for photos throughout the event.
Librarian Sydney Adam discussed how sweet the event was, that it could make anyone’s “tummy hurt.”
“We always hold this event on the first Saturday of December, and we’ve been planning it basically all year — [at least] since March. We start planning months in advance, getting the committee together, gathering the ideas and themes, thinking of performers that we want to have the day of,” Adam said. “It takes a lot of manpower and planning and brainstorming to bring this day to the community, but
Lewandowski
Santa Clarita Valley And Surrounding Communities With Pride Since 1974” Bouquet Canyon Road, Valencia
we always look forward to it because it is one of our bigger events.”
While each year’s theme is different, the library’s focus is to ensure that crafts and decorations fully correlate with the event.
“I’m excited to see the community come together and seeing them get so excited about the crafts, the freebies, and then just seeing the Newhall Library always lively like this every year is always a really great feeling,” Adam said. “We did have everything outside this time, so maybe that’s the one thing that’s a little bit different. We sometimes try to incorporate something inside, but we wanted to see if keeping everything outside would allow the library to still be a quiet space for people to go and take a break. But the turnout was absolutely wonderful.”
While this event is a tradition in Santa Clarita, Gabriela Martinez, bilingual communication specialist for the city of Santa Clarita, discussed the second year of the bilingual outreach initiative.
“This is the second year that we do a bilingual outreach, so we’re excited to have seen [an expanded] group this year. All of our content was in both English and Spanish, and we saw an amazing turnout,” Martinez said. “The goal is to help promote literacy and help kids see that reading is fun, and that you can learn to read and write by dancing, creating crafts. The library welcomes everyone in the community, and we want people to feel comfortable here.”
For Michael Merino, who is a firstyear marketing and outreach coordinator for the Santa Clarita Library, the library is a hub for residents of all ages to come together.
“Family Literacy Festival is all about bringing the community together. This year we had a Candy Land theme, so we wanted to make sure there were tons of fun activities, crafts, live music and a drum circle for the community to all engage in,” Merino said. “It’s been super fun to interact with everyone.”
By Tyler Wainfeld Signal Staff Writer
Four Canyon Cowboys scored in double figures Tuesday night as the boys’ basketball team took down Saugus at home, 6351, for Canyon’s first win over the Centurions since 2016.
Seniors Chigozie Osuji and Eric Kubel each scored 18 to lead the way for Canyon (6-1, 1-0).
Osuji added 10 rebounds to give himself a double-double. He got three of those on offensive rebounds en route to six second-chance points.
“That’s just something I always have to keep my head to always be aggressive,” Osuji said, “because coach told me, when I’m more aggressive, it opens more shots for everyone else.”
It was a one-point game at the half as Canyon led, 29-28. But the Cowboys opened up a 10-point lead over Saugus (2-3, 0-1) by the end of the third after exploding for 20 points in the frame.
Canyon head coach Ali Monfared said the third quarter has always gone the way of Saugus in the past, and that’s been the catalyst for those victories, even against other teams, so he made sure his players knew the importance of winning that quarter.
“We had at least 10 games from this season and last season that we dissected,” Monfared said, “and the third quarter was always their quarter where, when it was a one- or two-point game in their favor or not, they would turn it on. And we said, ‘Enough is enough, we want the third quarter be our quarter.’”
Junior Isaac Yuhico added 14 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals as the catalyst for the Canyon offense.
Saugus rallied after a slow start to go ahead 1916 at the beginning of the second quarter. Canyon immediately responded with a 9-0 run, though, and the Centurions had to claw back to make it almost even at the half.
Senior Max Guardado was immense for Saugus with a game-high 22 points and 14 rebounds. Senior Bryce Mejia added 11 points and six steals with three triples, while sophomore Aiden Pisarnwongs had six points, five rebounds and three steals.
Kubel was being heavily guarded throughout the game and rarely found himself with space to shoot. He was still able to knock down a couple of threes in the third quarter as part of a nine-point effort in the frame that helped the Cowboys to lengthen their advantage.
A starter for Monfared since his sophomore year, Kubel said this feels like the year that Canyon challenges for its first league title since 2012 after starting with six wins in seven. The lone loss came against Rolling Hills Prep in the championship game of San Gabriel High’s Thanksgiving Feast Tournament.
“It’s the first time I’ve been here that we’ve started like that,” Kubel said. “So I’m super excited … Our main goal is win league for the first time since 2012, and then to win CIF.”
Canyon will look to continue its strong start to the season on Friday when it travels to West Ranch.
Saugus has its first home league game on Friday against Valencia.
The Valencia Vikings (2-6, 1-0) went on the road and beat the Hart Hawks (3-2, 0-1), 70-62, on Tuesday.
West Ranch started its league campaign off with a win as the Wildcats (3-0, 1-0) took down the Castaic Coyotes (5-3, 0-1), 73-47.
