Boys

Nov. 14, 2026 10:24 PM PT

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS

At Mt. San Antonio College

OPEN DIVISION

Newport Harbor 8, JSerra 6

DIVISION 1

Dos Pueblos 10, Mira Costa 9

DIVISION 2

St. John Bosco 7, Damien 6

DIVISION 3

Elsinore 10, Troy 9

DIVISION 4

Winchester Liberty 5, Foothill Tech 3

DIVISION 5

Montebello 11, California 10

Despite being the defending champion, Cleveland was not the No. 1 seed in the City Section Open Division boys’ water polo playoffs.

When the final game was over, however, the Cavaliers proved they are still the best, beating host Palisades 9-7 in a defensive struggle Thursday night to capture their fourth section title in a row and third straight in the Open Division.

Arthur Petrosian scored six goals, including the winner on a shot from the hole with 1:30 left to break a 7-7 tie.

“I’m used to scoring this many goals in a game,” said Petrosian, who netted his team’s first five goals, two of them on five-meter shots, but had to be careful after getting two ejections in the first half. “This title means the most because we had to beat them in their own pool.”

Charlie Rinsky added an insurance goal 40 seconds later, and after the top-seeded Dolphins were thwarted on their next possession, Cleveland played keep-away to run all but three seconds off the clock.

“We came into the game thinking we’d run them over, but after the first three quarters it was tied and we just kept thinking next play and reset on defense,” added Petrosian, who scored twice on five-meter shots in last year’s 9-4 championship victory over Eagle Rock.

Daris Fathali Nejad scored in the second quarter and again in the fourth and goalie Matthew Prontenko made 10 saves for the second-seeded Cavaliers (21-8), who have won five section titles — the first coming in 2010.

Jake Gallagher, Max Szymanski and Reed Winters each scored twice for Palisades (19-11), which holds the City record with 18 crowns, including the Division I title last year. Kai Gundershaug also scored and Aidan Moriarty had nine saves for the Dolphins.

Cleveland started its Open Division trifecta two years ago by snapping Palisades’ streak of 11 consecutive titles with a 15-4 finals victory at Valley College.

Earlier, Granada Hills beat Eagle Rock 10-8 for the Division I title.

Nov. 11, 2026 8:54 PM PT

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS WATER POLO PLAYOFFS
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
SOUTHERN SECTION
Semifinals

DIVISION 1
Mira Costa 13, Buena 10
Dos Pueblos 14, Laguna Beach 11

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
CITY SECTION FINALS
At Palisades

OPEN DIVISION
#2 Cleveland at #1 Palisades, 7 p.m.

DIVISION I
#2 Eagle Rock at #1 Granada Hills, 5 p.m.

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS
At Mt. San Antonio College

OPEN DIVISION
Newport Harbor vs. JSerra, 1:30 p.m.

DIVISION 1
Mira Costa vs. Dos Pueblos, 4:30 p.m.

DIVISION 2
Damien vs. St. John Bosco, 3 p.m.

DIVISION 3
Troy vs. Elsinore, noon

DIVISION 4
Foothill Tech vs. Liberty, 6 p.m.

DIVISION 5
Montebello vs. California, 10:30 a.m.

Looking like two giant rhinos splashing in water and wrestling for superiority, 7-foot-5 Cherif Millogo is getting pushed by 7-foot Yann Kamagate near the basket as each battles to establish position in the low post area during a practice drill.

Kamagate is playing defense. Millogo wants to create a passing lane to receive the ball. The physicality is surprising coming from two teammates at St. Francis High.

This is King Kong vs. Godzilla, with each wearing size-17 basketball shoes.

“I love it because you need to be like this in practice or in a game,” said Millogo, who committed to Kentucky last week. “So that’s how we practice here. That’s the game of basketball. It’s physical, it’s tough.”

Said Kamagate: “I don’t want him to have easy baskets. So I got to play harder with him. I’m making him better playing great defense.”

Imagine what St. Francis will look like when Millogo and Kamagate aren’t practicing against each other. It’s happening next week. Both are from Burkina Faso in West Africa. Millogo played for the Golden Knights last season while Kamagate sat on the bench ineligible.

They are going to be the Mission League’s best twin towers since the days of the Collins twins, Jason and Jarron, playing for Harvard-Westlake in the 1990s.

If St. Francis coach Todd Wolfson wants to be nasty to opponents, he’ll unleash 6-10 Hermann Kone on the court at the same time. Kone is roommates with Millogo and Kamagate, all of whom live with former UCLA and NBA player Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who came from Cameroon.

How opponents deal with St. Francis’ size advantage will be one of the most intriguing storylines for the 2026-27 high school basketball season. St. Francis has been invited to travel to Illinois, Massachusetts and Oregon for tournaments and showcases, all with the idea the twin towers are going to attract fan interest.

Wolfson is preparing for all kinds of strategy scenarios, from full-court presses to teams relying on threes to trapping defenses.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Wolfson said. “It’s fun for our coaches scheming for and scheming against.”

St. Francis’ most memorable game last season involved Sherman Oaks Notre Dame using several players taking turns guarding Millogo, who became so frustrated when fouls weren’t called that he ended up fouling out.

“You saw what other schools do to us. If the other teams are going to be physical, we have to be physical,” Wolfson said of the lesson learned.

As for the offense, Millogo said the strategy is, “One’s low, one’s high. I mean that’s the game plan.”

Asked if they like each other, Millogo said, “I mean, yeah, that’s my brother.”

St. Francis started keeping track of dunks last season, so expect that to continue, and the Golden Knights figure to attract and entertain fans with lots of dunks from their big men.

The Mission League is filled with top coaches, which is why St. Francis’ big men will face plenty of challenges in January when league play begins.

It’s going to be another long season full of twists and changes. Don’t expect to identify a No. 1 team until the sit-out period ends on Christmas day and teams gain access to their full group of transfer students.

The team that will improve the most after sit-out transfers become eligible is Mater Dei, which gains 6-8 Ryan Doane from JSerra and 6-11 Ender Berg from Legacy Christian. Gary McKnight is the winningest coach in California history and should become the winningest coach in the nation this season. He’s 18 wins away.

In the City Section, it’s Palisades against everyone else. The Dolphins get to test themselves early with a Nov. 21 game against St. Francis. They want to do more than repeat as City Open Division champions.

