boy

A look at The Times’ top 25 boys’ basketball rankings for the Southland after Week 2.

Rk. School (Rec.); Comment; ranking last week

1. SIERRA CANYON (4-0): Brandon McCoy is a dunk machine this season; 1

2. SANTA MARGARITA (6-0): Six-foot-eight Drew Anderson has improved offensive firepower; 2

3. REDONDO UNION (3-0): Showdown with Crespi coming on Saturday; 3

4. ST. JOHN BOSCO (2-0): Christian Collins is the player to watch; 4

5. HARVARD-WESTLAKE (4-1): Texas commit Joe Sterling is delivering; 5

6. SHERMAN OAKS NOTRE DAME (3-1): Knights still not at full strength; 6

7. CRESPI (4-0): Games against Village Christian, JSerra, Redondo Union; 7

8. CORONA CENTENNIAL (5-1): Huskies lose 60-56 in Tennessee; 8

9. JSERRA (5-1): Big game for Jaden Bailes vs. Oak Hills; 11

10. FAIRMONT PREP (5-1): Carlsbad hands Huskies their first defeat; 9

11. CREAN LUTHERAN (4-1): Good win over St. Bernard; 13

12. DAMIEN (6-1): Lost to St. Bernard 53-51; 10

13. SAN GABRIEL ACADEMY (0-2): Tough schedule continues with Redondo Union on Wednesday; 12

14. ETIWANDA (4-0): Eagles are soaring early; 18

15. ROLLING HILLS PREP (5-0): Nick Welch Jr. is performing well; 14

16. LA MIRADA (1-2): Face Harvard-Westlake on Tuesday at Redondo Union; 15

17. EASTVALE ROOSEVELT (3-1): Lost in overtime to La Mirada; 16

18. CORONA DEL MAR (2-0): Impressive win over Orange Lutheran; NR

19. CHAMINADE (7-0): Brycen Butler wins tournament MVP honor; NR

20. ARCADIA (3-1): Fell to St. Francis; 20

21. PASADENA (3-1): League play begins with Arcadia on Dec. 10; 21

22. CROSSROADS (5-0): Showdown at Corona Centennial on Saturday; 22

23. LA HABRA (5-1): 71-47 win over Cerritos; 24

24. LONG BEACH POLY (1-1): Face Windward on Tuesday; 25

25. VILLAGE CHRISTIAN (3-0): Freshman Will Conroy is impressive; NR

On a cool Saturday morning at Fresno’s Woodward Park, Oliver Hunter of Dana Hills became his school’s fifth consecutive state cross-country champion by winning the Division 3 championship with a time of 14 minutes 55.3 seconds.

“He trusted the process. He was all smiles,” coach Craig Dunn said.

Evan Noonan won three titles and Jai Dawson won the other. Hunter was a little concerned early in the season about being pushed and being fit, but Dunn told him again and again, “Trust the process,” and he was ready for his best effort after winning last week’s Southern Section Division 3 championship.

In Division 1 boys, Redondo Union won the team title and Conor Lott of Clovis North held off Maximo Zavaleta of King to win the individual title. Lott ran 14:43.2 and Zavaleta finished in 14:49.7. In Division 1 girls, Jaelyn Williams of San Diego Eastlake won in 16:28.1.

Summer Wilson of Irvine won the Division 2 girls’ title with a course-record time of 16:20. Aelo Curtis of Ventura was second in 16:35.6. Sacramento Jesuit won its 11th boys’ title.

El Toro won the Division 3 girls’ title. Carol Dye of Santa Margarita placed third in 17:22.2.

JSerra won the Division 4 boys’ and girls’ titles. Vin Krueger of Oaks Christian was third in 15:10.5 in the boys’ race.

In Division 5 boys, Olly O’Connor of Viewpoint won the title in 14:52.7.

A STAR from Boy Meets World has revealed he has welcomed a baby girl.

Ben Savage has shared the joyous news that he has become a dad at 45.

The actor, who played the lead role of Cory Matthews on the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World and its Disney Channel sequel Girl Meets World, has shared the first snaps of his baby girl on Instagram.

Ben is married to Tessa Angermeier, whom he wed in March 2023.

And now the pair have welcomed their first child together.

