Prep Rally: The high school basketball games you must watch the rest of the month

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. The big games in high school basketball this month are really big, starting with Friday’s Mission League showdown between Harvard-Westlake and host Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

Big-time matchup

Finally two USA national team gold medal winners lock up in high school basketball when Harvard-Westlake, led by Nikolas Khamenia, takes on host Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, led by Tyran Stokes, on Friday night at Notre Dame. The first challenge will be getting a ticket. A limited number of tickets for the general public should be made available Tuesday via GoFan.

The Duke-bound Khamenia won gold medals for the U18 national team and 3-on-3 national team. Stokes won a gold medal for the U16 national team.

Harvard-Westlake is 20-1 and the two-time defending state champions. Notre Dame is 17-3 and the two-time defending Southern Section Division 1 champions.

Harvard-Westlake coach David Rebibo said this one of the most athletic Notre Dame teams he has seen. The big question is whether Notre Dame guard Lino Mark will play. He has missed all of January with an injury.

Both teams are seeking the No. 1 seed for the Mission League tournament but will also have to get past Sierra Canyon (15-3) in league games ahead. Here’s an overview on the league.

Commitment for 2025

Sportswriters should make a yearly commitment to readers so they know where they are coming from. It doesn’t mean every commitment can be fulfilled, but it’s a good start for the new year to understand expectations and seek feedback in the months ahead.

Understand this is more than a job covering high school sports in Southern California. It’s a passion to tell stories, capture moments of success and failure, and to celebrate those who overcome obstacles to be successful.

This is the beginning of my journey for 2025.

Here are my commitments.

Boys basketball

Senior guard Devin Moody of Manual Arts made history, breaking the school record for most points in a game with 64 points in win over Rivera, then scoring 48 points in his next game. The old record was 63 points by Freeman Williams. Moody is averaging more than 30 points a game.

It was a big week for Redondo Union and senior guard Brayden Miner. The Sea Hawks helped established themselves as an Open Division playoff team with wins over Mira Costa and Los Alamitos. Miner, the son of former USC and NBA dunk champion Harold Miner, had 18 and 24 points.

Pilibos, which has a win over Crespi, routed City Section Open Division favorite Chatsworth behind Pepperdine commit Anto Balian, who scored 34 points.

Gold Coast League teams Brentwood, Windward, Crossroads, Viewpoint and Campbell Hall finally resume league play this week.

Venice picked up a win over Washington Prep that could help the Gondoliers become a City Section Open Division playoff team. Westchester plays Palisades on Wednesday at St. Monica in an important Western League game.

Camarillo improved to 21-1. AGBU is 17-2. Irvine is 19-2. All are having terrific seasons but could be placed in tough playoff divisions because of the Southern Section relying on new computer rankings.

Here’s The Times’ top 25 rankings.

Girls basketball

A light blue poster with the words “We’re Here for You” between a drawing of two Dolphins hung on the wall of the Fairfax High gym Wednesday afternoon. Another sign read: “Let’s go Pali!”

Fairfax teams are nicknamed the Lions, but on this day home fans were rooting almost as hard for the visitors.

Despite playing on the opponents’ floor, something it will have to get used to for the time being, the Palisades High girls’ basketball team returned to the court for its first action since a fire ripped through the Pacific Palisades community eight days earlier. Here’s the report.

Brentwood also returned to action, playing two games in one day on Saturday. Here’s the report.

Here’s the latest Southern Section rankings.

Brandon Benjamin stars

Watching Anaheim Canyon’s 6-foot-5 senior Brandon Benjamin score, rebound, pass and continuously make a difference on a basketball court against everyone and anyone brings back memories of Jaime Jaquez Jr., who looks like his twin.

“I like the comparison,” coach Nathan Harrison said.

Jaquez used to deploy many different skills during his days at Camarillo High. Some wondered if they would translate at a higher level. Well, they did, first at UCLA and now with the Miami Heat.

The same will be said one day of Benjamin, who’s averaging 30.7 points and is committed to San Diego. He became Canyon’s all-time scoring leader Saturday after scoring 40 points against Inglewood.

Here’s a profile of Benjamin.

Boys soccer

On a windless, cloudless Wednesday night in Woodland Hills, after a week of disruptions from nearby fires and poor air quality limited practices and canceled games, the two best soccer teams in the City Section, El Camino Real and Birmingham, finally got to renew their storied rivalry.

It was all El Camino Real in a 3-0 victory that gives the Royals (9-1) bragging rights as the best in the City Section. Birmingham dropped to 13-2.

Here’s the report.

Nathan Garcia of Carson has 19 goals in 12 games. He had three goals in win over Rancho Dominguez.

JSerra moved to No. 1 in the Southern Section rankings after its 4-0 win over previously unbeaten Mater Dei. Mira Costa is a close second with a 17-1 record.

Bishop Amat handed Cathedral a defeat in Del Rey League soccer and is 3-0 in league.