Nov. 10, 2026 10:42 PM PT

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS WATER POLO PLAYOFFS
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
SOUTHERN SECTION
Semifinals

DIVISION 2
Damien 13, Murrieta Valley 12
St. John Bosco 10, Crescenta Valley 8

DIVISION 3
Troy 17, Norco 14
Elsinore 10, Los Altos 8

DIVISION 4
Liberty 7, Buena Park 6
Foothill Tech 9, El Toro 5

DIVISION 5
Montebello 12, Anaheim 11
California 8, Montclair 7

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE
SOUTHERN SECTION
Semifinals

DIVISION 1
Buena at Mira Costa, 5 p.m.
Laguna Beach at Dos Pueblos, 5 p.m.

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
CITY SECTION FINALS
At Palisades

OPEN DIVISION
#2 Cleveland at #1 Palisades, 7 p.m.

DIVISION I
#2 Eagle Rock at #1 Granada Hills, 5 p.m.

Note: Southern Section Finals (all divisions) Saturday, Nov. 14 at Mt. San Antonio College.

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN A PANTY GIRDLE can be a girl’s best friend. For Julie Williamson, the moment came one afternoon in 1969, not long after the smart, ambitious, 29-year-old legal secretary had gone to work for Bob Packwood in the freshman senator’s Portland office. She was alone talking on the telephone when her 36-year-old employer strode in and kissed her on the back of the neck.

The senator had given Williamson, married and the mother of two, a gratuitous smooch once before, at a bar, she says, while her husband was in the men’s room. She had passed it off as a drunken aberration, but this time she spoke up. “Don’t you ever do that again,” she said sternly.

Her words had no effect. Williamson says Packwood followed her into the back room, where he grabbed her by her ponytail, stood on her toes and tried to remove her clothing. The weirdest thing of all, she remembers, was that he didn’t say anything, not a word. The assault was passionless and oddly mechanical. When he couldn’t get her panty girdle off, Williamson says, Packwood abruptly gave up, saying, “Not today, but someday,” as he hurriedly departed. (The senator has repeatedly declined comment on Williamson’s charges, and he declined to be interviewed for this story.)

Williamson’s then-husband, Doug Myers, didn’t believe her. And two male colleagues, she remembers, told her she should be embarrassed about even mentioning the incident. “That’s just the way Bob is,” they said. About a week later, still angry and hurt, Williamson confronted Packwood on the way to a Girl Scout cookie drive. “What was supposed to happen next? Were we just going to lie down on the rug? Like animals in the zoo?”

“I suppose you’re one of the ones who want a motel room,” she says he replied.

Williamson resigned.

THERE WAS A TIME NOT SO LONG AGO WHEN BOB PACKWOOD appeared invincible. As ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, his championing of the use of tax incentives to achieve legislative goals had made him a darling of Wall Street. But Packwood’s appeal was not limited to this traditionally Republican stronghold. Over the years, his support for progressive causes had endeared him to abortion-rights and wilderness advocates, environmentalists, the pro-Israel lobby, the ACLU, the building trades and feminists–interest groups not always found in the campaign ledgers of Republicans.

Packwood’s war chests were so huge and his electoral support so widely distributed that few Oregon Democrats had the courage to challenge him. Longtime Congressman Les AuCoin, gambling on a Democratic sweep, mounted a $2-million effort in 1992, only to find himself outspent 4 to 1 and hammered relentlessly by negative TV ads. Packwood won by three percentage points. Off to Washington for a fifth term, he seemed secure in the title bestowed on him by a regional magazine 14 years ago: “Senator for Life.”

Politically, at least, he often used his power well. But there had long been rumors that Packwood had a “zipper problem.” Ken Rinke, a retired Oregon lobbyist now living in Riverside, remembers that when he was first introduced to Packwood in the late ‘50s, he was warned that the ambitious young lawyer was an inveterate womanizer. Rinke, then lobbying for the railroads, gave Packwood some advice in the form of a joke about a dog that gets its tail cut off by an engine in the switching yard. Angry, the dog turns around and snaps at the train, only to be beheaded by the caboose. The moral? “Don’t lose your head over a piece of tail,” Rinke said.

For years, the rumors went largely unexamined, and stories such as Rinke’s were recounted for their amusement value. In the all-male Senate, such masculine “indulgences” were once deemed acceptable.

But perhaps no longer. Eighteen days after last November’s election, a startling story in the Washington Post accused Packwood of habitual sexual misconduct, citing 10 specific instances. Democratic Party activists and even some Republicans demanded Packwood’s resignation. The senator disappeared for 18 days, spending part of the time at the Hazelden Foundation, an alcohol treatment center in Minnesota. Finally, in a nationally televised press conference on Dec. 10, he issued a formal apology. Without going into detail, he said his past behavior was “just plain wrong” and that, perhaps because of the times he was raised in, he “just didn’t get it.”

“I do now,” he added.

Packwood loyalists expressed satisfaction with the apology, but his critics dismissed it as a ploy to stay in office. “He still doesn’t get it,” says Betty Roberts, a former Oregon Supreme Court justice who ran against Packwood in 1974 and who is a leading member of a newly constituted anti-Packwood coalition called Oregonians for Ethical Representation. Outraged by allegations in the press that Packwood had lied to the Oregon media about the Post investigation and had pressured Post editors not to run the story until after the election, citizens’ groups brought charges of election fraud before the Senate Rules Committee. Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred filed a formal complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee. In March, leaders from a half dozen feminists groups met in Washington to hammer out a uniform strategy on the Packwood issue.

Now Packwood and his opponents are girding for what promises to be a sensational refocusing of the national consciousness on the issue of sexual harassment, raised more than a year ago by Anita Hill. With a parade of witnesses and a Senate that is hungry to show it will give as much weight to the views of working women as to one of its own, Packwood can’t expect the protection of senatorial prerogative. “This is an unprecedented situation,” Allred says, “and it calls for an unprecedented remedy.”

Ironically, for years Packwood had been feminism’s good friend in the Senate. Long before it became fashionable, he was putting women in charge of his campaigns, appointing them to important positions on his staff and paying them well, and he had been a consistent and courageous advocate of reproductive rights. He championed women’s issues, says Gary McMurray, a Portland lawyer and Packwood’s former law partner, “because he believed women are the guardians of liberty, but they are never given any.”

Such was his importance to the women’s movement that Ms. editor Gloria Steinem personally contributed to his 1980 campaign and once wrote a fund-raising letter for him that brought in hundreds of thousands of feminist dollars. Steinem’s first reaction to the Post story was to suggest cutting Packwood some slack. “For some of us, our issue was more important than personal rights,” Allred says. “And about our friends, we discount negative messages. That’s human nature.” But as more stories surfaced, old attitudes changed. After hearing that one of Packwood’s accusers was inspired to work for him by her endorsement, Steinem sent a contribution to Oregonians for Ethical Representation. “I support the women, I believe the women–just as I believed Anita Hill,” she declared at a Portland press conference.