Taking to the platform on Thanksgiving, Ben shared a selection of sweet photos to reveal the birth of their bundle of joy.

Alongside a carousel, Ben wrote simply: “Welcome little one.”

Fans flocked to the comments section to congratulate the actor and his partner on their arrival.

One person penned, “Girl meets world (for real).”

“Dad meets girl, congrats,” said a second.

“Awe congratulations!!! Boy meets baby. Much love to you and your sweet family,” penned a third.

A fourth then added, “Boy met his girl in this world!! Congrats!!”

“Awe how cute, so tiny. Girl meets world. Congratulations to you both,” said a fifth.

While a sixth person wrote, “Congrats man and happy Thanksgiving with the new baby.”

And a seventh added, “Congratulations! Enjoy every moment. Hope Mamma is doing well!”

Prior to Ben and Tessa’s wedding in 2023, the couple had been together for over four years.

Tessa made her first appearance on Ben’s Instagram in August 2018.

Ben’s wife is an Indiana native and currently works as a senior graphic designer.

She works for the company Ben Soleimani, a luxury furniture store in West Hollywood.

She is also the graphic designer, merchandise manager and tour manager for the band The Growlers.

Rio Hondo Prep in Arcadia is like “The Little Engine That Could.” The Kares are 13-0 and set to play for a 17th Southern Section football title on Saturday night despite having a student body of only 150, of which 82 are boys. Their opponent in the Division 5 final is host Redondo Union, which has a student body of nearly 3,000.

Coach Mark Carson said he embraces the challenge of his team moving up, from winning Division 9 two years ago to winning Division 7 last season after years of competing in Division XIII under old playoff systems based on size, geography and past performance. Now a computer algorithm decides divisional placement. The school has grades seven through 12, so Carson starts training players in middle school with the same offense through high school.

“The key is we have a great middle school tackle football program,” he said.

Every boy in the school knows they’re going to play football or work in the program as a manager. Many are multiple-sport athletes. The chemistry and knowledge they build together is apparent on the football field.

“We don’t really pay attention to numbers on the other team,” Carson said.

Quarterback Yanick Diaz said he has been with some of his teammates since kindergarten. They trust each other.

“I’ve known some of these guys for 15, 16 years,” Diaz said. “It’s still 11 versus 11. I’ll take my 11 over yours.”

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

In 2017, Al Jazeera broadcast a documentary by Clover Films that sought to highlight the true origins of the Syrian civil war. By that year, international sympathy for the rebel cause had diminished dramatically as Western media adopted the accepted mainstream position that groups such as al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front and even ISIL (ISIS) had been behind the revolution. (ISIL didn’t even exist at the time of the uprising.) The Boy Who Started the Syrian War would change the narrative.

Now, with the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime along with its army and militia, the Shabiha, it’s time to meet once again with the surviving characters from the original film. One of those is Mouawiya Syasneh, who had laid down his school satchel and picked up a gun to fight with the Free Syrian Army.

A look at The Times’ top 25 boys’ basketball rankings for the Southland after Week 1.

