Burlison on Basketball

Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

Chino Hills still atop BurlisonOnBasketball ratings

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – There was only the slightest of tweaking near the top of the second BurlisonOnBasketball 2015-16 Southern California prep team rankings.

And the top-ranked team remained just as firmly entrenched at No. 1.

Chino Hills’ point guard-supreme Lonzo Ball, his two younger brothers, a first cousin and some other gifted teammates averaged 108.4 points while sprinting past five opponents in a very tough “The Battle Zone” Tournament at Corona Centennial High last week.

Sliding up a spot to No. 2 are Coach Doug Mitchell’s Bishop Montgomery Knights, by way of their capturing the Trevor Ariza Tourney at L.A. Westchester (combined with previous No. 2 Sierra Canyon’s loss to Hayward Moreau Catholic on Nov. 28 in Newark in Northern California).

Making jumps of three or more spots from my initial Top 25 are Fairfax (12 to 9), Orange Lutheran (15 to 11), St. Augustine (16 to 12), Damien (18 to 13) and Santa Margarita (19 to 14).

Each of those school’s squads won tournament championships Saturday.

Three tournaments of note that get underway in Southern California on Monday afternoon will be held at Beverly Hills, Sierra Canyon and Corona del Mar highs.

Action gets underway at Beverly Hills at 2 o’clock when the host Normans take on L.A. Hamilton, followed by Gardena Serra vs. Woodland Hills Taft (3:30); Woodland Hills El Camino Real vs. Montebello Cantwell-Sacred Heart (5); Lawndale Leuzinger vs. L.A. Windward (6:30) and L.A. Loyola vs. Santa Monica Crossroads (8).

Other teams of note beside the host program at Sierra Canyon include Mission Hills Alemany, Calabasas, La Canada and Oak Park.

Competition opens at Sierra Canyon at 5 p.m. with Alemany facing Panorama St. Genevieve, followed by Valencia vs. La Canada (6:30) and Sierra Canyon vs. Westlake (8).

The “Beach Bash” games are primarily being held at Corona del Mar but some others will be played at Costa Mesa.

The Mater Dei Monarchs (who made their debut Friday night in Chicago), No. 3 in the updated ratings, open defense of their Beach Bash title when they face Whittier Monday night at 8:30.

Other games at CDM Monday are Corona del Mar vs. Austin (TX) St. Andrew’s (4); Brea vs. Irvine University (5:30) and Westminster vs. L.A. Palisades (7).

 

Updated Southern California Top 15 teams

(Record plus initial rating)

  1. Chino Hills (5-0/#1)

Comment: Is any attempt to “out-score” (in a “fast-paced” offensive approach) futile? We’ll face out when the Huskies visit Ft. Myers, FL, where they will open play in the City of Palms Classic against Thomas Jefferson from Brooklyn. There isn’t a stronger “national” tournament field anywhere this season.

  1. Torrance Bishop Montgomery (4-0/#3)

Comment: Junior Ethan Thompson did what big brother Stephen Thompson, Jr. (a freshman at Oregon State) did a year ago – he helped the Knights win the Trevor Ariza tourney at Westchester and bag Most Outstanding Player honors in the process.

  1. Santa Ana Mater Dei (1-0/#4)

Comment: Barring a significant upset in tournaments held at Corona del Mar and Sonora highs over the next two weeks, the Monarchs will take an 11-0 record to South Carolina after Christmas for the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach.

  1. Chatsworth Sierra Canyon (0-1/#2)

Comment: The Trailblazers had a week’s worth of practices to sharpen their late-game execution after letting a big second-half lead get away in Northern California on Nov. 28.

  1. El Cajon Foothills Christian (4-1/#6)

Comment: T.J. Leaf scored 44 points in a 20-point loss to Chino Hills Saturday night. He and his teammates will get another pop at Lonzo Ball & Co. during a “one-day event” at Sierra Canyon on Jan. 9.

  1. Corona Centennial (4-1/#8)

Comment: Only downer for the Huskies at their own tournament was letting a seven-point lead slip away to Foothills Christian late in the second half Wednesday night which kept them out of the championship game vs. Chino Hills Saturday night.

  1. Redondo Beach Redondo Union (4-0/#9)

Comment: After beating Long Beach Poly to win the Pac Shores Tournament on Nov. 28, the Seahawks will have had the better part of two weeks before playing again (Friday night at 5-0 La Mirada).

  1. Long Beach Poly (3-1/#5)

Comment: The Jackrabbits’ time off (from games) will be even longer than Redondo’s. They don’t play again until taking on defending Colorado State champion Aurora Overland during the Tarkanian Classic at Las Vegas Bishop Gorman on Dec. 16.

  1. Fairfax (4-0/#12)

Comment: The Lions go through the El Segundo Tournament without much in the way of muss or fuss – an average winning margin of 29.5 points in four games.

  1. Encino Crespi (4-1/#7)

Comment: The Celtics have won four in a row without center Mitchell Mykhaylov (injured knee suffered in opening game with Peninsula at the Pac Shores tourney) in the lineup.

  1. Orange Lutheran (5-0/#15)

Comment: The competition should be considerably stronger in Beverly Hills this week than it was for the Lancers during the Godinez Tournament in Santa Ana last week.

  1. San Diego St. Augustine (4-0/#16)

Comment: The Saints had a very nice week in Pasadena, capped by their Rose City Classic title win over No. 11 (at the time) Montbello Cantwell-Sacred Heart Saturday night.

  1. La Verne Damien (5-0/#18)

Comment: The Sierra Vista tourney opposition was harshly overmatched against the Spartans, who breezed to five wins by an average margin of 44.8 points. That’s harsh, indeed.

  1. Rancho Santa Margarita Santa Margarita (4-1/#19)

Comment: After losing a gut-twister in their season opener to one of California’s best teams (Bishop Montgomery) on Nov. 28, the Eagles traveled to Arizona and returned to Orange County with four impressive victories against decent competition.

  1. Westchester (4-3/#10)

Comment: Comets’ “strength of schedule” is more impressive than most: Wins vs. Compton and J.W. North; losses to Redondo, Eastvale Roosevelt and Bishop Montgomery.

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