The sense of betrayal has been overwhelming. Packwood’s Washington office received so many nasty fax messages that he had the machine unplugged. On a late January swing through Oregon, demonstrators wearing “I Get It” buttons and shouting “Resign! Resign!” confronted him at every stop. In Portland, where he was greeted by a life-size dummy identified as “Senator Peckerwood,” aides fearing violence refused to disclose the location of his appearances.

Faced with the fact that his mea culpa stance had gotten him nowhere, Packwood abruptly changed course, declaring that his Dec. 10 apology was not an admission of guilt. He had a right to defend himself, he said, and he put his accusers on notice that they can expect a tough grilling.

Packwood’s bravado only served to fan the flames of feminist indignation. “He duped us, used us,” Diane Linn, executive director of the Oregon chapter of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), told a cheering anti-Packwood rally, “but we’re not going to take it anymore!” Meanwhile, Julie Williamson sought and obtained a promise from the Ethics Committee to follow the rape shield law in questioning witnesses. Evidence of past sexual activity not involving Sen. Packwood will not be admissible.

Follow-ups in the press have brought the tally of accusers to as many as 24. The Ethics Committee–Democrats Barbara A. Mikulski and Thomas A. Daschle, Republicans Mitch McConnell, Ted Stevens and Robert C. Smith–is chaired by Sen. Richard H. Bryan, a Democrat and a former Nevada prosecutor renowned for his toughness in rape cases; Bryan has announced that the committee is investigating not only sexual misconduct charges but Packwood’s alleged attempts to intimidate potential witnesses. Preliminary investigations are now well under way, with action by both committees possible anytime between now and the end of the year.

More is at stake than the political future of one incumbent senator, says Kate Michelman, NARAL’s national coordinator and a former Packwood ally. In Hawaii, 10 women recently accused Sen. Daniel K. Inouye of sexual harassment. Minnesota Republican Sen. Dave Durenberger is facing a rape-paternity suit. For feminists, Packwood is a symbol of an order that must go, a boozy, power-addicted, testosterone-poisoned environment in which mashing is mistaken for manliness. They see Packwood’s fall as just one step in a revolution to abolish the old boys’ club that Congress has been.

Thus the battle lines are drawn. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal, rising to Packwood’s defense, called the scandal a Democratic vendetta conceived and orchestrated by the senator’s enemies. Why should Packwood have to resign, loyalists ask, when Ted Kennedy was allowed to stay in office after his performances at Chappaquiddick and Palm Beach?

Is Packwood the victim of mass feminist hysteria, of what one supporter calls “McCarthyism in drag”? Or is he, as NARAL’s Diane Linn has charged, a “sexual predator” and an abuser of power, his behavior beyond the pale even for Capitol Hill? And if that’s the case, why has it taken so long–24 years, if you believe Julie Williamson–for the truth to come out?

AFTER 32 YEARS IN POLITICS, PACKWOOD’S DEEP, MEASURED VOICE IS PRACTICED; his grave, distant expression studied. Only his smile seems unrehearsed, a sudden grin that contorts the left side of his face while the right remains composed. He is moody and tense, a man whose pursuit of senatorial power has become his whole life. His 24-year marriage to Georgie Packwood, a tall, articulate brunette with whom he raised two adopted children–Shyla, now 22, and William, 26–ended in bitter divorce two years ago, and Packwood now lives alone in a two-room basement apartment. “His Senate office is now his real home,” Georgie Packwood says.

In 1968, when Packwood first won election to the Senate, Dan Rather was a dashing young White House correspondent, Packwood the political boy wonder who had cut incumbent liberal Wayne Morse down like an old Douglas fir. Rather liked Packwood’s intelligence, wit, and his willingness to listen to another point of view, but Packwood’s competitiveness was something else. Packwood drove himself and everyone around him unmercifully, barking commands into the Dictabelt he carried with him and constantly racing against time. He has always been, says Harry Boivin, a former Oregon state representative, “150% political. No one works as hard at it.”

Packwood’s decision to tough out the charges against him does not surprise those who know him well. He once had an office softball team and did the pitching, always playing to win. Associates describe him as hyper-competitive, and many refuse to play cards or games with him, says Mark Kirchmeier, University of Portland media director, who is writing a book about Packwood. “You see,” CBS anchor Rather told me when we discussed Packwood for an article I wrote in 1979, “Bob detests losing.”

Packwood has been breathing politics for a long time. His father, Fred, who died in 1965, was a lobbyist for Oregon industry (and later for organized labor), and it was not unusual for legislators to appear at the Packwoods’ Portland dinner table.

Brilliant and aloof, Fred Packwood “did not know how to make people laugh, but when he spoke, everyone else would stop talking and listen,” Georgie Packwood says. On long drives, Fred would pass the time grilling his son on politics, history and philosophy, testing him to the point that Bob would burst into tears. Shy and so nearsighted he had to wear Coke-bottle lenses, Packwood committed himself early on to hard work, often locking himself in his room to study.

It was a matter of survival, family friends say, in a home where the atmosphere became tumultuous after the adults had had a few drinks. Fred and Packwood’s mother, Gladys, fought frequently. In one indelible incident, Bob saw Gladys go to a kitchen drawer and pull out a butcher knife and attack Fred with it. It was not a defensive move, as Bob told the story. Gladys was definitely the aggressor.

Packwood’s parents were parsimonious with affection. At best, Fred would pat Bob on the head sometimes and comment on his physical dimensions (“Say, haven’t you lost weight?”). Gladys hardly ever had a kind word for her son. “He always was a bratty boy,” she once told a reporter. Bob eventually found an escape in the hectic pace of politics.

Though Fred had tried to push him into engineering, Packwood bolted from CalTech after one term, winding up at Willamette University in Salem, where he studied political science. Then came law school at New York University, a job in a Portland law firm and volunteer precinct work in the Republican Party. In no time, he was party chairman in Oregon’s most populous county, Multnomah, and in 1962, he won a seat in the Statehouse.

Even at that early date he was so determined to go to Washington that he undercut a rival Republican’s challenge of Sen. Morse by advising party money men not to invest in his campaign. He was, Portland journalist Mark Kirchmeier noted in a story, saving Morse’s seat for himself.

