Prep Rally: What to watch for this high school basketball season

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. The high school basketball season is a week away from an official start. Let’s take a look at some story lines.

Who’s No. 1?

St. John Bosco, which came within a dunk of beating Corona Centennial in the Open Division championship game last season, is ranked No. 1 in The Times’ preseason top 25 basketball rankings. Three starters are back, plus talented sophomore Brandon McCoy.

Here’s the top 25 rankings.

Notably missing from the rankings are any City Section teams. The days of great teams from Fairfax, Westchester and Taft are gone for the moment. Each has undergone a coaching change in recent years, so it’s rebuilding time and the question will be can the City Section become competitive again with the top teams in Southern California?

The top City player could be sophomore Alijah Arenas of Chatsworth. It’s going to be a great year for players from the class of 2026. Here’s a look at how special the class of 2026 is going to be.

In girls’ basketball, Etiwanda is the clear No. 1 team to start the season, but Sierra Canyon has a new superstar in sophomore Jerzy Robinson, a transfer from Arizona. Here’s a look at Robinson, who will help replace Juju Watkins.

The season begins next week.

The opening week of the high school football playoffs had few upsets except in Southern Section Division 7, where the No. 2, 4, 5 and 6 seeds all went down to defeat.

Unbeaten teams Palos Verdes, Oxnard Pacifica and Tustin all lost in the opening round. Palos Verdes put up quite a fight in a loss to Mission Viejo. Here’s the report.

Freshman quarterback Brady Edmunds helped Huntington Beach win its first playoff game since 2013. Here’s the report.

The top-seeded team in Division 2, Rancho Cucamonga, had to work hard for a win over Edison. Here’s the report.

Newbury Park sophomore quarterback Brady Smigiel has reached 92 career touchdown passes, a Ventura County record.

In the City Section, there was a record-breaking passing performance from Fairfax senior Ivan Levant, who passed for 616 yards and eight touchdowns in a win over Panorama.

It’s the quarterfinals this weekend. The City Section is playing all its games on Thursday night. The Southern Section Division 1 playoffs begin with the only expected close matchup being Santa Margarita playing at Sierra Canyon. In City Section Open Division, Birmingham and Garfield begin their march toward a rematch in the final.

Here’s this weekend’s quarterfinal schedule for 14 Southern Section divisions and City Section divisions.

Here’s last week’s score list.

Here’s the top performers list from Week 1 of the playoffs.

Ball boy scores TD

During the summer, Fairfax High 6-foot-5 basketball standout Romello McRae of Fairfax High practiced with the football team hoping to make his debut in the sport. Then his mother wouldn’t let him play. He spent the next 10 weeks serving as the ball boy.

Last week, his mother changed her mind.

“She saw how passionate I was,” McRae said. “It’s the end of the season. She didn’t expect me to get in.”

On McRae’s first football play ever in the second half of a City Section playoff game against Panorama, he caught a 20-yard touchdown pass.

“In all honesty, it was as if everything around me disappeared,” he said. “That’s how high my adrenaline was. I don’t remember having any defender by me. I remember the ball going into my hands and looking at the ball in shock as my legs carried me into the end zone.”

Here’s more on McRae’s memorable debut.

Trinity League news

Trinity League basketball media day was held Thursday at St. John Bosco, and the tallest player making an appearance was 6-foot-11 Sebastian Rancik of JSerra.

He’s 17 and still growing. He showed up as a freshman from Slovakia standing 6-6. He’s developed into one of the best players in Southern California as a senior, with coach Keith Wilkinson insisting Rancik is capable of “getting 20 points and 20 rebounds every night.”

Committed to Colorado, Rancik came on strong last season after recovering from a concussion. Wilkinson wants him to dominate as an offensive and defensive rebounder.

Here’s more news from media day.

The City Section girls’ flag football playoffs enter the quarterfinals Wednesday. A big matchup has No. 7 Birmingham playing at No. 2 Crenshaw.

Here’s a look at last week’s playoff openers.

Girls’ golf

It was a big week for Stanford commits.

Anna Song, a junior at Palisades committed to Stanford, led her team to the City Section championships by winning the individual title. Here’s the report.

Leigh Chien, a senior at Santa Margarita and another Stanford commit, won the Southern Section individual championship.

Girls’ volleyball

Mater Dei won the Southern Section Division 1 girls’ volleyball championship with a dominating performance against No. 2 Mira Costa.

Here’s the report.

In the City Section. El Camino Real defeated West Valley League rival Taft in the Open Division final. Here’s the report.

The state playoffs begin this week. Here’s the link to pairings.

Water polo

All season in boys water polo, the top teams have been trying to figure out how to beat No. 1 JSerra. It hasn’t happened. The Lions are 26-0 going into Wednesday’s Open Division semifinals, and they get back future Olympian Ryder Dodd, who was away helping USA qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris, scoring 28 goals in the tournament.

Imagine that — the Lions have still been winning in the playoffs without their star player. Now he’s back.

The Open Division semifinals will have JSerra playing Corona del Mar and Harvard-Westlake taking on Newport Harbor. All the teams are familiar with each other, which should make for intense matches. The championship will be held on Saturday at Mt. SAC.

Soccer boycott begins

Close to 1,000 soccer referees from around Southern California have launched a boycott against working Southern Section boys’ and girls’ soccer games in a dispute over compensation. The season begins for high school teams on Nov. 13.

The action is “to bring representatives of the Southern Section to the table to discuss adjustments to the fee schedule mandated by the Southern Section,” according to a news release from the Southern California Soccer Officials Assn.

Not all units are participating in the boycott.

Here’s the report.

Notes . . .

After 2 1/2 years as president at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Sam Lagana has resigned. . . .

Pitcher Dylan Leoff from Redondo Union has committed to St. Mary’s. . . .

Catcher Johnny Elliott of Mater Dei has committed to USC. . . .

Cathedral has named interim football coach Vince Jefferson its head coach for 2024. . . .

Former Mater Dei quarterback Cole Leinart has been declared eligible for all sports at Newport Harbor. . . .

Junior shortstop Gavin Spiridonoff has committed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. . . .

Cornerback Loyall Mouzon of Long Beach Millikan has committed to Fresno State. . . .

Junior pitcher Miles Scott of Servite has committed to Cal. . . .

Defensive end Holden Lee from Oaks Christian has committed to Brown. . . .

Louie Zamora has resigned as football coach at California in Whittier. . . .

Sophomore cornerback Madden Riordan of Sierra Canyon has committed to USC. He’s the second cornerback from class of 2026 to commit to the Trojans, joining Loyola’s Brandon Lockhart. They play together on a club team.

From the archives: Garrett White

The son of former Edison football Dave White, Garrett White now works in New York for Vayner Sports after playing receiver and graduating from Yale.

He was recently honored at Yale for providing stem cells when he was in student that were a match for a person in need to help save a life.

He was a standout receiver at Edison with 84 career receptions and MVP of the Sunset League before heading to Yale.

Here’s a 2015 story on White’s ties to Edison.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, how two high school cross-country runners who are twins ended up at different high schools.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on a new twist for the East L.A. Classic, flag football.

From Yahoo Sports, the rise and fall of basketball player Mikey Williams.

From CalBears, a story on a former El Camino Real soccer standout embracing his Filipino heritage.

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