LAGUNA NIGUEL – The 2015-16 high school basketball season gets underway in earnest on Monday in Southern California.
And it shapes up as a terrific campaign, both in the numbers of potentially outstanding teams as well as in superb players.
That point is illustrated nicely at Chino Hills and Sierra Canyon, whose squads are a very tight “1-2” in the BurlisonOnBasketball Preseason Top 25.
Chino Hills, which lost to San Ramon Valley in overtime of the California State Division I championship game last March, is led by the best player in the Western United States in 6-foot-5 senior point guard Lonzo Ball.
The Huskies will be quite the “(Ball) Family Affair” as Lonzo’s brothers, junior LiAngelo and freshman LaMelo, will also be in the starting lineup and their first cousin, sophomore Andre, could also working into the lineup.
Sierra Canyon is potent up front (with juniors Cody Riley and Ira Lee) and in the backcourt (where senior Devearl Ramsey and junior Remy Martin constantly put defenders on skates).
Rounding out the Top Five are three other squads also capable of winning the oh-so-so CIF Southern Section Open Division: Torrance Bishop Montgomery, Santa Ana Mater Dei and Long Beach Poly.
Coming in at No. 6 in El Cajon Foothills Christian, which is the “non-Southern Section” team with the best shot of representing the South in the Open State title game next March in Sacramento.
T.J. Leaf leads Foothills and the UCLA-bound forward is the best player produced in San Diego County in a long while.
The two toughest and most attractive pre-Christmas tournaments in the West will be held in Redondo Beach and Corona over the next two weeks.
The 64th Dijon Thompson/Pacific Shores Tournament, hosted by Redondo Union High, tips off Monday at 3 in the afternoon.
Four squads in the Top 25 (Long Beach Poly, Crespi, Redondo and L.A. Westchester) are included in the 16-team field.
And the “Battlezone”, which tips at Centennial in Corona on Nov. 30, has a field that includes
Chino Hills, Foothills Christian and No. 8 Centennial.
My Top 25 teams and Top 50 players (spread across the four classes) follows:
Southern California Preseason Top 25 Teams
(2014-15 record included)
- Chino Hills 24-8* (seven forfeits not included in record)
- Chatsworth Sierra Canyon 26-4
- Torrance Bishop Montgomery 31-2
- Santa Ana Mater Dei 29-5
- Long Beach Poly 26-5
- El Cajon Foothills Christian 24-8
- Encino Crespi 29-7
- Corona Centennial 25-6
- Redondo Beach Redondo Union 25-8
- A. Westchester 21-13
- Montebello Cantwell-Sacred Heart 17-14
- A. Fairfax 32-3
- Etiwanda 24-9
- A. Cathedral 22-8
- Orange Lutheran 24-6
- San Diego St. Augustine 25-7
- Eastvale Roosevelt 22-5
- La Verne Damien 29-5
- Rancho Santa Margarita Santa Margarita 19-8
- Inglewood 17-11
- Alemany 23-9
- W. North 24-4
- La Mirada 31-5
- Los Alamitos 27-3
- San Diego Cathedral Catholic 17-9
Possible breakthroughs: Compton, Oak Park, Pasadena Maranatha, L.A. Windward and Woodland Hills Taft.
TOP 50 PLAYERS +4
SENIORS (20+1)
FIRST TEAM
Milan Acquaah 6-1 L.A. Cathedral
Drew Buggs 6-2 Long Beach Poly
Michael Cage Jr. 6-9 Santa Ana Mater Dei
Keith Fisher 6-6 L.A. Westchester
Leland Green 6-2 Redondo
T.J.Leaf 6-9 Foothills Christian
D’Anthony Melton 6-3 Crespi
Jonah Mathews 6-3 Santa Monica
Devearl Ramsey 5-11 Sierra Canyon
Eyassu Workou 6-3 Los Alamitos
SECOND TEAM
Vittorio Reynoso-Avila 6-5 La Mirada
Ike Anigbogu 6-9 Corona Centennial
Jacob Davison 6-3 Cantwell-Sacred Heart
Terrell Gomez 5-8 Inglewood
Dikymbe Martin 6-2 JW North
Morgan Means 6-3 Redondo
Justin Moore 6-4 San Diego Mission Bay
KaVaughn Scott 6-6 Orange Lutheran
Trevor Stanback 6-9 Maranatha
Henry Welsh 6-9 Loyola
Most Outstanding Senior: Lonzo Ball 6-5 Chino Hills
JUNIORS (15+1)
Jemarl Baker 6-3 Eastvale Roosevelt
LiAngelo Ball 6-5 Chino Hills
Jalen Hill 6-9 Corona Centennial
Adrease Jackson 6-7 Santa Margarita
Remy Martin 6-1 Sierra Canyon
Brandon McCoy 6-10 San Diego Cathedral
Matt Mitchell 6-5 Eastvale Roosevelt
Miles Oliver 6-2 Etiwanda
Cody Riley 6-8 Sierra Canyon
Eli Scott 6-4 Chino Hills
Jordan Schakel 6-6 Bishop Montgomery
Earnest Sears 6-4 Alemany
Ethan Thompson 6-4 Bishop Montgomery
Ryse Williams 6-3 Redondo
Zafir Williams 6-6 Long Beach Poly
Most Outstanding Junior: Ira Lee 6-8 Sierra Canyon
SOPHS/*FROSH (15+2)
Wayne Arnold 6-3 Compton Dominguez
LaMello Ball* 5-10 Chino Hills
Riley Battin 6-7 Oak Park
Jules Bernard 6-5 L.A. Windward
Taeshon Cherry 6-8 San Diego St. Augustine
Spencer Freedman 6-1 Santa Ana Mater Dei
Jordan Guest 6-8 Santa Margarita
Jake Kyman* 6-5 Santa Margarita
Isaiah Mobley* 6-8 Temecula Rancho Christian
Sharrief O’Neal 6-8 L.A. Windward
Miles Norris 6-9 Chula Vista Mater Dei
Wesley Slajchert 6-3 Oak Park
David Singleton 6-4 Bishop Montgomery
Cassius Stanley* 6-5 Harvard-Westlake
Brandon Williams 6-1 Crespi
Most Outstanding Sophomore: Spencer Freedman 6-1 Santa Ana Mater Dei
Most Outstanding Freshman: Cassius Stanley 6-5 Harvard-Westlake
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