LAGUNA NIGUEL – Three Trinity League programs – headed by long-time regional and national power Mater Dei – are among the first eight in the pecking order for the BurlisonOnBasketball CIF Southern and L.A. City Sections preseason Top 30 boys high school teams.
But its not the Monarchs nor two-time defending State Open Division champion Sierra Canyon holding up the top spot with the high school season set to get underway Monday afternoon (Nov. 18).
Rancho Christian got that nod, and not strictly because of the presence of the best player in the national Class of 2020 – USC-bound, 7-foot bundle of hoops’ and athletic’ skill, Evan Mobley (pictured) – on Coach Ray Barefield’s roster.
The Eagles also return two other standouts from their 26-win club team that knocked off Sierra Canyon in the final game of the 2018-19 regular season in Gonzaga-bound guard Dominick Harris and rapidly improving 6-7 junior Luke Turner, and two other guards who often played “starters’ minutes” in senior Bryson Stephens and junior Jaden Byers.
But a newcomer to the program, 6-5 senior forward Jayce Catchings (a transfer from Liberty High, near St. Louis, who was a standout on the Nike EYBL Brad Beal 17s last spring and summer), gives Mobley & Co. a player sturdy enough to be a forceful rebounder and low-post scorer yet skilled enough to thrive from the perimeter, too.
I could make reasonable cases as to why the No.’s 2 (Mater Dei), 3 (Sierra Canyon) and 4 (Etiwanda) could have started the season in the top spot, as well.
From my perspective, those may well prove to be the four-best teams in California – heck, in the west, period – this season.
Mater Dei returns every key player from a team that had 29 wins last season, with two of its five losses coming to Sierra Canyon in the first round of Southern Section Open pool play (71-61) and in the State Southern Open Regional final (83-73).
Guard Devin Askew (already committed to the University of Kentucky) and forward Wilhelm Breidenbach were first-team all-SS Open Division selections as sophomores, and senior guards Aidan Prukop and Ryan Evans signed National Letters of Intent with Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) last week.
The Sierra Canyon Trailblazers are a collective 59-7 in Andre Chevalier’s first two seasons as the program’s head coach.
A calling card for both of those teams were that they were played much more cohesively and efficiently in February and March than they did in December and January.
They’ve lost three key pieces to those state-champion clubs in Cassius Stanley (Duke), AS Jr. (Vanderbilt) and K.J. Martin (IMG’s “post-graduate” team in Florida).
But the Trailblazers return two starters in TCU-bound forward Terren Frank and guard Amari Bailey, one of the best sophomores anywhere and at any position.
It’s Chevalier’s newcomers, however, that established a national summer social media “buzz” that’s grew more pronounced as, first, the sons of NBA royalty (freshman Bronny James and senior Zaire Wade) enrolled, then Ziaire Williams (the west’s No. 2 Class of 2020 prospect by way of Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks), University of Kentucky-bound B.J. Boston (Marietta in Georgia) and, finally, sophomore Shy Odom (from Chestnut Hill in Massachusetts) transferred to the Chatsworth campus.
If the new Trailblazers keep the same December-March modus operandi as in seasons 1 and 2 under Chevalier, a nearly equally gifted squad is going to have to be playing exceptionally well to knock them off.
The fourth entry is that potential (if not likely) four-best in the state cluster is Etiwanda, which returns six of the top eight players from a team that was 28-6 after its State Southern Regional Division I final loss to Chino Hills and Onyeka Okongwu.
Cal Poly (SLO)-bound point guard Camren Pierce and junior wing Jahmai Mashack were all Open Division selections last season and David Kleckner – as respected, by his peers, as any prep coach in the west – added a two-time, all-CIF Open selection in 6-5 Jaylen Clark, a transfer from Corona Centennial.
Clark, like Ziaire Williams, will not be eligible to play for his new programsuntil Dec. 30, the final day of the “post-Christmas” tournaments that tip off on Dec. 26 and take the 29th off since California Interscholastic programs are allowed host – much less play in Sunday “in-season” competition.
That means Clark and Williams are expected to make their 2019-20 debuts as the fourth annual The Classic at Damien – the elite post-Christmas tournament in the west – closes.
Among the other entries in the 16-team bracket of the Platinum Division are Rancho Christian, Windward (No. 5), St. John Bosco (7), Fairfax (9/the Lions are the defending L.A. City Open champions and are now coached by Reggie Morris Jr.), Birmingham (13), Damien (14), Long Beach Poly (16), Ribet Academy (17/the defending State D-IV champion) and St. Bernard (No. 18).
Gold Division participants include Chaminade (No. 19), Rolling Hills Prep (20), Heritage Christian (22), Santa Clarita Christian (23) and Colony (24).
Rounding out the first 10 in the preseason Top 30 are Harvard-Westlake (No. 6), Ian Martinez-led JSerra (8/with Mater Dei and St. John Bosco, one of the three Trinity teams in the Top 8) and Josh Christopher-led Mayfair (10).
Southern California CIF Southern and L.A. City Sections Top 30
(School/CIF section and division/2018-19 record)
- Rancho Christian (Southern Section D-1/26-6)
- Mater Dei (SS D-1/29-5)
- Sierra Canyon (SS D-1/32-3)
- Etiwanda (SS D-1/28-6)
- Windward (SS D-1/25-7)
- Harvard-Westlake (SS D-1/21-9)
- John Bosco (SS D-1/22-10)
- JSerra (SS D-1/22-8)
- Fairfax (L.A. City D-1/27-2)
- Mayfair (SS D-1/26-7)
- Riverside Poly (SS D-1/21-9)
- Bishop Montgomery (SS D-1/24-7)
- Birmingham (L.A. City D-1/17-13)
- Damien (SS D-1/25-6)
- Westchester (L.A. City D-1/24-5)
- Long Beach Poly (SS D-1/21-7)
- Ribet Academy (SS D-2A/27-3)
- Bernard (SS D-2AA/12-16)
- Chaminade (SS D-2AA/21-10)
- Rolling Hills Prep (SS D-2AA/26-7)
- Taft (L.A. City D-1/18-9)
- Heritage Christian (SS D-2AA/24-6)
- Santa Clarita Christian (SS D-2AA/23-11 on court – 12 forfeit losses)
- Colony (SS D-1/31-6)
- Fairmont Prep (SS D-2AA/27-8)
- Anthony (SS D-1/21-8
- Brentwood (SS D-1/23-7)
- Oak Park (SS D-2AA/18-11)
- Newport Pacifica Christian (SS D-2A/24-9)
- Anaheim Canyon (SS D-1/21-8)
Next 10 (alphabetical): Corona Centennial (SS D-1/27-6); El Camino Real (L.A. City D-1/18-11); Gardena (L.A. City D-1/24-4); Loyola (SS D-1/23-7); Rancho Verde (SS D-1/27-7); Roosevelt (SS D-2AA/12-15); San Gabriel Academy (SS D-2AA/23-8); Saugus (SS D-1/17-9); St. Francis (SS D-2AA/24-8) and Valencia (SS D-1/26-8).
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