Packwood proved an indifferent legislator but was a genius at political organizing. “Bob was always into the process, the mechanics of politics, though I never detected any keen interest in substance,” says John Mosser, a former Oregon state senator who is now a Portland holding workshops on how to get elected, and engineering the 1964 GOP takeover of the Statehouse. Fifteen years later, he would do the same thing on the national level, taking charge of the Republican Senatorial Committee, introducing direct-mail fund raising and, thanks also to his ability to influence tax questions in the Finance Committee, increasing Republican campaign revenues twentyfold. As early as 1974, a columnist was touting him as presidential material.

When his party emerged from the 1980 election with its first Senate majority in two decades, Packwood was hailed as one of the brightest Republicans to come along in years.

But Packwood, who in 1970 had introduced the first bill in Congress to legalize abortion, was on a collision course with the Reagan Administration over that issue. In 1982, after other Senate liberals had demurred, he led a filibuster to thwart his Republican President’s attempt to make abortion the equivalent of murder. “You cannot write working women off, and the blacks off, and the Hispanics off, and the Jews off,” he told an Associated Press reporter, “and assume you’re going to build a party on white Anglo-Saxon males over 40. There aren’t enough of us left.”

It wasn’t the first time that Packwood, one of the first Republicans to demand President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation in ‘73, had broken party ranks, but this time he had more to lose. The filibuster was a grand gesture, but it cost him the chairmanship of the Republican Senatorial Committee.

When he was still living with Georgie in their suburban Washington home, Packwood often retreated to a basement study equipped with a sound system to listen to classical music through a headset. “He looked like Snoopy pretending to be the Red Baron,” she says. In his typical loner style, during the current scandal he came out for a freeze on Social Security benefits, staking out a leadership position on the Republican side of the budget debate.

But is there another Bob who forces kisses on women, chases them around his desk and lures them into motel rooms? Is Packwood, as Gloria Steinem suspects, equipped with “two sets of blood vessels”?

GEORGIE PACKWOOD SAYS THAT Bob was the first man she’d ever met who did not know how to flirt and didn’t even try. After many years of marriage, she still didn’t feel she knew him completely. It was difficult for him to shed his formal manners and his obsession with politics and talk about intimate things. For a time, Georgie thought he was mellowing–she had taught him that it was all right for a grown man to cry–but up to the end of the marriage, conversation at home tended to focus on the logistics of life.

Real closeness and communication were often clouded by a fog of alcohol: The son had come to resemble the father. “Bob does have a problem with alcohol,” Georgie says over a cup of coffee at a deli in Lake Oswego, the Portland suburb she moved to in December. “He is a binge drinker who honestly can’t remember what he does during his blackouts.” At Kelly’s Irish Times, his favorite Capitol Hill bar, he is reportedly known for his habit of ordering two drinks at a time and for his ability to consume quantities of alcohol without visible effect. At least some of the unwanted advances he is accused of allegedly took place when he was drinking. On one occasion, his verbal abuse of Georgie broke up a Washington dinner party. “Bob’s problem with alcohol was a major factor in our divorce,” Georgie says.

Packwood’s explanation of why he didn’t remain at Hazelden for the full 28-day program–that the program directors didn’t think he needed to–was revealing to Georgie. Like most alcohol-treatment centers that follow the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, Hazelden demands that applicants admit they are alcoholics and acknowledge that there is a “higher power.” “Evidently, Bob had not reached the point in his life where he could do that,” Georgie says.

Although he says he is seeking counsel from friends in AA, Packwood insists that he is not an alcoholic, pointing out that he has always showed up for work on time. His father, Fred, liked to make the same claim–even though contemporaries remember that he sometimes had to be carried home from the drunk tank by fellow lobbyists.

As early as 1974, during Bob Packwood’s first Senate reelection campaign, Georgie tried to get him to deal with the problem, asking his lawyer, friend and adviser, Jack Faust of Portland, to persuade Packwood to get help. Faust (who at the senator’s request is refusing all comment on the scandal) assured her that he would take care of it.

Georgie renewed the effort in 1980 and 1986, to no avail. In 1984, Packwood had begun to think seriously about a run at the presidency, and he held a meeting on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to discuss the possibility with his supporters. Georgie belonged to a generation of women who sought professional fulfillment vicariously, through their husbands. She could see herself as First Lady, working in partnership with Bob on women’s rights and other causes that are important to her. And yet when asked what she thought of Bob running, she could scarcely disguise her displeasure. “I guess I can get used to the idea,” she said. In private, she firmly told her husband that it was out of the question unless he quit drinking first.

Packwood began to refer to her as his “albatross.” He spent more and more time away from home, speaking to the groups that funded his campaigns and ignoring his family. In the past, he had often taken Georgie along on his trips back to Oregon. Outgoing by nature, she enjoyed helping him work the crowds. But Georgie began to fade out of the picture. She had contracted “Potomac fever,” the gossips said, and didn’t care about her home state anymore. “The truth is,” Georgie says, “I was no longer invited.”

Georgie had noticed how Packwood’s new administrative assistant, Elaine Franklin, managed to find hot-tub time alone with Bob in her skimpy bikini during a campaign swing through Oregon. (“The senator is fond of hot tubs, and he does a lot of thinking in them,” Franklin says. “On many occasions he’d suggest that someone get their bathing suit on and meet him in the hot tub, me included.”) It came as no surprise to Georgie when, in the fall of 1986, Franklin’s husband, Andrew, a Portland engineering executive, had Elaine served with divorce papers at an Oregon motel.

Packwood was in a rage over it when he got back to Washington. Why couldn’t Andy Franklin have waited until after the election? he fumed.

When Georgie pressed him on the subject, Packwood swore that there was nothing to the rumors about him and Elaine. (Franklin calls such allegations “outrageous.”)

When his mother died in 1988, Packwood “went a little crazy,” Georgie says, and their home life completely fell apart. Georgie tried to be understanding. Fred had long since died, and Packwood’s sister, Pat, had perished in an auto accident some years earlier. “Bob was alone, confronting his own mortality,” she says, “and in his subconscious, he must have realized that he was now forever without that mothering he had missed as a child.” She asked him not to run again for the Senate, to spend more time with his children. “You’ll only be 60; you’ll have had 24 successful years. Why not quit while you’re ahead?” she said.

Packwood ignored her advice but did go to marriage counseling, where, Georgie says, he acted as if the problems were hers, not his. Trapped into agreeing to bring Elaine Franklin in on the discussions, he reneged at the last minute. A year later, Georgie filed for divorce.

