Frank Burlison

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Ca. – The consensus of opinion going into the season was that the Trinity League Boys’ Basketball Derby was strictly a two-horse race.

The Santa Margarita High squad of Coach Justin Bell trampled that perception senseless Wednesday night.

Senior Aldo Ruiz-Ortiz’s sixth 3-pointer of the contest – with 2.8 seconds to go – gave the Eagles a 61-58 overtime win over visiting St. John Bosco in a league opener.

Ortiz’s final 3 reverberated not only among the six Trinity members but also in the entirety of Southern California prep hoops.

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LA VERNE, Ca. – Basketball, especially on the high school level, is an ever-evolving sport – on and off the court.

But there is at least one dependable constant in prep hoops in Southern California:

Coach David Kleckner’s Etiwanda High teams are always going to guard opponents – man to man – and make it very difficult to do what they want to on offense.

And, their 2021 “spring season” debut Tuesday night at Damien High, the Eagles made sure that they followed that same blueprint.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Be it as it may, the 2020-21 Southern California boys’ basketball season – minus the 2020 element to the season – is underway.

The still-lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will have great impact on what transpires until the end of the season – which not might be until the third weekend in June, if, as some expect, the CIF State Office announces there will be state championship games to wrap things up.

Here is my “21 (teams) for 2021 preview”; consider the first three teams list as “1-A, 1-B and 1-C” for the time being:

 

Boys Top 21/Southern and L.A.

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WEST HILLS, Ca. – David Rebibo’s Harvard-Westlake boys’ basketball team took a 29-point advantage into the fourth quarter of its Mission League showdown at Chaminade Prep Saturday afternoon.

What then transpired was likely the longest eight minutes of playing time – literally and figuratively – that Rebibo has experience in his coaching career.

The Wolverines, who led by as many as 32 points late in the third quarter, committed 15 turnovers and surrendered 39 points in the frenetic fourth quarter before holding on to topple the Eagles, 92-84.

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LA VERNE, Ca. – The busiest boys’ high school basketball team was back at it Saturday afternoon.

The host Damien Spartans used a 28-point second quarter – by way of 10 of 14 from the field, including four 3s – to coast to an 80-61 victory over the Orange Lutheran Lancers.

Coach Mike LeDuc’s team improved to 15-0 behind a balanced scoring attack led by 6-foot-8 sophomore Jimmy Oladokun (pictured), with 20 points that he coupled with 11 rebounds.

Returning starters Malik Thomas (18), R.J. Smith (eight) and Chris Nickelberry (6) – who make up on of the better set of perimeter players in California – combined for 32 points.

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