LAGUNA NIGUEL – The Sierra Canyon and Rancho Christian boys’ teams ended the 2018 portion of the 2018-19 season the same way they began it – as the No.’s 1 and 2 teams in the BurlisonOnBasketball Southern California Top 25.
The Trailblazers and Eagles captured championships Saturday night in the most prestigious post-Christmas tournaments in the West – and, maybe, beyond – with Sierra Canyon knocking off talented (if somewhat under-achieving) University of Ft. Lauderdale in Oregon’s Les Schwab Invitational, and Rancho Christian toppling now-No. 4 Centennial in the Platinum Division of the Classic at Damien.
Ten of the top 15 teams in the updated Top 25 were part of the 16-team Platinum competition at Damien, with the Eagles also beating No.’s 15 Santa Margarita and 10 Chino Hills.
The third most impressive victory within the Top 25 last week came from No. 7 Mater Dei, which outscored Phoenix Pinnacle, 88-78, despite 45 points from University of Arizona-bound Nico Mannion – the nation’s best point guard.
The respective Most Outstanding Players in three events, each from the winning squads, were Scottie Pippen Jr. (Les Schwab), Evan Mobley (Classic at Damien) and Wilhelm Breidenbach (PICTURED/Rancho Mirage).
There are three significant “showcase” (non-tournament) events this week, held Friday and Saturday at Redondo High (The Take Flight Challenge) and Sierra Canyon (The Super Showcase), and Saturday at Westchester (Westchester High) and Firebaugh in Lynwood (Real Run Winter Classic).
Eleven teams from the Top 25 are part of the Take Flight field.
Here’s the updated BurlisonOnBasketball Top 25:
(With CIF section and record, thru games of Dec. 29)
- Chatsworth Sierra Canyon (Southern Section/16-1)
- Temecula Rancho Christian (SS/14-1)
- Westchester (LAC/12-1)
- Corona Centennial (SS/14-3)
- Fairfax (L.A. City/13-1)
- Torrance Bishop Montgomery (SS/14-3)
- Santa Ana Mater Dei (SS/15-1)
- Etiwanda (SS/14-2)
- La Verne Damien (SS/13-2)
- Chino Hills (SS/8-5)
- Moreno Valley Rancho Verde (SS/12-4)
- Orange Lutheran (SS/16-4)
- Bellflower St. John Bosco (SS/16-4)
- Riverside Notre Dame (SS/11-6)
- RSM Santa Margarita (SS/12-5)
- Studio City Harvard-Westlake (SS/11-4)
- Loyola (SS/11-4)
- Long Beach Poly (SS/11-3)
- Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (SS/11-7)
- Riverside Poly (SS/9-4)
- Brentwood (SS/12-1)
- Washington Prep (LAC/11-5)
- Mission Bay (SDC/7-5)
- Windward (SS/13-3)
- Camarillo (SS/14-2)
New: Camarillo,Mission Bay and Windward
Dropped: Redondo, St. Augustine and Taft
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