Burlison on Basketball

Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

Harvard-Westlake gears for another State Open title run

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – Five players now playing major college basketball helped the Harvard-Westlake boys’ program win consecutive State Open Division championships.

Jump-shooter deluxe Brady Dunlap (St. John’s) and powerful center Jacob Huggins (Princeton) were key elements for the David Rebibo-coached team that knocked off Santa Maria St. Joseph, 76-65, in Sacramento on March 11 of 2023 to cap a 33-2 season.

And, again in Sacramento last March 9, the Wolverines held of Richmond Salesian, 50-45, to finish 33-3, and bid farewell to State Player of the Year Trent Perry (UCLA) and fellow seniors Robert Hinton (Harvard) and Christian Horry (UCLA).

Can Rebibo’s program win a record third-consecutive State Open crown  even with such heavy personnel losses.

The short answer is hell, yeah it can!

The more in-depth response?

Yep, but there are potentially more roadblocks preventing a return trip to SacTown for the Wolverines – even with the last of the common on-court denominators of those title squads, Duke-bound Nikolas Khamenia, leading the way.

Their main competition for CIF Southern Section and Southern Regional titles are three programs they knocked off on the path to Sacramento last season:

*Roosevelt of Eastvale, which returns the dynamic senior trio of Brayden Burries, Myles Walker and Issac Williamson (pictured) from the team that the Wolverines beat in both Southland Open finals (54-47, in the SS game in Riverside, and 63-59, in the regional game on the HW campus in Studio City).

*Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, which returns two starters and added two gifted transfers (junior forward Tyran Stokes and sophomore guard Josiah Nance), stunned Harvard-Westlake on the road before falling, at home, in a Mission League playoff semifinal.

*And St. John Bosco, which fell to the Wolverines (64-40) in the SS Open pool play before getting hot in regional play and picking up its own trip to Sacramento, where the Braves bagged the State D-I title.

Returnees, graduation and the transfer market shaped the look of the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Preseason Top 10, with the Braves, Wolverines, Roosevelt and Notre Dame landing in the top four slots.

Those were the obvious (if not the pecking order) picks for 1-4, with the next six – as well as No.’s 11, 12 and 13 – nearly interchangeable for the next six spots.

Don’t let the results of November and December – at least until Dec. 27, when “Sit-out Period kids who didn’t make verified full-family moves with  transfers become eligible – way too heavily on how you think these selections will play out into late February and March.

These choices – as with the other 50 teams in my preseason Top 70 – reflect how I think these teams could line up when the sectional playoffs begin in early February.

Anyway, here we go . . . .

 

SoCal Preseason Top 70

No.’s 1-10

 

  1. Saint John Bosco

Coach: Matt Dunn.

’23-24: 28-7/CIF Southern Section Open 1-2/State D-I champion.

Briefly: With last season’s State Sophomore of the Year (Brandon McCoy, Jr.), Harvard-bound Elzie Harrington and a multitude of other key players from last season back, the Braves were a strong contender for this slot even late into the summer. But when another terrific junior, 6-foot-8 Christian Collins (who played two seasons at St. Bernard) showed up on the Bellflower campus and seemed to blend seamlessly into the lineup during the Border League games in Las Vegas last month, this spot was a lock for Dunn’s crew.

  1. Harvard-Westlake

Coach: David Rebibo.

’23-24: 33-3/CIF SS Open champion/State Open champion.

Briefly: The 6-8, multi-skilled Nikolas Khamenia has a chance to wrap up what will be one of the most impressive four-year runs ever in the state if he leads the Wolverines to another state title. His on-court presence – including leadership – will be the lynchpin for a lineup that added terrific scoring junior Joe Sterling (from Mission league school Crespi) to go along with three junior returnees, guard Amire Jones and centers Dominique Bentho and Barron Linnekens, and underrated senior forward Isaiah Carroll.

  1. Roosevelt

Coach: Steve Singleton.

’23-24: 31-4/CIF SS Open runner-up/Regional Open runner-up.

Briefly: Brayden Burries was the State Junior of the Year and seems well on track to be one of multiple McDonald’s All-Americans from this regional class. And, with nearly life-long buddies and teammates Myles Walker and Issac Williamson (New Mexico-bound) forms one of the best backcourts produced in SoCal over the past few decades. Senior Dominic Copenhagen (a part-time start as junior) and junior Jackson Haggins were part of a seven-team rotation last season. Transfer brothers Christian (a 6-8 junior) and Orie (6-5 senior) Benjamin from Grand Terrace lend the roster its only significant size.

  1. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame

Coach: Matt Sargeant.

’23-24: 31-4/CIF SS D-1 champion/Regional D-I semifinals.

Briefly: Senior guard Lino Mark (signed with Rutgers) and juniors Zachary White (6-6) and Caleb Ogbu (6-2) started – and often starred – last season, and senior Mark Lewis (6-7) got key minutes, too. But the addition of Tyran Stokes (consensus Top 2, with Brandon McCoy, Jr., prospects in national class of 2026) and Josiah Nance (all-BurlisonOnBasketball freshman at Heritage Christian) make this roster even stronger, despite the loss of Mercy Miller (University of Houston).