The proceeding, which took place in 1990, lasted two days. Bob leafed through court documents making notes as though it were just another day at the office, and when it was over, he offered his ex-wife his hand as though concluding the successful mark-up of a bill. “I was so numb with grief that I couldn’t speak or think clearly,” Georgie says, “but a little voice in the back of my head was saying, ‘This is not the man I married. This man lost something on his way to the Senate.’ ”

JULIE WILLIAMSON REMAINED active in politics after leaving Packwood’s employ, serving as a volunteer to local causes and candidates and running Congressman AuCoin’s Oregon office in the early ‘80s. In that position, she heard rumors of continuing hanky-panky in the Packwood camp. Reportedly, those Packwood staffers who complained were told to shut up. “If you ever talk, you will have Bob for an enemy, and you will never get another job in Washington,” one woman allegedly was warned.

Early in March of 1992, the Seattle Times broke the story of former Washington Sen. Brock Adams, accused of harassing and even drugging women in order to have sex with them. Shortly after, Williamson spoke with Oregonian political columnist Steve Duin, who was seeking perspective on the Adams affair. Was Adams’ behavior typical in her experience? Williamson said no, she had had only one such problem over the years. She told him about the panty-girdle incident. Duin said he wanted to write it up.

Williamson hesitated. Anita Hill’s televised ordeal had given her an idea of the flak she could expect if she went public. She agreed to talk, but only on background.

Duin wrote a column about Williamson’s allegations, but since she did not want her identity disclosed, he did not name her–or Packwood. The paper ran no other stories on the subject; two months later, Packwood defeated his chief opponent. AuCoin won the Democratic primary, and a tough general election battle loomed ahead. “I wondered why the Oregonian was not following up on the story,” Williamson says. She thought no one cared about what happened years ago.

But the Oregonian was not ignoring her story. A police reporter, Holley Gilbert, who had recently completed a prizewinning series on rape, spent several weeks on the phone to some of the more than 800 people Packwood has employed over the years, but no one was willing to go public.

Gilbert had never heard the story of Roberta Ulrich, the paper’s 64-year-old Washington correspondent. In early March, 1992, when Ulrich had gone to Packwood’s office for a routine chat, Packwood offered her a drink from the box wine he kept in his office cooler, and as it was late in the day, she accepted. The senator drank two or three glasses himself, and when Ulrich got up to leave, he came around his desk and kissed her on the lips, she says. Ulrich considered the kiss improper, she says, and reported it to her editor, but word of the incident did not reach the paper’s top editors.

The search was taken up by Florence Graves, a former editor of Common Cause magazine, who was doing a story for Vanity Fair about sexual harassment in Congress. Graves interviewed Williamson in April and began to focus on Packwood and to look for a new publisher after Vanity Fair proved unwilling to indemnify her against possible legal costs. It wasn’t until late September, when Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie teamed her with investigative reporter Charles Shepard, that she was given a green light. One reason the Post took Graves seriously was that one of its own reporters had told her editors about a similar experience with Packwood.

With the election little more than a month away, Graves and Shepard tracked down and interviewed nine more women who related personal incidents of sexual harassment or misconduct by Packwood. The women, all former Packwood employees, campaign volunteers or lobbyists, told of being grabbed, fondled and kissed by Packwood in his office, in Capitol corridors and in motel rooms to which he had invited them on false pretenses. All said they had resisted the advances and did not formally complain or report him because they were embarrassed and feared damage to their careers or causes.

“It’s very dismaying,” says abortion-rights activist Mary Heffernan, one of Packwood’s accusers. “You think you have one kind of relationship with a man, based on your work, and then you realize it’s about sex.”

Ten days before the election, Packwood got wind of the Post story and complained to publisher Katharine Graham, who passed on his concerns to Downie. Downie suggested that Packwood talk to the Post’s reporters.

Packwood put Graves and Shepard off for a week, finally meeting them five days before the election. Told that the Post was planning to run its story Nov. 1 (a bluff, Downie now says), Packwood denied the charges and demanded more time to respond.

On Oct. 30, he launched his counterattack, peppering the Post’s downtown office as well as Downie’s home with faxes suggesting that several of his accusers were either deranged, carrying grudges or had invited his advances. The Post postponed the story until after the election.

Meanwhile, the Oregon media were rife with rumors of the Post investigation, which both Packwood and Franklin denied knowing about. (Those successful attempts to forestall a breaking news story became the basis of several petitions to the Senate Rules Committee to have Packwood’s election victory thrown out.)

On Saturday, Oct. 31, after hearing that the Post story was delayed, Julie Williamson pondered how to get the issue before the voters in time for the Tuesday election. Charles Williamson, a Portland attorney she had married after her divorce from Doug Myers, impulsively wrote the copy for a full-page ad in the Sunday Oregonian on his computer. But when he called the newspaper, he was told it was too late–the advertising deadline had passed. And so, on Nov. 3, Oregon voters reelected a United States senator, unaware of the cloud of suspicion hanging over him.

GEORGIE PACKWOOD HAD been vacationing in Copenhagen and didn’t get back to Washington until after the election. Penny Durenberger, the estranged wife of Sen. Dave Durenberger, picked her up at the Baltimore airport. “While you’ve been gone, what have you heard?” Durenberger asked.

She’d heard everything. A reporter had contacted her and in the course of an interview had filled her in on the scandal that was about to break. Georgie was not surprised, she says. She was only sad that tragedy had engulfed the man she had loved–and overtaken her friend’s life, in the form of the rape-paternity suit against Dave Durenberger, as well. “Now how,” she asked ruefully, “did a couple of nice old ladies like us get involved in a mess like this?”

Georgie didn’t know how badly her husband was faring until January, when she saw him on TV. There was Bob on his first visit to Oregon since the election, surrounded by screaming demonstrators in Eugene. “I could see the fear in his eyes; he looked like a treed animal,” she says. She turned the set off.

The usually sure-footed senator is sliding in this new territory, and it’s clear he realizes the depth of his troubles. At Christmas, Packwood had told his son that he still hoped to run one more time. In late March, however, he quietly took steps to sell his only Oregon property, 20 acres with a trailer south of Portland. For Oregon politicians, lack of legal residence is often viewed as a fatal defect, even for the most powerful. “It’s a sure sign,” says a friend, “that Bob knows his political career is over.”

Another prominent longtime friend, though, isn’t so sure. “I would bet anything,” says the friend, “that he will not quit.”

