Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s playoff time for the winter sports. Let the postseason begin.

The era of algorithm

The Southern Section has turned to computers to rank its teams for the playoffs based on algorithms. Basketball and soccer pairings were released last weekend.

Here’s a look at the culture shock in store as fans and others try to understand division placement based on information inputted by schools (wins and losses).

This first year is challenging catching mistakes. The Southern Section was scheduled to release soccer pairings at 10 a.m. Saturday and was delayed having to make changes as people kept refreshing the website. Here are the complete pairings.

When the pairings finally came out for basketball, it was a 10-team bracket for the Open Division in boys and eight teams in girls. Here’s the rundown.

Here’s the complete pairings for basketball.

Boys basketball

Tajh Ariza of Westchester delivers dunk and 22 points in win over Palisades.

(Steve Galluzzo)

Harvard-Westlake won the Mission League tournament for its seventh consecutive title in a close decision over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Here’s the report.

Westchester stayed unbeaten in the Western League and in the running for the No. 1 seed for the City Section Open Division playoffs. Pairings will be announced Sunday. The season was extended a week because of the Palisades fires. The game comes Monday with Chatsworth hosting Cleveland at 5 p.m. Cleveland won the first meeting. Chatsworth has a win over Westchester, so if it wins the West Valley League, it will be the No. 1 seed.

Girls basketball

Etiwanda won the Baseline League title for the 25th consecutive season.

Jerzy Robinson of Sierra Canyon showed she’s ready for the playoffs by coming through with a career-high 50 points in win over Louisville.

Marantha earned its first playoff berth since 2018-19, and it was quite a journey. Coach Michael Allen lost his home in the Eaton fires and used the drive to make the playoffs as a distraction. Here’s the story.

Wrestling

The City Section will hold its individual championships Saturday at 6 p.m. at Roybal.

In the Southern Section, St. John Bosco won the Division 1 title over Mayfair.

Construction continues

Harvard-Westlake’s underground parking structure is taking shape at its River Park sports complex expected to be finished in the fall of 2026.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Construction to turn the 16-acre Weddington Golf & Tennis facility in Studio City into a nearly $200-million Harvard-Westlake sports complex began last April.

The big surprise — or maybe it’s not a surprise — is how many buried golf balls have been discovered dating to the 1960s.

“We’ve saved thousands of golf balls,” school spokesman Ari Engelberg said.

There are so many golf balls that Harvard-Westlake will hire an artist to turn them into a school logo.

Here’s story and video of the progress being made toward a fall of 2026 opening.

Notes . . .

Former Loyola offensive coordinator Matthew Hatchette is the new football coach at Huntington Beach. . . .

Austin Montoya is the new football coach at Schurr. . . .

Carson has hired William Lowe as its new football coach. It’s a bit surprising, since Lowe has no ties to Carson, but he comes highly regarded from Rancho Christian. . . .

Santa Margarita girls soccer player Jastel David has committed to Utah. . . .

At the winter track and field championships on Saturday at Arcadia, the 60 meters dash featured some pretty fast football players. . . .

Contreras’ football coach resigned in protest of a school decision not to allow any sports teams practice in the offseason in an effort to help students play more than one sports. Then came students and parents supporting the coach and the school reversing its policy. Here’s the update. . . .

The Southern Section girls water polo playoffs resume this week. Here’s the schedule. . . .

On Friday during the Garfield vs. Roosevelt basketball game, Mazda presented a check of $10,000 to Garfield athletic director Lorenzo Hernadez to buy equipment for the school. And Garfield teacher Sholanda Coleman, who tragically lost the home she grew up in and shared with her 93-year-old mother in the Palisades/Altadena fires, will receive $5,000 to help rebuild her home.

From the archives: David Nwaba

Former University High standout David Nwaba, in 2017, with coach Steve Ackerman.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Former University High standout David Nwaba, 31, continues to play basketball professionally in Japan. He recently turned in a 26-points, 13-rebounds performance.

In 2017, Nwaba dropped by University to give coach Steve Ackerman a Lakers jersey to have it framed. Here’s the story.

Nwaba was a three-time All-City player when he graduated in 2011, worked his way to succeed in college after only one scholarship offer and then getting a shot in the NBA.

Recommendations

From Sportskeeda.com, a story on the Betts sisters taking college and high school basketball by storm.

From SI.com, a story on how Tounde Yessoufou ended up at Santa Maria St. Joseph and broke California’s basketball scoring record.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story why former Harvard-Westlake soccer players Alyssa and Gisele Thompson are staying with Angel City.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on Trent McDuffie and JuJu Smith-Schuster playing in the Super Bowl.

Tweets you might have missed