Rk. School (Rec.); Comment; ranking last week

1. SIERRA CANYON (2-0): Brandon McCoy gets nine dunks in season debut; 1

2. SANTA MARGARITA (3-0): Brayden Kyman made five threes at Pauley Pavilion; 2

3. REDONDO UNION (2-0): Seahawks take down nationally ranked Arizona Sunnyslope; 6

4. ST. JOHN BOSCO (2-0): Christian Collins scores 37 points in win over Harvard-Westlake; 5

5. HARVARD-WESTLAKE (1-1): Wolverines suffer two-point loss to St. John Bosco; 3

6. SHERMAN OAKS NOTRE DAME (2-1): NaVorro Bowman scores 34 points at Pauley Pavilion; 4

7. CRESPI (2-0): New players making great progress early in the season; 7

8. CORONA CENTENNIAL: (3-0). High-scoring Huskies are back after scoring 100 points vs. Los Alamitos; 9

9. FAIRMONT PREP (4-0): Four straight wins to start season; 10

10. DAMIEN (4-0): Zaire Rasshan makes nine threes in Sunny Hills tournament title game; 15

11. JSERRA (4-1): Point guard Earl Bryson did well at Pauley Pavilion against No. 1 Sierra Canyon; 11

12. SAN GABRIEL ACADEMY 0-1): Gave Harvard-Westlake a scare in opener; 16

13. CREAN LUTHERAN (2-1): Took down Campbell Hall, came close to Redondo Union; NR

14. ROLLING HILLS PREP (1-0): Plays in Da Vinci tournament this week; 12

15 LA MIRADA (0-1): Plays at Roosevelt on Friday; 13

16. EASTVALE ROOSEVELT (3-0): Freshman Travis Walton Jr. is off to impressive start; NR

17. WINDWARD (0-0): Wildcats open season Monday vs. Knight; 14

18. ETIWANDA (3-0): Talented group of sophomores; 22

19. ORANGE LUTHERAN (4-1): New coach Nate Klitzing is already working his magic; NR

20. ARCADIA (2-0): Play at St. Francis on Wednesday; 19

21. PASADENA (0-0): Open season on Wednesday; 20

22. CROSSROADS (3-0): Evan Willis debuts with 20-point performance; 21

23. MATER DEI (0-1): Lots of work ahead for Monarchs; 8

24. LA HABRA (4-1): Plays at Cerritos on Tuesday; 18

25. LONG BEACH POLY (0-1): Put up good fight vs. Roosevelt; 24

I can’t name a single song by the Jonas Brothers, but I can tell you their names — Joe, Kevin and Nick — and that they made a sitcom, “Jonas” (second season titled “Jonas L.A.”), back in 2009 that I liked a lot. The memory of that show was enough to get me kind of excited for “A Very Jonas Christmas Movie,” premiering Friday on Disney+ — which, as it happens, I also like. The humor is self-deprecating, the setting international, the weather wintry, the company good.

The plot, which is basically “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” minus Steve Martin, John Candy and Thanksgiving, plus the Jonas Brothers, Christmas and magic, finds the boys — are they boys or are they men, it’s a point of discussion — in London, a few days before Christmas on the last night of a six-month tour. While they are good at being the capital-B Jonas Brothers onstage facing screaming thousands, they are less adept at being the small-b brothers after the curtain comes down. Their relationship seems pretty normal to me, but to each his own necessity.

Here they delineate their characters.

Joe (to Nick): You’re the uptight responsible one.

Kevin (to Joe): You’re the relatable tramp. I’m the relatable —

Nick: — human cardboard.

Joe: — forgettable Curly.

Nick: — the world’s most unlikely rock star.

Joe: Not Nick or Joe.

Kevin: I was going to say “handsome, relatable everyman,” but fine.

Anyway! The tour is over and the relatable tramp wants to go out and party, suggesting it could be epic. “We are three extremely exhausted dads in our 30s,” replies the uptight one, “how epic could it be?” And so, while his siblings FaceTime with their IRL families, Joe finds himself on a British barstool — a pubstool — beside a bearded stranger in a red leather jacket. You will recognize the actor as Jesse Tyler Ferguson and the character as St. Nick, barely disguised. Touched by Joe’s story of sibling alienation — “Our Christmas plans are to get the hell away from each other” — Santa works his wonders to keep them together until they get their brotherly magic back. For a start, he sends lightning to blow up the plane they’re scheduled to fly home on. (No one was aboard, we assume.)

“We should be able to function in the real world,” says Nick to Joe, who is about to phone their manager (Randall Park) to fix things.

“That would be ideal,” replies Joe, “but we’ve been famous since we were little kids, so it is what it is.”

Further supernatural complications ensue, allowing Joe to have a “Before Sunrise” episode with childhood friend Lucy (Chloe Bennet), cute-met on a train that should be going to Paris but is headed to Amsterdam, and Nick to hate-duet with frenemy Ethan (Andrew Barth Feldman), whose father he played in a fictional version of “Home Alone: The Musical” (“Being home alone / It’s like being with no / With no people”). Other talents swelling the ranks: Laverne Cox as their agent; Billie Lourd as travel agent Cassidy; Will Ferrell as Will Ferrell, No.1 Jonas fan; and Andrea Martin as a rideshare driver.

