Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. There’s an exciting high school basketball event scheduled for Friday at the new Intuit Done.

League play in high school basketball picks up steam this week with a huge opportunity for fans to make their first trip to the recently opened Inuit Dome on Friday to see Mission and Trinity League teams playing in league match-ups. Here’s the link for tickets.

And, if you get a moment, take a look at all the jerseys from around the state on several walls. Close to every high school is represented.

The schedule:

Servite vs. Orange Lutheran, 11 a.m.

Loyola vs. Chaminade, 12:30 p.m.

Alemany vs. Crespi, 2 p.m.

JSerra vs. Santa Margarita, 3:30 p.m.

Harvard-Westlake vs. St. Francis, 5 p.m.

Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco, 6:30 p.m.

SO Notre Dame vs. Sierra Canyon, 8:30 p.m.

The JSerra-Santa Margarita could be the best one of the night. JSerra just got Mater Dei transfer Brannon Martinsen eligible. The winner will try to compete with No. 1-ranked St. John Bosco for the Trinity League title.

Boys basketball

Eastvale Roosevelt coach Stephen Singleton has his team ranked No. 1 by The Times.

(Craig Weston)

There’s a new No. 1 team in Southern California. The Eastvale Roosevelt Mustangs moved to the top spot after an overtime win over St. John Bosco at Damien and three more wins in Arizona. Coach Stephen Singleton has the team with an 18-1 record. Here’s a story from their Damien triumph.

One team making a major breakthrough was Harvard-Westlake. The Wolverines knocked off nationally ranked Perry from Arizona and Gonzaga from Washington D.C. in Arizona, then handed Northern California’s best team, De La Salle, its first defeat. The Wolverines, a two-time defending state champion, enter January very much in the mix to repeat.

It was quite a night at Inglewood High on Saturday, where fans got to see Alijah Arenas, Tajh Ariza and Jason Crowe Jr. in back to back games. Arenas scored 40 points, Ariza had 28 points and Crowe had 43 points. Fans were excited and cheering them on.

Here’s this week’s top 25 boys basketball rankings by The Times.

Here’s a top 10 City Section ranking.

Girls basketball

Ontario Christian avenged its only defeat by knocking off Archbishop Mitty on Saturday. Here’s the report.

Etiwanda is starting to come on strong. The defending state champions shouldn’t be overlooked despite a slow start.

There were some top individual performances, led by Aliyanna Morris of Etiwanda going for 36 points in a win over Carondelete.

Anna Shreeve of San Juan Hills scored 29 points in a win over Santa Margarita.

Villa Park is 15-3 and 1-0 in league.

Sierra Canyon is 14-1 and faces Windward on Saturday in a matchup of likely Open Division teams.

Neighborhood team thriving

Evan Dela Paz (left) and Jackson Yeates are among a group of Camarillo teammates who’ve played together since third grade.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

With a 17-1 record in basketball, Camarillo is your neighborhood team thriving with players who’ve known each other since third grade.

It’s a team with players who know their roles, are best friends and have the kind of chemistry that will give more talented teams trouble when the playoffs begin.

Here’s the story of a neighborhood success story.

It’s transfer season

Junior quarterback Wyatt Brown has transferred from Santa Monica to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

(Craig Weston)

The high school football transfer tracker is officially up and running for the 2025 season.

With the spring semester beginning this month, look for lots of transfers and even more when the school year is completed in June.

The biggest transfer so far involves standout junior quarterback Wyatt Brown going from Santa Monica to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

How many coaches were rewarded with a quarterback in their stockings during Christmas break?

Here’s the link to find out for the coming months.

Crystal ball forecast

First baseman Dominic Cadiz of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame hit six home runs in 2024 and has signed with UCLA.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

It’s time to make predictions of what to watch for in 2025 for high school sports.

Here’s the link to my crystal ball forecast.

