Prep Rally: St. John Bosco is the team to beat in high school basketball

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. The high school basketball season begins next week. Let’s take a look at teams and players to watch.

St. John Bosco starts No. 1

Remember when the NBA was all about getting three elite players so teams could win it all? St. John Bosco certainly starts out with a trio few teams can equal in juniors Brandon McCoy and Christian Collins and senior Elzie Harrington. The Braves start out as No. 1 in The Times’ preseason rankings.

There really are four teams ready to separate themselves in St. John Bosco, Eastvale Roosevelt, Harvard-Westlake and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. All have players you will be reading about for years to come at the collegiate level and maybe in the NBA.

It truly is a season for the fans of Southern California basketball. There is so much talent spread out that it would be wise to spend the money to see players that you’ll eventually be seeing in your living room. The class of 2026 is particularly astounding, with McCoy, Collins, Alijah Arenas (Chatsworth), Jason Crowe Jr. (Inglewood), Tajh Ariza (Westchester) and Tyran Stokes (Notre Dame) all considered among the best prospects in the nation.

The senior class is also outstanding, led by Duke-bound Nikolas Khamenia of two-time defending state champion Harvard-Westlake and uncommitted Brayden Burries of Eastvale Roosevelt. The sophomore class includes Gene Roebuck of La Mirada.

Here’s a look at what to expect for the coming season.

Here’s The Times’ preseason top 25 rankings.

Simi Valley coach Jim Benkert has guided Pioneers to wins over Oaks Christian, St. Bonaventure, Bishop Diego and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

(Craig Weston)

The opening weekend of the football playoffs didn’t produce too many surprises but there were some terrific games, none better than Simi Valley holding off Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 49-47 in a Division 3 opener. Here’s the report.

Receivers Jonah Smith (left) and Trent Mosley of Santa Margarita.

(Nick Koza)

Santa Margarita is a different team since Trent Mosley and Jonah Smith came back from injuries, igniting the Eagles’ offense. They routed Inglewood in their opener and get a rematch this week against St. John Bosco. Here’s the report.

Oliver Gonzalez of Oak Park set a school rushing record with 330 yards against Camarillo.

(Sharon Levy Photography)

Oliver Gonzalez of Oak Park broke a nearly 35-year-old school record for single-game rushing in his team’s 53-44 win over Camarillo. He rushed for 330 yards and scored five touchdowns.

Huntington Beach used its high-powered offense to win its Division 5 opener. Here’s the report.

Edison opened with a shut out over North Torrance. Here’s the report.

Here’s a look at top individual performances from the first week of the playoffs.

Here’s this week’s schedule.

Here’s the score list.

After seven weeks off enduring with forfeits by coaches in the Marine League, Narbonne returns to the field Friday as the No. 1 seed in the City Section Open Division playoffs with a home game against No. 8 Dorsey. Narbonne has never been healthier but the inactivity could give Dorsey some early opportunities.

Franklin quarterback Eduardo Cuevas.

(Nick Koza)

In the opening round of the Division I playoffs, Franklin pulled off the biggest upset, eliminating No. 3-seeded Venice, the Western League champions. Quarterback Eduardo Cuevas surpassed the 2,000-yards mark for the season.

David Sandy of L.A. Jordan ended his high school career by doing all he could but his team was beaten by Arleta. He rushed for 441 yards, scored five touchdowns, passed for 95 yards and made nine tackles.

Here’s this week’s City Section playoff schedule.

Orange Lutheran quarterback Makena Cook throws a pass.

(Steve Galluzzo For The Times)

Orange Lutheran faced fourth and two at its own 38-yard line with 57 seconds left. Quarterback Makena Cook took the snap, surveyed the field, and calmly threw a dart to freshman Maddison Milne for a first down that clinched the Lancers’ 20-18 triumph over Newport Harbor in the inaugural Southern Section Division 1 flag football championship game.

“We just learned the play a few practices ago where I run the flat,” Milne said. “It was there and I just I had to catch it.”

Here’s a report on the flag football finals.

Girls volleyball

Mater Dei volleyball players Addison Coady (left) and Emma Kingston celebrate with the CIF Southern Section Division 1 plaque after defeating Sierra Canyon at Cerritos College for the title on Nov. 9, 2024.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Mater Dei and Taft have won girls volleyball championships in the highest divisions for Southern Section and City Section.

Here’s the report.

The state playoffs begins this week. Here’s the regional pairings.

Girls golf

Palisades senior Anna Song captured her third consecutive City golf title and led the Dolphins to their fourth consecutive team championship on Nov. 7, 2024.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Anna Song of Palisades is a girls golf prodigy in the City Section. She won her third consecutive individual championship with a City record score of 7-under 65 to win by an astounding 10 strikes over second-place Mia Siegel of LACES. Palisades won the team title.