Packwood now finds himself in the odd position of having to scramble for allies. Abandoned by the women’s movement, he recently reversed himself on a couple of issues important to Republicans, voting against a job-benefits extension and the “motor-voter” bill in an apparent attempt to strengthen his GOP ties. It is Republican support he must count on in the showdown that lies ahead. He has retained attorney James Fitzpatrick, an intelligent and engaging veteran of Capitol Hill battles, to represent him.

Only 15 senators have ever been expelled, all because of felony convictions or charges of treason; most were senators who sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War. Many observers of the Packwood battle consider expulsion unlikely. Nor does it seem likely that the Senate Rules Committee will unseat a senator because he misled reporters. Realistically, censure by the full Senate, with possible loss of seniority, is the harshest penalty Packwood faces. He might receive a reprimand, or, in the event the Ethics Committee chooses not to believe almost two dozen women, many of them Republicans, he might be found innocent.

In an odd way, Packwood is more important to the women’s movement now, in flagrante delicto, than he ever was in the past. If a senator can be made to toe the line, feminists believe, it will set a standard for the whole country.

Bracing for what may be the Capitol’s most dramatic witnessing since Anita Hill’s, Julie Williamson is feeling the stress. “I thought I was tough,” says the 53-year-old political consultant. “I had no idea how difficult it would be.” What keeps her in the fight is the belief that she is not alone, that others had their toes stepped on, that no one was immune.

It isn’t flirting or office romance that Williamson and company want to end, but abuse of power, the sexual harassment of subordinates that continues to plague the world of work. “This is bigger than Packwood,” Williamson says. “It’s an opportunity for the Senate to show the people of this country that they get it.”

Nov. 9, 2026 8:33 PM PT

MONDAY’S RESULTS

CITY SECTION

Semifinals

DIVISION I

#1 Granada Hills 17, #4 LACES 9

#2 Eagle Rock 9, #3 Birmingham 5

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

SOUTHERN SECTION

Semifinals

DIVISION 2

Murrieta Valley at Damien, 5 p.m.

Crescenta Valley at St. John Bosco, 5 p.m.

DIVISION 3

Norco at Troy, 5 p.m.

Elsinore at Los Altos, 5 p.m.

DIVISION 4

Buena Park at Liberty, 5 p.m.

El Toro at Foothill Tech, 5 p.m.

DIVISION 5

Montebello at Anaheim, 5 p.m.

Montclair vs. California at El Rancho, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

SOUTHERN SECTION

Semifinals

DIVISION 1

Buena at Mira Costa, 5 p.m.

Laguna Beach at Dos Pueblos, 5 p.m.

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE

CITY SECTION FINALS

At Palisades

OPEN DIVISION

#2 Cleveland at #1 Palisades, 7 p.m.

DIVISION I

#2 Eagle Rock at #1 Granada Hills, 5 p.m.

Note: Southern Section Finals (all divisions) Saturday, Nov. 14 at Mt. San Antonio College.

Nov. 8, 2026 12:06 AM PT

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

SOUTHERN SECTION

Semifinals

OPEN DIVISION

Newport Harbor 13, Oaks Christian 8

JSerra 13, Harvard-Westlake 11

MONDAY’S SCHEDULE

CITY SECTION

Semifinals

DIVISION I

#4 LACES at #1 Granada Hills, 3 p.m.

#3 Birmingham at #2 Eagle Rock, 3 p.m.

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

Semifinals

SOUTHERN SECTION

(Games at 5 p.m. unless noted)

DIVISION 2

Murrieta Valley at Damien

Crescenta Valley at St. John Bosco

DIVISION 3

Norco at Troy

Elsinore at Los Altos

DIVISION 4

Buena Park at Liberty

El Toro at Foothill Tech

DIVISION 5

Montebello at Anaheim

Montclair vs. California at El Rancho, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

SOUTHERN SECTION

Semifinals

DIVISION 1

Buena at Mira Costa, 5 p.m.

Laguna Beach at Dos Pueblos, 5 p.m.

Note: City Section Finals Thursday, Nov. 12 at Palisades (Division I at 5 p.m., Open Division at 7 p..m.); Southern Section Finals (all divisions) Saturday, Nov. 14 at Mt. San Antonio College.

LEE Andrews has hit out at his ex Katie Price, and confirmed he’s looking for love once again via celebrity dating app Raya.

The self-proclaimed ‘businessman’ took to his Instagram on Friday night to slam the former glamour model, proving their suspected reconciliation is far from on.

Taking to his Instagram Stories, Lee actually encouraged his followers to get in touch and potentially date him.

He wrote: “Since my soon to be ex wife has joined dating apps and is now following random boys.

“I think it’s only fair this man trys innocent dating. Dm me and I’ll come have fun turn up a devilish Gent and be your date love Lee Andrews x.”

Lee then tagged dating app Raya.

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FINAL VERDICT

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Katie then took to her Instagram page to confirm she is not, in fact, on dating apps at all.

She wrote: “Just to address the situation I’ve been married had the family life I thought my last marriage was for real and my final destination.

“I’m not interested in meeting anyone else engaging with anyone messaging anyone or going on any dating apps or dates.”

Katie added that she is “happy and content” in her own life with her circle of friends and family.

It comes after conman Lee told fans today that he has plans to remove all his tattoos – including the three tributes he has to Katie and one for her son Harvey.

Lee currently has “Owned by Katie” inked across his back, “Katie” scrawled in cursive on his hand and at the top of his stomach.

He’s also shown off his portrait of Harvey and a frog.

This comes after months of drama, with Katie revealing she had dumped Lee after becoming fed up with his web of lies.

Katie ended their marriage via WhatsApp after discovering he had just £2.22 in his bank account – despite claiming to be a millionaire – while Lee was recently released from Dubai’s notorious Al Awir prison following a four-month stint.

ANGRY Ginge left fans ‘sobbing’ upon announcing his exit from content creator group the Bov Boys – after teasing a ‘massive’ venture.

The group formed in July 2025 and also includes Tays, Heinz Baines, NYKChazza and Jakey Davies.

Taking to Instagram via Bov Boys’ account, the former I’m A Celebrity winner, 24, revealed his decision to depart the collective.

He penned: “Well hello there. I know this isn’t the news you were expecting, however, it’s the news that is here.

“Before I go any further, I just want to say THANK YOU! Thank you for all the love for the BOV Boys these last 12-18 months.

“Without you, the memories, support and love wouldn’t have been the same.”

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I’m A Celeb fans convinced Angry Ginge & Lisa Riley bagged hosting gig on show

BIG NEWS

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Ginge went on describe the group as his “brothers for life” and shared his love for them.

He added: “But in life, you never know where your story ends, and for me and BOV, the story ends here.

