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Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

La Habra sits atop SoCal’s No.’s 31-50 pecking order

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – And, for the next 20 teams – No.’s 31-50 – on the BurlisonOnBasketball Preseason Southern California Top 70:

*There are three programs (La Habra, St. Anthony and Temecula Valley) that won CIF Southern Section championships last season, and another (Washington Prep) that bagged a Los Angeles City Section crown.

*The Saints of St Anthony are joined in this Group of 20 by two other programs, St. Bernard and Bishop Montgomery, that figure to be the roughest challengers for returning champion St. Pius X/St. Matthias in the Del Rey League.

*Twelve of these squads will participate in the Dec. 26-30 Classic at Damien, joining the seven of the 20 honorable mentions to the Top 70 that will also be a part of the toughest post-Christmas tournament in California.

*Fairmont Prep, Pacifica Christian (the defending champion) and San Gabriel Academy are the three teams in the Group of 20 that will challenge for the San Joaquin League title, as well as successful CIF SS playoff runs.

St. Anthony (No. 18), St. Bernard (22), Foothill (25) and Rancho Verde (29) finished in last season’s final BurlisonOnBasketball Top 30 SoCal ratings.

 

SoCal Preseason Top 70

No.’s 31-50

  1. La Habra

Coach:  Aaron Riekenberg.

’23-24: 30-5/CIF SS 3AA champion; Regional D-III 2nd round.

Briefly: The Highlanders lost key scorer Grayson Sinek (who transferred to JSerra for his senior season) but return a boatload of terrific players. Notable among those is Acen Jimenez (pictured/courtesy Greg Stein), who is among SoCal’s best point guards in the Class of 2026.

  1. Saint Anthony

Coach: Alan Mitchell.

’23-24: 25-9/CIF SS D-2AA champion/Regional D-I 1st round.

Briefly: The Saints return seven key contributors from their CIF SS title run, including 6-5, multi-skilled Aman Haynes and senior guard Darius Williams. And King/Drew transfer guard Jayshawn Kibble will help a lot when he becomes eligible on Dec. 27.

  1. Riverside Poly

Coach: Travis Showalter.

’23-24: 18-13/CIF SS D-1 2nd round.

Briefly: The bulk of the rotation the Bears put on the floor last season returned, led by senior forward Kam Dodson and Chris Holland, and one of the state’s best guards in junior Jrob Croy.

  1. Mira Costa

Coach: Neal Perlmutter.

’23-24: 18-11/CIF SS D-1 1st round.

Briefly: Seniors Jacob De Armas, Eneasi Piluleini and Luke Hammerschmidt give the Mustangs the best chance of upsetting Redondo Union in the Bay League.

  1. Oak Hills

Coach: Rob Alexander.

’23-24: 18-11/CIF SS D-2A 1st round.

Briefly: Junior Jeremiah Lark and sophomore Mar Landry are compelling prospects. But the play of senior transfers Mark Jones (Hesperia) and Ashton McCullough (Hesperia as a freshman; Oak Hills as an ineligible junior and Rosemary Anderson Prep in Portland last season) will resculpt the lineup once, as expected, they become eligible on Dec. 27.

  1. A. Washington Prep

Coach: Jovante King.

’23-24: 17-16/L.A. City D-I champion/Regional D-IV semifinals.

Briefly: A roster with plenty of size and experience has been upgraded with the addition of King/Drew transfer Donald Thompson III, who could contend for City Player of the Year honors.

  1. Newport Pacifica Christian

Coach: Jeff Berokoff.

’23-24: 18-11/CIF SS D-1 1st round.

Briefly: It only seems as if seniors E.J. Spillman (6-4) and Logan Stewart (6-7) have played for the school since it opened nine years ago.

  1. Foothill

Coach: Yousof Etemadi.

’23-24: 21-9/CIF SS D-1 2nd round.

Briefly: The Knights lost two 2023-24 starters (by transfer) over the summer. But seniors Danny Kennard (6-11), Kai Nixon (6-1) and Blake Pearson (6-6), and junior transfer (from Crean Lutheran) Braeden Davison = not much, if any, slippage.