The songs feel mechanical — easy on the auto-tune, fellas, I’ve seen your Tiny Desk concert and you don’t need it — though the accompanying production numbers are fun. (You knew there would be production numbers.) But like the Beatles and Monkees before them, the brothers are natural, genuine actors; it’s my own Christmas wish that they find more to do in this line. A little breeze would blow the plot away, but keep the windows shut and you’ll be fine.

If you think Trinity League football is the best in the country, then the Mission League might be its equivalent in boys’ basketball this season.

“It’s off the charts,” Harvard-Wesltake coach David Rebibo said in describing the talent of the eight Mission League teams.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” Chaminade coach Bryan Cantwell said. “We could have all eight teams potentially in the top 30 in Southern California.”

Transfers, promising freshmen and the development of young players has set the stage for a league schedule in January that will allow fans to see players who might be soon appearing on weekend TV for college basketball teams or on NBA rosters.

Harvard-Westlake has won seven consecutive league titles and remains in the title mix. The coaching is so good in the league and the talent so plentiful that it would be no surprise if multiple teams win Southern Section titles depending on what divisions in which they are placed.

It’s not as if the league didn’t have talent before this season, but Cantwell pointed out, “There’s just more on all of the teams.”

Every team except Harvard-Westlake added transfer students this season. The biggest were St. John Bosco senior Brandon McCoy going to Sierra Canyon, 7-foot-3 Cherif Millogo arriving at St. Francis from Boston and 6-9 Sam Mbingazo returning to Bishop Alemany after playing at Iowa Prep last season.

One big loss, though, has been suffered at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, where 6-7 Tyran Stokes, ranked No. 1 by many in the class of 2026, won’t be playing for the Knights. He withdrew from school last week. There are others ready to help replace him.

Zachary White has committed to San Diego State and NaVorro Bowman has gotten so good that he’s become one of the best prospects from the class of 2027.

Sierra Canyon could start a lineup solely of transfers, with Maximo Adams in his second season with the Trailblazers and one of the best players in the class of 2026. Brannon Martinsen, a 6-6 senior, arrived from JSerra.

Sierra Canyon’s Maximo Adams hugs coach Andre Chevalier.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Harvard-Westlake isn’t going anywhere, with the return of standout senior guard Joe Sterling, a Texas commit, senior center Dominique Bentho and guards Pierce Thompson, Amir Jones and Cole Holden. Crespi returns the Barnes twins, Isaiah and Carter.

“There are anywhere between three and five Division 1 players on every team with D1 potential between the sophomores and juniors,” Rebibo said. “The senior class in this league is unreal. It makes the league as competitive as it’s been in a very long time.”

As if talent weren’t enough of a draw, there’s the coaching. Former Lakers star Derek Fisher, who used to coach the New York Knicks, is in his third season at Crespi and no one is intimidated coaching against him. Chaminade’s Bryan Cantwell, St. Francis’ Todd Wolfson and Sierra Canyon’s Andre Chevalier are veteran coaches who’ve all won section championships. Loyola has a first-year coach, Cam Joyce, from Ohio, and Mike DuLaney guided Bishop Alemany to a Division III state title in 2024.

“It’s going to be really competitive and really fun,” Cantwell said.

Throughout Southern California, there are plenty of elite prospects. There’s Missouri-bound Jason Crowe Jr. of Inglewood; Kansas-bound Luke Barnett of Mater Dei; high-scoring junior guard Gene Roebuck of La Mirada; Georgia Tech commit Kaiden Bailey of Santa Margarita; top sophomore transfers Evan Willis and Shalen Sheppard of Crossroads; heavily recruited Christian Collins of St. John Bosco; dynamic senior guard Josiah Johnson of Mayfair; standout senior guard Isaiah Rogers of Corona Centennial; 6-11 Josh Irving of Pasadena, who has committed to Texas A&M; 6-6 rising junior Kevin Keshishyan of Los Altos.

As far as teams, Sierra Canyon, Santa Margarita, St. John Bosco, Redondo Union, Rolling Hills Prep, Harvard-Westlake, Corona Centennial and Damien all appear headed to top teams status.

Unfortunately, the City Section has seen most of its top players transfer or graduate. Palisades is the preseason favorite with the arrival of the 6-6 Popoola twins, Elijah and Olujimi, juniors from Las Vegas.

A TEENAGE boy was banned from boarding his flight because of a sticker on his passport.

