LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – The kicks hit the hardwood on Monday with the official tip-off to the 2023-24 boys’ high school basketball season.
*Harvard-Westlake, led by four of the top six players from its 2023 State Open Division championship roster, begins the season atop the BurlisonOnBasketball Top 30 teams’ ranking.
Coach David Rebibo’s Wolverines are in action three times this week, playing host to Palos Verdes on Tuesday night.
They’ll be at Westchester Thursday and Saturday for games against Palisades and Carlsbad, respectively, as part of the Westside Tip-Off Classic.
*Corona Centennial (which lost to Harvard-Westlake in the Southern Regional finale) starts upon its path to a fourth consecutive CIF Southern Section Open crown Tuesday night when Coach Josh Giles’ fourth-ranked Huskies travel to Westchester to take on No. 16 West Ranch.
West Ranch returns James Evans Jr. and Darrell Morris from a Southern Section Open squad, but transfers Tracy Bryden (Faith Baptist) and Bishop Brooks (Taft) won’t be eligible until its Dec. 27 Classic at Damien opener.
Two of the elite seniors in the regional and national classes, Eric Freeny (who signed with UCLA last week) and Carter Bryant (a future Arizona Wildcat), anchor a Centennial squad that has the deepest sophomore class in the region.
The Huskies are in their gym Friday and Saturday for Battlezone games with No. 23 Rancho Christian and Sunnyslope of Phoenix (one of the top teams in its state), respectively.
*No. 2 St. John Bosco goes into the season as the top threat to Harvard-Westlake on both the sectional and state levels.
The Braves open their season at home Saturday night against No. 30 Long Beach Poly which, led by 6-foot-5 junior Jovani Ruff, should be much improved after going 13-16 last season.
The Braves-Jackrabbits clash (set for 6 o’clock) is one of eight games played that day at SJB’s “Tip-Off Classic”.
Among two of those are No.’s 17 Redondo Union vs. 28 Foothill (4:30) and No.’s 5 Eastvale Roosevelt and 11 Crean Lutheran (7:30).
The Roosevelt-Crean Lutheran clash shapes up as the most compelling of the week as key returnees and newcomers have elevated both squads into strong CIF SS Open Division challengers.
With the likes of Brayden Burries, Darnez Slater, Isaac Williamson and Myles Walker (Roosevelt) and Vyctorius Miller, Kaiden Bailey, Braeden Davidson and Troy Jenkins (Crean Lutheran) on hand, there won’t be as many high-quality guards on the floor at the same time in Southern California until the Platinum and Gold Division games during the Dec. 26-30 Classic at Damien.
Coach Steve Singleton’s Roosevelt squad is set for a lot of traveling this week, opening at Westchester Wednesday night against the preseason L.A. City Open favorite (Birmingham); going to Corona to face Hesperia Friday night in the BattleZone before heading to Bellflower Saturday for its game with Crean Lutheran.
*Barring perceived “upsets” in the four pools, No. 6 Damien will play No. 28 Canyon, and No. 19 La Mirada will take on Orange Lutheran in Friday night in the Rumble for Rosecrans Avenue semifinals at Sunny Hills High in Fullerton.
*Another quality BattleZone matchup at Centennial Saturday night has No.’s 8 Campbell Hall and 20 Etiwanda playing at 6 o’clock (prior to the Centennial-Sunnyslope tipoff).
*Following . . . my choices as the “Best of the Best” of SoCal players (regardless of class) going into the season. These selections are not based upon college “potential” but upon how they’ve played for their high school programs (aka, “how much more successful are those teams when these guys are on the floor for them”, etc.):
Projected Top Player for 2023-24
Trent Perry 6-4 Sr. Harvard-Westlake
Preseason All-SoCal Next Top 20 Players
Alijah Arenas 6-4 So. Chatsworth
Brayden Burries 6-5 Jr. Eastvale Roosevelt
Carter Bryant 6-8 Sr. Corona Centennial
Jason Crowe Jr. 6-3 So. Lynwood
Isaiah Elohim 6-5 Sr. Sierra Canyon
James Evans Jr. 6-6 Sr. West Ranch
Eric Freeny 6-4 Sr. Corona Centennial
Nate Garcia 7-0 Jr. Damien
Elzie Harrington 6-6 Jr. St. John Bosco
Robert Hinton 6-5 Sr. Harvard-Westlake
Nicholas Khamenia 6-8 Jr. Harvard-Westlake
Brannon Martinsen 6-7 So. Mater Dei
Brandon McCoy Jr. 6-5 So. St. John Bosco
Mercy Miller 6-4 Sr. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame
Vyctorius Miller 6-5 Sr. Crean Lutheran
Justin Pippen 6-3 Sr. Sierra Canyon
Aaron Powell 6-1 Sr. Campbell Hall
Sebastian Rancik 6-10 Sr. JSerra
Kendyl Sanders 6-7 Sr. St. Bernard
Darnez Slater 6-3 Sr. Eastvale Roosevelt
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