  1. Fairmont Prep

Coach: Joedy Gardner.

’23-24: 19-10/CIF SS D-1 1st round.

Briefly: Six-ten junior David Abisogun and senior guard Oliver Jones provide the Huskies with a couple of proven commodities. And another 6-10 junior, newcomer Bith Jack, gives them a nice 1-2 post punch.

  1. San Juan Hills

Coach: Jason Efstathiou.

’23-24: 18-11/CIF SS 2-AA 1st round.

Briefly: The Stallions’ win over L.A. City power Westchester in September wasn’t a fluke. They’ve got a terrific inside-outside duo in seniors Mason Hodges and  Adam Aziz.

  1. Bishop Montgomery

Coach: Doug Mitchell.

’23-24: 11-16.

Briefly: Senior guards Christian Hall and Denis Woods will try to propel a strong collection of sophomores and freshmen back to the playoffs after an oh-so-rare post-season absence by the Knights last spring.

  1. Corona del Mar

Coach: Jason Simco.

’23-24: 25-8/CIF SS 2-A semifinals; Regional D-II 1st round.

Briefly: Four returning starters, including sophomore guard Maxwell Scott and 6-6 senior Jackson Harland – the best basketball-water polo standout in SoCal since Joel Francisco was a senior at Hacienda Heights Wilson in 1985-86 – could translate into another 25-win season.

  1. Saint Bernard

Coach: Bernard McCrumby.

’23-24: 15-12/CIF SS D-1 quarterfinals.

Briefly: McCrumby left Serra to return to his alma mater when Tony Bland left the Vikings to join the University of Washington coaching staff. Second cousins Joshua Palmer and Caleb Versher provide a nifty senior guard combination.

  1. Crossroads

Coach: Anthony Davis.

’23-24: 19-11/CIF SS D-1 2nd round.

Briefly: The Roadrunners’ regular-season and post-season success will be largely dependent upon the play of 6-7 senior E.J. Vernon at both ends of the court.

  1. Rancho Verde

Coach: Johnny Dukes.

’23-24: 25-5/CIF SS D-1 2nd round.

Briefly: The Mustangs lost a superb guard to San Jose State (Jermaine Washington). But a lot of backcourt quality returned, including senior Trestyne Nguro.

  1. Murrieta Valley

Coach: Brian Wethers.

’23-24: 20-11/CIF SS 2-A quarterfinals.

Briefly: The Nighthawks lost three seniors who scored in double figures. But Parker Steffen (15.7 ppg as a junior) is the kind of guard that makes guys on his team a lot better because of his skill, savvy and leadership.

  1. San Gabriel Academy

Coach: Dan Piepoli.

’23-24: 21-11/CIF SS 2-A semifinals; Regional D-IV 1st round.

Briefly: The Eagles, in Season 1 under Piepoli after he had assisted Kevin McCloskey for 13 years, return a lot of size and skill. And they’re led in each of those categories by one of the best sophomore big men anywhere, 6-9 Mahamadou Diop.

  1. Pasadena

Coach: Tony Brooks.

’23-24: 25-4/CIF SS 2-A 2nd round.

Briefly: The Bulldogs were stunned in the playoffs by Bishop Amat but figure to dig much deeper into their bracket this spring behind senior guard Desmond Every and junior post Josh Irving.

  1. Temecula Valley

Coach: James Profit.

’23-24: 19-15/CIF SS 4-A champion/Regional D-IV 1st round.

Briefly: Freshmen Jeremiah Profit (the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Frosh of the Year last season) and Fabian Ruiz led the program to its first-ever hoops CIF SS title. And they’re joined by Profit’s freshman brother, Josiah, another son of Coach Profit.

  1. Arcadia

Coach: Nick Wallace.

’23-24: 21-10/CIF SS 3-AA quarterfinals.

Briefly: Led by junior guard Noa Eteuati-Edwards, the Apaches are expected to start five non-seniors, including freshmen Nick Wallace, Jr., and Owen Eteuati-Edwards.

Next up: No.’s 21-30.

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