Girls soccer

Oaks Christian continues to make progress as one of the best girls teams with a 14-0-1 record. In a 1-0 win over Westlake, Charlotte Ward delivered the game-winning goal.

El Camino Real received two goals from Esme Lopez in a 2-0 win over Chatsworth.

San Pedro senior Mariyah Bumgarner has committed to Grambling State. She’s a former Marine League MVP.

Soccer is the ultimate team sport and Hart High’s Gianna Costello and Mia Rodriguez are the ultimate team players.

The two UC Irvine commits and best friends from Newhall have the Hawks poised for a deep run in the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. Their paths to the NCAA level have been similar — and they have gone through much of the journey together.

Here’s a report on the Hart duo.

In the latest soccer rankings, Santa Margarita is No. 1 but the Eagles were tied by Mater Dei last week.

CIF to waive transfer rule

With so many families devastated by fires in Southern California, the CIF is waiving transfer rules for those affected by being displaced or losing their homes.

There will be a form available to schools to fill out to expedite transfer eligibility.

Here’s the link to information about the CIF decision.

The CIF has also temporarily suspended the rule banning competitions on Sundays to allow teams affected by the fires to play on Sundays if needed to finish their seasons.

The City Section has extended the regular season by a week for basketball and soccer and won’t start playoffs until Feb. 19.

City Section changes

Two months after four Marine League coaches united to have their schools forfeit football games to Narbonne in protest of alleged rule violations, the City Section is proposing penalties to schools for forfeiting league games.

The first reading of the proposal will be held this month by the City Section Executive Committee and Board of Managers. It includes possible exclusion from the postseason for schools forfeiting as a first offense. The City Section recognizes reasons for forfeiting, such as lack of players or overscheduling. But what the coaches did left the City Section with no options on how to respond.

There’s also other proposals, such as a new football mercy rule that would initiate a running clock after halftime with a 42-point margin and a proposal to add a Division IV football playoff division. Here’s the report.

Baseball

Some 58 teams participated in the MLK tournament put together by JSerra baseball coach Brett Kay.

Pro baseball scouts sure liked it, because some 40 of them showed up Saturday morning to watch Corona vs. Oaks Christian. Corona has several potential first-round draft choices. Here’s a look at the Panthers’ impressive infield.

One pitcher who has been impressive this winter has been 6-foot-4 Luke Berenson of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. He threw three scoreless innings against Servite on Saturday. He’s committed to Boston College.

The Boras Classic begins March 25 and includes the likely top two baseball teams in Southern California, Corona and Huntington Beach. Here’s the link to the bracket.

Notes . . .

The All-Southern Section football teams were released, with Jordon Davison and Nasir Wyatt of Mater Dei receiving the top awards in Division 1. One glaring issue: There were nine quarterbacks honored in Division 2. That’s not exactly an all-star team. Here’s the complete All-CIF teams. . . .

CalPreps is now hsratings.com and will be used by the Southern Section for football rankings in the fall. . . .

Jose Calzadilla is the new football coach at Burbank Burroughs. . . .

Mitch Olson is the new football coach at Fountain Valley. He was previously head coach at La Palma Kennedy and Loara. . . .

Brett Brown has resigned as football coach at Huntington Beach after nine seasons. The Oilers are where Ohio State commit Brady Edmunds plays quarterback. . . .

David Prieto is out as football coach at Buena Park. . . .

Connor McBride is the new football coach at Woodbridge. . . .

Former Campbell Hall head coach Dennis Keyes is the new defensive coordinator at Chaminade. . . .

Andrew Cedergren is the new football coach at Sonora. . . .

Carson Palmer has made big hires at Santa Margarita. His former USC teammate, Lenny Vandermade, has left St. Ignatius to become the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Santa Margarita. Also interim coach Steve Fifita will remain and be the defensive coordinator. . . .

For the third straight season, Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura has been named the Gatorade state player of the year in cross country. . .

Hart running back Zach Rogozik has committed to Cal Lutheran. . . .

Defensive back Marcellous Ryan of Gardena Serra has committed to North Carolina. . . .

Johan Acu is the new softball coach at Esperanza. . . .

Another week and more football transfers, the biggest of which was JSerra quarterback Ryan Hopkins moving to Mater Dei. Here’s the link for the transfer tracker. . . .

Offensive lineman Malik White, a junior who played for Rancho Cucamonga last season, has committed to San Diego State. . . .

Orange Lutheran 6-foot-8 junior pitcher Gary Morse has committed to Tennessee.

From the archives: Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Fireworks went off in the Camarillo gym as Jaime Jaquez Jr. returned to have his No. 24 jersey number retired Tuesday.

It was a family affair, with his sister, brother and parents there.

Here’s a story from 2018 on his vision ahead.

Recommendations

From Purpleinsider, a story on former San Clemente and USC quarterback Sam Darnold.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on how former Mater Dei and UCLA defensive back Quentin Lake became captain of the Rams.

From the Daily Bulletin, a story on standout guard Aaron Glass from Rancho Cucamonga.

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