Girls water polo

There was big news in girls water polo. Mater Dei ended Orange Lutheran’s 38-game win streak with a 10-9 victory in the semifinals of the Bill Barnett Holiday Cup. The winning goal was scored by Paige Segesman, the freshman daughter of Mater Dei coach Chris Segesman.

Newport Harbor defeated Oaks Christian in the other semifinal. Mater Dei won the final 15-9, with Kirra Pantaleon scoring five goals.

Emerson Mulvey scored four goals for Newport Harbor.

Soccer

Carlos Esnal of Birmingham scored three goals in a 3-2 win over Montclair in the championship game of the Nike tournament.

(Birmingham)

What a week it was in soccer for sophomore Carlos Esnal of Birmingham. He had three goals to lead the Patriots past Montclair 3-2 in the championship game of the Nike tournament. Then he had three more goals in a nonleague victory on Friday. Here’s a report on the transfer from El Camino Real.

Loyola traveled to Texas and won a prestigious tournament. The Cubs are unbeaten and looking like one of the best teams in Southern Section Division 1.

Defending Division 1 champion Mater Dei is 8-0 and showing lots of offense. The Monarchs face a good test on Wednesday against Servite in a Trinity League match.

The Trinity League girls soccer competition is supposed to be all about Santa Margarita (9-0). But JSerra is 8-4-1 and could be improving enough to give the Eagles some competition.

Harvard-Westlake’s girls team is 8-2-1 after traveling to Texas. Kaia Santomarco-King is having a big season.

West Valley League girls soccer is about to begin, with Cleveland (6-1-3) considered the favorite.

Notes . . .

New Verbum Dei football coach Gary Parks is returning to his alma mater.

(Gary Parks)

Verbum Dei alumnus Gary Parks is returning to the school to take over running the football programs. Parks was head coach at Angelou in the City Section. He will try to rebuild a Verbum Dei program that suspended its season after dwindilng playing numbers. Here’s a report on his return. . . .

Long Beach Poly has selected Justin Utupo to be its new football coach. He was head coach at Lakewood and previously was at Long Beach Millikan. He played football at Lakewood and Notre Dame. . .

Travis Clark has resigned after one season as football coach at Long Beach Wilson to join DeSean Jackson coaching at Delaware State. . . .

Camarillo High will retire the jersey of Jaime Jaquez Jr. on Jan. 14. . . .

Jason Jellerson is the new football coach at Foothill. . . .

Morgan Wijay has left Bishop Alemany to become the girls volleyball coach at Harvard-Westlake. . . .

Drew Jenkins is new lacrosse program head at Harvard-Westlake. . . .

Steven Perez of Banning has been chosen the City Section player of the year in football. Here’s the All-City teams. . . .

Elzie Harrington of St. John Bosco has changed his college basketball commitment from Harvard to USC. . . .

Bryce James from Sierra Canyon announced he has committed to Arizona. . . .

Catcher Owen Capron of JSerra has committed to Cal Lutheran. . . .

Running back Julius Gillick of Edison has committed to Fresno State. . . .

Austin Jones is the new football coach at Lakeside in Lake Elsinore.

From the archives: Zevi Eckhaus

Culver City senior quarterback Zevi Eckhaus walks off the field in 2021 after a heartbreaking loss to Apple Valley.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Zevi Eckhaus, a record-setting quarterback during his days at Culver City High, passed for 363 yards and three touchdowns in the Holiday Bowl for Washington State.

Eckhaus was a back-up all season after transferring from Bryant University, then became the starter for the bowl game and looks like he’ll take over as QB1 next season under a new coaching staff.

Eckhaus passed for more than 10,000 yards at Culver City.

Here’s a story from 2021 on Eckhaus.

Recommendations

From Footballscoop.com, a story on how junior college players may soon get their two years back to be eligible for four years at an NCAA school.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on Edison’s girls’ soccer team rising up to win a prestigious tournament.

From The 562.org, a story on the many football coaching changes happening in the Moore League.

From the Daily Pilot, a story on a rugby star from Edison High.

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