“It’s been an amazing time, with memories I will take to my grave, from Benidorm to our first ever recording in London.

“Although this is the END for me and BOV, the love and the friendships go on!”

Ginge further clarified he would still be appearing with Bov Boys on live streams.

He admitted it hadn’t “been an easy decision”, but said “the boys will smash it without me.”

Ginge concluded: “I’m wishing them nothing but the best of luck.

“Thank you for everything, but remember, this isn’t goodbye, it’s a see you later!”

One follower penned: “Not going to be the same without you!!”

Another added: “I’m sobbing, good luck Ginge.”

A third wrote: “Come on now let’s not be silly.”

A fourth chimed in: “This better be some joke.”

It comes after fans were convinced Ginge and his former I’m A Celebrity co-star Lisa Riley had bagged a gig together.

Both of them took to social media with cryptic teases, with Mandy Dingle star Lisa hinting at something “massive.”

Prior to this year’s Big Brother, the group spent the weekend on a 24 hour live-stream in the famous house.

One of them, Michael “Tays” Taylor, stayed on for an additional week as a “mole” in the house.

Last year, Tays and fellow Bov Boys member Jakey addressed Ginge leaving the group should he win I’m A Celeb – which he did.

On Good Morning Britain, Ed Balls asked the pair: “If he wins is he still going to be a Bov Boy?

“Or do you think he might decide to leave it behind and go on to bigger things?”

Jakey replied: “Oh I really hope not.”

Nov. 3, 2026 11:33 PM PT

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS WATER POLO
SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
Second Round

DIVISION 2
Murrieta Valley 12, Palos Verdes 11
Redondo Union 7, Royal 5
Damien 13, Dana Hills 11
La Habra 13, Northwood 11
St. John Bosco 9, Pasadena Poly 5
El Segundo 18, Capistrano Valley 10
Alta Loma 13, Bonita 7
Crescenta Valley 13, Santa Monica 11

DIVISION 3
Norco 12, Camarillo 10
La Serna 9, Millikan 5
Ayala 10, Walnut 9
Troy 17, Brentwood 13
La Canada 6, Flintridge Prep 5
Elsinore 8, Redlands 7
Los Osos 14, Trabuco Hills 12
Los Altos 14, Cathedral 13

DIVISION 4
Liberty 8, San Dimas 4
Aquinas 12, Carpinteria 10
Temescal Canyon 14, Sunny Hills 11
Buena Park 8, West Covina 4
El Toro 6, Yorba Linda 5
Warren 15, Western 12
Foothill Tech 12, Pasadena 9
Laguna Hills 9, Arlington 5

DIVISION 5
Montebello 12, Keppel 5
Torrance 13, San Bernardino 5
Riverside North 10, Norte Vista 8
Anaheim 15, San Gorgonio 9
Oxnard 10, Whittier 9
Montclair 8, Lakewood 7
Hacienda Heights Wilson 10, Heritage 9
California 25, Palm Springs 9

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Games at 5 p.m. unless noted)
Quarterfinals

DIVISION 1
Mira Costa at Westlake
Mater Dei vs. Buena, site TBA
Huntington Beach at Laguna Beach
Yucaipa vs. Dos Pueblos, site TBA

Note: Quarterfinals (Divisions 2-5) Friday, Nov. 6 at home sites; Semifinals (Open Division) Saturday, Nov, 7 at home sites; Semifinals (Divisions 2-5) Tuesday, Nov. 10 at home sites; Semifinals (Division 1) Wednesday, Nov. 11 at home sites; Finals (all divisions) Saturday, Nov. 14 at Mt. San Antonio College.

Oct. 31, 2026 10:07 PM PT

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

First Round

OPEN DIVISION

Beckman 20, Newport Harbor 17

Oaks Christian 11, Loyola 8

Harvard-Westlake 16, Corona del Mar 11

JSerra 12, Santa Margarita 3

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

(Games at 5 p.m. unless noted)

Second Round

DIVISION 2

Palos Verdes at Murrieta Valley

Royal at Redondo Union

Damien at Dana Hills

La Habra at Northwood

St. John Bosco at Pasadena Poly, 3:30 p.m.

Capistrano Valley at El Segundo

Bonita at Alta Loma

Crescenta Valley at Santa Monica

DIVISION 3

Camarillo at Norco

La Serna vs. Millikan at Lakewood

Walnut at Ayala

Troy at Brentwood

Flintridge Prep at La Canada

Redlands at Elsinore

Trabuco Hills at Los Osos

Cathedral at Los Altos, 3:45 p.m.

DIVISION 4

Liberty vs. San Dimas at Charter Oak

Aquinas at Carpinteria

Sunny Hills at Temescal Canyon

Buena Park at West Covina

Yorba Linda at El Toro

Western at Warren

Foothill Tech vs. Pasadena at Arcadia

Arlington vs. Laguna Hills at Trabuco Hills

DIVISION 5

Keppel at Montebello

San Bernardino vs. Torrance at Redondo Union, 3 p.m.

Norte Vista at Riverside North

Anaheim at San Gorgonio

Whittier at Oxnard

Lakewood at Montclair

Heritage at Hacienda Heights Wilson

California vs. Palm Springs at Palm Springs Swim Center, 4 p.m.

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE

(Games at 5 p.m. unless noted)

Quarterfinals

DIVISION 1

Mira Costa at Westlake

Mater Dei vs. Buena, site TBA

Huntington Beach at Laguna Beach

Yucaipa vs. Dos Pueblos, site TBA

Note: Quarterfinals (Divisions 2-5) Friday, Nov. 6 at home sites; Semifinals (Open Division) Saturday, Nov, 7 at home sites; Semifinals (Divisions 2-5) Tuesday, Nov. 10 at home sites; Semifinals (Division 1) Wednesday, Nov. 11 at home sites; Finals (all divisions) Saturday, Nov. 14 at Mt. San Antonio College.

Oct. 31, 2026 9:11 AM PT

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS WATER POLO

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

First Round

DIVISION 1

Mira Costa 14, San Juan Hills 4

Westlake 16, San Marcos 15

Mater Dei 12, Sage Hill 11

Buena 13, Riverside Poly 11

Laguna Beach 13, Santa Ana Foothill 9

Huntington Beach 10, Orange Lutheran 9

Yucaipa 17, San Clemente 16

Dos Pueblos 19, Los Alamitos 14

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

First Round

OPEN DIVISION

Beckman at Newport Harbor, 2 p.m.

Loyola at Oaks Christian, 11 a.m.