Thirteen-year-old Alix Dawson was due to fly to Thailand with his family last month for two weeks.

However, after arriving at Edinburgh Airport, his mum Meghan Law was told that he wouldn’t be allowed to board the flight with his passport at the check in desk.

Meghan, who lives in Aberdeen said: “We got to the airport and were checking in my bags when the [check-in staff member] looked at my passport then just walked away from the desk. She didn’t say anything.

“We were standing there for 20 minutes before I asked what’s going on. She came back and said that my passport was damaged.

“I said I’ve used this umpteen times. No one’s ever mentioned any damage on it before.

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“There were no rips or stains, I don’t know what she was trying to imply. I was really shocked.

“What they were trying to say was that the luggage check-in stickers that had been stuck on one of the pages [and] had damaged the page. But it wasn’t even on the photo page.

“There were no rips, it was just where the sticker marks had been. They said we couldn’t travel with it.

“I knew there were no issues with their passports. We’d probably travelled over a dozen times with them.”

She was then told that they would need to go to Glasgow Airport to get a new emergency passport.

Fearing for their £3,000 holiday, she contacted TUI, who they booked the trip with.

After sending photos of the reported ‘damage’, Meghan said the tour operator found no issues with the passport and put them on the next available flight to Thailand which was with Emirates rather than Qatar Airways.

The family were able to head on holiday with no further obstacles, albeit the next day, from a different airport.

Meghan said: “If I hadn’t booked through TUI and booked it myself, we just wouldn’t have been able to go on holiday.

“One way from Glasgow on the same day of travel would’ve been £2,800.

“We used it six times over the two-week holiday and no one said anything which confirms there were no issues with the passports.”

She said that it “ruined the start of the trip” for being so stressful and is calling for compensation.

Other passengers have been banned from their flights due to them being too damaged.

Countries such as Bali and Vietnam have some of the strictest rules in the world when it comes to passport condition, with airlines fined thousands if they let passengers fly with them.

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Meghan Law, who is an NHS nurse, has expressed her anger after her teenage son Alix Dawson was not allowed to board the Qatar Airways plane for Phuket, Thailand

A mum has blasted Qatar Airways after her 13-year-old son was denied boarding their flight for Thailand.

Meghan Law said there was “no justification” for her experience at Edinburgh Airport, which threatened to derail her £3,000 family holiday. Check-in staff, though, told Meghan there was a “luggage sticker mark” on Alix Dawson’s passport, which they said constituted “damage”.

The mum was ordered to go to Glasgow Airport — around 50 miles away — for a new emergency document. Scrambling to salvage her family’s holiday, Meghan contacted TUI, who she had booked the trip with, for their advice. The tour operator found no issues with the passport and put them on the next available flight to Thailand.

But Meghan, 33, has now vowed to never use Qatar Airways again. The NHS nurse, who has two kids, said: “If I hadn’t booked through TUI and booked it myself, we just wouldn’t have been able to go on holiday. One way from Glasgow on the same day of travel would’ve been £2,800. There’s no way I would’ve been able to pay that.

“I’d never had an experience like that at any other airport. There was no justification for it. I’ll never fly with Qatar again. It ruined the start of the trip – it was so stressful.”

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Meghan, who lives in Aberdeen, has now returned from her two-week holiday, but wants to raise awareness of her experience. HM Passport Office classes a passport as damaged for several reasons, including if details are indecipherable, if there are missing or detached pages and if there is a chemical or ink spillage on any page.

But Meghan said Alix’s document had neither of these issues, and had previously been accepted dozens of times at airports. She continued: “I said I’ve used this umpteen times. No one’s ever mentioned any damage on it before. There were no rips or stains, I don’t know what she was trying to imply. I was really shocked.

“She told me that I need to get an emergency passport from Glasgow Airport. Then she said actually it’s not your passport that’s the problem, it’s your child’s, Alix.

“What they were trying to say was that the luggage check-in stickers that had been stuck on one of the pages [and] had damaged the page. But it wasn’t even on the photo page.

“There were no rips, it was just where the sticker marks had been. They said we couldn’t travel with it. I knew there were no issues with their passports. We’d probably travelled over a dozen times with those passports. We were just left in the airport with no help and no advice.”

The Mirror has contacted Qatar Airways for comment.