LAGUNA NIGUEL – Coach Josh Giles’ Centennial High Huskies wrapped up their two-season run as the west’s best boys’ basketball team Saturday night with their 59-50 win over Modesto Christian in Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center.
The sport being what it is today – where “player movement” is seemingly always in play – it’s tough to be too bold when in comes to making projections on a season that isn’t set to begin eight about eight months.
But it’s not exactly going out on a long limb to say that it will take a heck of a team to keep the Huskies from being the west’s best in 2022-23, as well.
The losses will be significant.
Giles loses senior guards Donovan Dent (who twice shared CIF Southern Section Open Division Player of the Year honors) and Ramsey Huff – a terrific defender and much underrated scorer, as Sierra Canyon found out in the Southern Regional final on March 9.
They’re replacements will likely be the two guys that were Giles’ first subs for most of the season: sophomore forward Eric Freeny and junior guard B.J. Taylor.
And scheduled to be back are three of the best players in the Class of 2023 – anywhere – in guard Jared McCain and forwards Aaron McBride and Devin Williams.
Their biggest SoCal challengers in 2022-23?
Probably teams 2-4 in BurlisonOnBasketball Final 22 for ’22: Sierra Canyon, Harvard-Westlake and Bishop Montgomery.
The Final 22 for 2022
- Corona Centennial 33-1
Comment: Wire-to-wire top team in these ratings after closing on 30-game winning streak that encompassed Southern Section, Regional and State Open championships.
- Chatsworth Sierra Canyon 26-5
Comment: Only in-state losses were to No.’s 1 (Regional final/83-59, March 9) and 3 (Sectional pool play).
- Studio City Harvard-Westlake 25-4
Comment: Split with future Mission League opponent (Sierra Canyon) in playoffs, lost to Centennial (68-48) in SS Open finale on Feb. 15.
- Torrance Bishop Montgomery 21-4
Comment: Final two losses came to Centennial (SS Open/Southern Regional). Playoff wins came over No.’s 5, 6 and 7.
- Santa Ana Mater Dei 26-5
Comment: This may raise some eyebrows (based upon the program’s remarkable history of success since Gary McKnight was hired in 1982) but I think this Monarchs’ squad “over-achieved”.
- La Verne Damien 32-4
Comment: The Spartans knocked off No.’s 11, 8, 7 and then Clovis North to win program’s first state title (D1) in seven years.
- Irvine Crean Lutheran 25-7
Comment: The Saints’ losses were to No.’s 1 (three times), 3, 4 and 6 (twice). Led by 11 points late in third quarter before losing at Damien in regional final.
- Playa del Rey St. Bernard 24-8
Comment: Road to SS Division I championship was paved with wins on the homecourt of No.’s 10, 13 and 12 – and a gut-crunching home victory over No. 11 in the second round. Beat No. 14 and 17 in regional play before losing at No. 6 in semifinal.
- Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 21-8
Comment: Team was 0-3 in SS Open play before losing at another SS Open team – Crean Lutheran – in regional D1 semifinal.
- Riverside Poly 26-3
Comment: Despite starting three freshmen for the bulk of the season, the Bears lost only to No.’s 1, 6 and 8 while earning the No. 1 seed in the SS Division 1 bracket.
- Valencia West Ranch 21-8
Comment: Five of the Wildcats’ losses came to No.’s 2, 3, 8 and 10, as well as to the Northern California State Open runner-up (Modesto Christian).
- San Juan Capistrano JSerra 20-11
Comment: The Lions roared (sorry, couldn’t resist) in the playoffs with road victories against Oak Park, St. Francis and Fairfax, and home wins vs. Rolling Hills Prep (the No. 2 seed in the Sectional bracket) and St. John Bosco. Lost to No. 8 in the Section Divisional I final and at No. 6 in the regional second round.
- Long Beach St. Anthony 18-9
Comment: The Saints’ final eight losses came by an average margin of 3.5 points.
- Sun Valley Village Christian 28-5
Comment: The Crusaders beat No. 17 in the SS Division 2AA title game and opened regional D-I with a win at San Diego Section Open runner-up San Ysidro before losing at No. 8 in the second round.
- Ontario Colony 25-3
Comment: Consecutive quarterfinal sectional loss kept the Titans (44-5 in that stretch) out of regional play two seasons in a row.
- La Canada St. Francis 26-5
Comment: Played host to a sizzling JSerra squad in a SS D-1 quarterfinal.
- Long Beach Poly 22-7
Comment: With a healthy Christian Watson, the Jackrabbits lost only three times (to No.’s 8, 14 and 16).
- Bellflower St. John Bosco 22-10
Comment: It was a season of “What might have been if” senior Jeremiah Nyarko hadn’t transferred to Sierra Canyon and freshman guard Elzie Harrington hadn’t suffered an injured foot early in Trinity League play.
- Los Angeles Fairfax 16-7
Comment: Few teams in California improved as much from November to March as did the L.A. City Open champion Lions.
- Santa Ana Foothill 31-4
Comment: This team’s performance – taking it all the way to Sacramento, where it lost Elk Grove in the State D-II championship game Saturday – should be the first topic of discussion at every Knights’ Class of 2022 reunion.
- Gardena Serra 20-12
Comment: The Cavaliers lost to No. 14 in a SS D-2AA quarterfinal but had wins over No.’s 9, 17 and 22 outside of Del Rey League play.
- Hacienda Heights Los Altos 19-6
Comment: The Conquerors fell to No. 14 in the SS D-2AA semifinals and at No. 20 in the Regional D-II final.
Leave a Reply