Castaic will look to rebound on Friday when it hosts Golden Valley (4-3, 0-0), which had the league bye on Tuesday.
By Tyler Wainfeld Signal Staff Writer
Santa Clarita Valley basketball fans were treated to a thriller on Tuesday in the opening game of the girls’ basketball Foothill League season as Canyon outlasted Saugus at home in overtime, 47-46.
It was a game that tested the patience of both coaches after watching their teams struggle to make baskets throughout, only for players to come up in the clutch time and time again late in the contest.
Canyon freshman Darby Dunn hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 30 seconds to go in overtime to lift the Cowboys (3-1, 1-0) to victory over the Centurions (1-4, 0-1).
“I think a lot of people underestimated us, and I still think we’re gonna be a different team in February,” said Canyon head coach Jessica Haayer. “I pray on that, and I know it will be. But you know, what a way to start the Foothill season.”
Dunn scored 12 while junior Shannen Wilsen, who played at Saugus her freshman year, had a game-high 20 points. Wilsen opened the game with a seven-point first quarter.
Haayer said there may have been “a little vendetta” for Wilsen playing her former team.
“I think she wanted to win, you know,” Haayer said of Wilsen. “And I think Darby has played with some of those kids in club. There’s a lot of animosity that goes on in this valley. So, I think playing them in the Foothill league is fun. And it’s interesting, I’ll tell you that.”
(Above) Canyon’s Bella Chevez (12) attempts to get the ball past Saugus’ Laila Ward (12) during the first quarter at Canyon High School on Tuesday. PHOTO BY HABEBA MOSTAFA/THE SIGNAL
Senior Lanie Rafkind helped out with nine points for Canyon, including a couple of key triples in overtime.
Saugus had led for nearly the entire game after running out to a 17-12 lead after one quarter and holding the Cowboys scoreless for the first two and a half minutes. Canyon didn’t lead until it was 30-28 late in the third quarter.
A back-and-forth fourth quarter saw a flurry of action in the final couple of minutes. The lead changed hands on seemingly every possession as both teams wanted to start league play off with a victory.
“Neither one of us had a great third quarter scoring-wise,” said Saugus head coach Anthony Falasca. “Fourth quarter and overtime, obviously we scored a lot more … If I could play the game again, I don’t know that I would change anything.”
The Saugus game plan seemed to be working for most of the game. High energy and tempo saw the Centurions constantly on the move, but a lid seemed to be on the basket for them after an impressive start.
“I’m excited to watch film and see what we didn’t do well, besides miss shots,” Falasca said. “I think we didn’t box out and rebound the way that I would have liked. But I thought energy, intensity — we had two girls in double-figure rebounds.”
Sophomore Rachel Correa led Saugus with 13 points. Junior Jasmine Garcia hit three 3-pointers on her way to 11 points, while junior EvaMarie Rios had eight points.
The Centurions were without junior Natalie Weathers, who was hurt in just the second game of the season. Falasca said the team is still learning to play without one of its veteran leaders.
“Unfortunately, we start league this
early, and now we’re learning we got to learn to play a different way,” Falasca said. “The way we played tonight, we have not practiced playing that way. So, yeah, we got more shots, and we got the shots we wanted, but we were pounding the ball inside. We had two 6-footers starting, now we have one.”
It could be quite the Foothill League season if things turn out the way Falasca and Haayer think. Both coaches are of the mind that the league title is up for grabs after Hart won it each of the past two years, sharing it in 2023 with Canyon.
The two teams will meet again Jan. 17 for a highly anticipated rematch.
“Without a doubt, at their place especially,” Haayer said.
Saugus hosts Valencia on Friday while Canyon travels to West Ranch.
The Hart Hawks got their league campaign started with an emphatic 6535 home win over the Valencia Vikings on Tuesday.
Senior Morgan Mack led the Hawks (4-1, 1-0) with 27 points as four players scored in double figures. Seniors Andrea Aina and Emery Eav scored 10 points each, as did junior Faith Purfoy. Valencia (5-1, 0-1) saw its perfect start to the season end. Junior Cara McKell had 14 points and five rebounds. Freshman Kamilla Basyrova had 12 points.
Hart has its bye on Friday. Over at West Ranch, the Wildcats (4-2, 1-0) took down Castaic (2-4, 0-1), 42-21.
Castaic hosts Golden Valley on Friday after the Grizzlies had the first bye of the season on Tuesday.
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Santa Clarita’s one-of-a-kind businesses are integral to our City’s character and high quality of life. By supporting local businesses, you help cultivate the unique culture of our City.
4. Reduces Environmental Impact
Shopping and dining at local retailers and restaurants requires less travel and reduces your carbon footprint.
5. Invests in Community Programs and Services
When you Shop Local, a portion of every dollar you spend is invested into our parks, roads, Libraries and many other essential community services! Follow the City’s Social