Here’s the report.

Also freshman Sam Daniels from Santa Margarita shot 64 to win the Southern Section individual championship. Jude Lee of Orange Lutheran was second with a 68.

Water polo

The unbeaten Newport Harbor water polo team is chasing perfection, and the last team standing in the way is JSerra, which went unbeaten last season. The two water polo powers will meet Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College to decide the Southern Section Open Division championship for the third consecutive season.

Newport Harbor defeated Corona del Mar in the semifinals and JSerra held off Oaks Christian.

The City Section Open Division final will match No. 1 Palisades against No. 2 Cleveland on Wednesday at Valley College.

Notes . . .

The Clausen brothers, Casey (left), Rick and Jimmy.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Casey Clausen has resigned as football coach at Bishop Alemany. Here’s the report. . . .

Dr. John Dahlem, who was a wrestling coach from 1969 to 1984 at Loara, later a principal and became a much admired historian on Southern Section sports history, died Friday. He was 81. He was a Vietnam war veteran and served as president of the CIF and the Southern Section. He became a fixture at the yearly championship Southern Section football banquet offering insights and trivia from his research on past games.

Even more important, he was respected and appreciated for his volunteer work for the CIF. He was an avid outdoorsman with a friendly and positive personality. . . .

Shotputter Aja Johnson of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has committed to Louisville. . . .

Erik Krum has resigned as director of lacrosse at Harvard-Westlake. Mitch Kallick has resigned as girls volleyball coach at Harvard-Westlake. . . .

Aubrie Baruch, a junior softball player at La Serna, has committed to Cal State Fullerton. . . .

Junior receiver Vance Spafford has committed to Mission Viejo. . . .

Baseball player Marcello Anelli from Corona del Mar has committed to Stonehill College. . . .

Richard Salazar has resigned as football coach at Fullerton. . . .

Keith Miller is the new football coach at Bellflower. He was an assistant when his brother, Jason, was head coach last season and helped coach flag football this season. . . .

All-CIF outfielder Trevor Goldenetz of Huntington Beach has committed to Long Beach State. . . .

Senior catcher Shawn Romero of Villa Park has committed to Pepperdine. . . .

Junior pitcher Holden Newhouse of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has committed to Loyola Marymount. . . .

Junior catcher Noah Johnson of Cypress has committed to Cal State Fullerton. . . .

Girls’ basketball standout Grace Knox of Etiwanda has committed to LSU. . . .

Junior Dane Cunningham of Huntington Beach has committed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for baseball. . . .

Junior Ezekiel Lara from Mater Dei has committed to Georgia Tech baseball. . . .

David Aguirre from El Rancho has committed to Loyola Marymount baseball. . . .

Junior pitcher Kai Bratton of Mater Dei has committed to Tennessee. . . .

All-leaguer AJ Seidel from Calabasas has committed to Tufts baseball. . . .

Junior quarterback Cole Leinart of Redondo Union has committed to SMU. . . .

Junior pitcher Alexis Salas of California has committed to New Mexico softball. . . .

The City Section is expected to propose a bylaw revision spelling out possible ramifications or punishment for forfeiting games during the regular season in football after a number of forfeits this season. . . .

The Southern Section cross country prelims will be held Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College. The City Section prelims will be held at Pierce College. . . .

Kicker Kyler Peters from Oak Hills announced he plans to attend San Diego State. . . .

Tight end Vander Ploog from Troy has changed his commitment from Washington to Oregon. . . .

Wednesday is the first day seniors other than football can begin the process of putting commitments in writing for colleges. . . .

Corona del Mar has made it to the Southern Section Open Division girls tennis semifinals against Palos Verdes. Here’s the report.

From the archives: Benny Gealer

Former Rolling Hills Prep guard Benny Gealer is now starting at Stanford.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Benny Gealer had one Division I scholarship offer coming out of Rolling Hills Prep — to UC Riverside. He decided to walk on at Stanford last season, earned a scholarship by season end and now he’s a starting point guard. He scored 20 points in the second half last week in a win over Cal State Fullerton, making six of seven shots from three-point range.

Rolling Hills Prep coach Harvey Kitani turned to Gealer to build up his team for four years and is not surprised Gealer has a bright future. His work ethic and intelligence has always separated him.

He played for the USA team at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Here’s a story from 2021 on Gealer becoming a leader.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, a story on how every public school football team in Maryland makes the playoffs.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on Sierra Canyon grad Kawzi Gilmer, a freshman receiver at UCLA.

From The562.org, a story on two Long Beach Poly track standouts committing to Harvard.

From the Los Angeles Times, a look at Mater Dei’s unique link to USC’s secret admission system for donors’ kids.

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