  1. Damien

Coach: Mike LeDuc.

’23-24: 28-6/CIF SS D-1 semifinals/Regional D-I semifinals.

Briefly: The Spartans return four starters, notably 7-foot Nate Garcia (twice all-CIF) and 6-5 junior Eli Garner. Garcia (who signed with Cal Baptist) is the most dominant center in the state. And 6-7 senior Jayden Avina (a forceful rebounder and dunker) and 6-1 sophomore Zaire Rasshan (a terrific prospect) are much improved. Elijah Smith, Jacob Allen and Lucas Arrieta return in the backcourt.

  1. La Mirada

Coach: Randy Oronoz.

’23-24: 21-8/CIF SS D-1 2nd rd.

Briefly: All-CIF selections Julien Gomez (signed with Texas/Rio-Grande) and Gene Roebuck (Top Five freshman in California last season) have a bunch of other quality returnees around them, including defensive specialist, 6-5 M.J. Smith. The key, though, to just how good this team can be is junior guard King-Riley Owens, ineligible last season with the Matadores after starting as a freshman at Mayfair.

  1. Redondo Union

Coach: Reggie Morris, Jr.

’23-24: 25-6/CIF SS D-1 semifinals/Regional D-I 2nd rd.

Briefly: Redondo returns eight or nine key players, notably all-CIF selections Hudson Mayes (Central Michigan) and S.J. Madison (a 6-5 junior), and Chris Sanders (a BurlisonOnBasketball, first-team all-freshman choice). Devin Wright is a much-improved junior, and Chace Holley is a Lynwood transfer. But sophomore point guard Joey Albala is out for a while after suffering a broken foot bone last month.

  1. JSerra

Coach: Keith Wilkinson.

’23-24: CIF SS Open 1-2/Regional D-I 1st rd.

Briefly: Forward G.C. Eboigbodin was the top freshman in the Trinity League and sophomore guard E.J. Bryson got quality minutes. But the team’s success hangs on its deep and gifted group of transfers, notably junior Brannon Martinsen (Mater Dei) and seniors Grayson Sinek (La Habra), Dominic Bolton (Laguna Hills) and B.J. Davis-Ray (from Texas/signed with SMU). And Jarne Eyenga (6-9/from the Netherlands) was ineligible last season.

  1. Mater Dei

Coach: Gary McKnight.

’23-24: 29-6/CIF SS Open 0-3/Regional D-I runner-up.

Briefly: The Monarchs lost Brannon Martinsen (JSerra) and Brandon Benjamin (Canyon) in the off-season but return four key players in center Blake Davidson (Nevada), 6-5 junior Malloy Smith and guards Owen Verna (St. Joseph) and Luke Barnett (a sensational-shooting junior). Transfers in guard Riley Hale (Sonora as a junior, after two years at Mater Dei) and sophomores Demarcus Henry and Lucas Gaspar will crack the rotation quickly.

  1. Sierra Canyon

Coach: Andre Chevalier.

’23-24: 26-4/CIF SS Open 2-1/Regional Open 1st rd.

Briefly: Senior forward Bryce Cofield is a rebounding and dunking machine. But if the Trailblazers are not going to stumble in the SoCal pecking order, a flock of transfers (including Gavin Hightower from Windward, and forward Chris Nwuli from Law Vegas by way of a Utah prep school), are going to have to assimilate and contribute in big ways. Look out for 6-5 freshman Jordan Mize, too! He’s a SCORER.

Previous:

No.’s 11-20: 11. Saint Pius X/Saint Matthias; 12. Los Alamitos; 13. Santa Margarita; 14. Heritage Christian; 15. Corona Centennial; 16. Crespi; 17. Anaheim Canyon; 18. Windward; 19. Rolling Hills Prep; 20. Westchester.

No.’s 21-30: 21. San Clemente; 22. Rancho Cucamonga; 23. Inglewood; 24. Long Beach Poly; 25. Crean Lutheran; 26. Etiwanda; 27. Campbell Hall; 28. Chatsworth; 29. Village Christian; 30. Rancho Christian.

No.’s 31-50: 31. La Habra; 32. St. Anthony; 33. Riverside Poly; 34. Mira Costa; 35. Oak Hills; 36. Washington Prep; 37. Newport Pacifica Christian; 38. Foothill; 39. Fairmont Prep; 40. San Juan Hills; 41. Bishop Montgomery; 42. Corona del Mar; 43. St. Bernard; 44. Crossroads; 45. Rancho Verde; 46. Murrieta Valley; 47. San Gabriel Academy; 48. Pasadena; 49. Temecula Valley; 50. Arcadia.

Honorable Mention: (alpha) Brentwood; Culver City; Cypress; Gahr; Great Oak; King/Drew; Knight; Leuzinger; Loyola; Marina; Mayfair; Millikan; Orange Lutheran; Palos Verdes; Sage Hill; Santa Barbara; St. Francis; St. Paul; St. Monica and Vista Murietta.

 

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