Crescenta Valley Relieves Scribner of Coaching Job

LA CRESCENTA —  Damian Scribner, coach of the successful Crescenta Valley High girls’ basketball team, has been replaced, according to a school administrator and team members.

A spokesman for the Glendale Unified School District said a Crescenta Valley athletics staff member was placed on unpaid administrative leave pending an investigation into alleged inappropriate behavior with a female student.

“That is the extent of the information that we can provide at this point,” district spokesman Vic Pallos told the Glendale News-Press.

Pat Snickles, girls’ athletic director at Crescenta Valley, confirmed Scribner was “relieved of his duties” and replaced by assistant Roddy Gregory, who will coach the team this summer.

Snickles said the school is close to hiring a full-time coach.

Snickles referred all other questions regarding Scribner’s leave to co-Principal Gary Talbert, who did not return calls.

Scribner and Gregory also did not return calls.

Players on the girls’ basketball team said they were told by Talbert and Snickles during a team meeting on June 14 that Scribner had been relieved of his duties.

“They just dropped it on us,” said Sinnamonn Garrett, who will be a senior in the fall. “We were in shock.”

The players said no reason was given for Scribner’s leave.

“They said it was a privacy issue and couldn’t tell us,” Garrett said.

Scribner is the second high school coach from the region to face such allegations recently.

Canyon High announced the resignation of football Coach Larry Mohr on Friday, weeks after it was alleged he had an improper relationship with a female student at Canyon.

Crescenta Valley was 46-8 in two seasons under Scribner. The Falcons won the Pacific League title in 1997-98 and tied Muir for the league title last season.

Top-seeded Crescenta Valley was upset in the Southern Section Division I-AA quarterfinals by El Toro on a last-second shot in 1998.

Last season, the Falcons were stunned by Santa Barbara in the first round of the Division I-A playoffs.

The coaching position figures to draw many applicants.

Crescenta Valley boasts a youth basketball program that feeds a high school that has been dominant on the freshman, junior varsity and varsity levels for many years.

Garrett, a Times’ All-Valley selection as a junior, will be one of the region’s top returning players along with teammate Kristie Umemoto, a second-team All-Valley guard.