Corona del Mar at Harvard-Westlake, 1 p.m.

Santa Margarita at JSerra, 3 p.m.

Note: Second Round (Divisions 2-5) Tuesday, Nov. 3, at home sites; Quarterfinals (Division 1) Thursday, Nov. 5 ,at home sites; Quarterfinals (Divisions 2-5) Friday, Nov. 6, at home sites; Semifinals (Open Division) Saturday, Nov, 7, at home sites; Semifinals (Divisions 2-5) Tuesday, Nov. 10, at home sites; Semifinals (Division 1) Wednesday, Nov. 11, at home sites; Finals (all divisions) Saturday, Nov. 14, at Mt. San Antonio College.

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

First Round

DIVISION 2

Palos Verdes 23, Rosemead 8

Murrieta Valley 14, San Marino 13

Redondo Union 8, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 7

Royal 13, Chino Hills 7

Damien 14, Upland 8

Dana Hills 13, Long Beach Poly 10

Northwood 12, Aliso Niguel 9

La Habra 23, Glendora 8

St. John Bosco 14, Anaheim Canyon 10

Pasadena Poly 14, Portola 9

Capistrano Valley 11, Irvine University 10

El Segundo 17, Corona Santiago 13

Alta Loma 17, Downey 6

Bonita 11, Redlands 6

Santa Monica 18, Temple City 7

Crescenta Valley 11, Cate 10

DIVISION 3

Camarillo 13, South Pasadena 4

Norco 14, Burbank 9

Millikan 12, Fullerton 7

La Serna 15, Placentia Valencia 10

Ayala 14, Hemet 11

Walnut 9, Agoura 7

Brentwood 10, Rancho Cucamonga 8

Troy 14, Xavier Prep 12

La Canada 17, Burbank Burroughs 8

Flintridge Prep 11, Brea Olinda 7

Elsinore 12, Malibu 10

Redlands 7, Valley View 4

Trabuco Hills 17, El Dorado 11

Los Osos 8, Murrieta Mesa 6

Cathedral 17, Great Oak 13

Los Altos 10, Villa Park 8

DIVISION 4

Liberty 16, Westminster 8

San Dimas 11, El Modena 10

Aquinas 16, Palm Desert 14

Carpinteria 16, West Torrance 6

Temescal Canyon 15, Segerstrom 12

Sunny Hills 12, Ocean View 8

West Covina 16, Don Lugo 15

Buena Park 11, Schurr 5

Yorba Linda 11, La Palma Kennedy 4

El Toro 8, South Torrance 6

Warren 9, Santa Barbara 8

Western 16, Estancia 10

Foothill Tech 12, Peninsula 6

Pasadena 10, Chino 9

Laguna Hills 13, Charter Oak 10

Arlington 13, La Quinta 9

DIVISION 5

Montebello 17, Perris 3

Keppel 11, Fontana 6

Torrance 10, Santa Ana Valley 4

San Bernardino 17, Nogales 11

Norte Vista 22, Riverside Notre Dame 8

Riverside North 9, Canyon Springs 4

San Gorgonio 16, Pacific 10

Anaheim 20, Costa Mesa 7

Whittier 20, Saddleback 6

Oxnard 7, Edgewood 6

Lakewood 11, El Rancho 5

Montclair 19, Whitney 1

Hacienda Heights Wilson 23, West Valley 6

Heritage 11, Westminster La Quinta 8

Palm Springs 8, Cerritos 7

California 15, Baldwin Park 7

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE

(Games at 5 p.m. unless noted)

First Round

DIVISION 1

San Juan Hills at Mira Costa

Westlake at San Marcos

Sage Hill at Mater Dei

Riverside Poly vs. Buena at Rio Mesa

Santa Ana Foothill vs. Laguna Beach at El Toro

Orange Lutheran vs. Huntington Beach at Westminster

Yucaipa vs. San Clemente at Vista Hermosa Sports Park

Los Alamitos at Dos Pueblos

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

First Round

OPEN DIVISION

Beckman at Newport Harbor, 2 p.m.

Loyola at Oaks Christian, 11 a.m.

Corona del Mar at Harvard-Westlake, 1 p.m.

Santa Margarita at JSerra, 3 p.m.

Note: Second Round (Divisions 2-5) Tuesday, Nov. 3 at home sites; Quarterfinals (Division 1) Thursday, Nov. 5 at home sites; Quarterfinals (Divisions 2-5) Friday, Nov. 6 at home sites; Semifinals (Open Division) Saturday, Nov, 7 at home sites; Semifinals (Divisions 2-5) Tuesday, Nov. 10 at home sites; Semifinals (Division 1) Wednesday, Nov. 11 at home sites; Finals (all divisions) Saturday, Nov. 14 at Mt. San Antonio College.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. The high school basketball season begins in two weeks, yet players have been playing non-stop since the summer. Let’s look at top players in the Southland for boys.

Players to watch

The Mission League is so loaded with talent in basketball that five teams — Sierra Canyon, Harvard-Westlake, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, St. Francis and Crespi — are considered among the top 10 teams in the Southland.

Jordan Mize, Josh Lowery and JJ Sati-Grier are returnees from Sierra Canyon’s state championship team, and Houston Rolle transferred from Heritage Christian. That’s an impressive starting four.

St. Francis has twin towers 7-foot-5 Cherif Millogo and 7-0 Yann Kamagate. Harvard-Westlake has returning guards Pierce Thompson and Cole Holden. Notre Dame’s NaVorro Bowman is headed to UConn. Transfer King Rachal is 6-7 and committed to Utah State. Josiah Nance is committed to SMU. Crespi has twins Carter and Isaiah Barnes entering their senior years.

There’s been lots of movement in the Trinity League to Mater Dei. Isaiah Williamson left Los Alamitos, Ryan Doane left JSerra and Ender Berg left Legacy Christian, all ending up at Mater Dei, which could have a starting five of former transfer students.

All-star guard Gene Roebuck, a Cal commit, will have spent four years at La Mirada, which is an achievement itself. Coming off sensational freshman seasons are guards Will Conroy Jr. from Village Christian and Quali Giran from Long Beach Millikan.

Palisades remains the team to beat in the City Section with returnees Phillip Reed, EJ and OJ Popoola and Jack Levey.

Mahamadou Diop, a 6-11 center at San Gabriel Academy, has committed to San Diego State. Nick Welch Jr. is a 6-9 center at Rolling Hills Prep ready to become a big-time player. Chris Sanders is coming off a great junior season at Redondo Union.

Davey Harris at Windward, Ethan Hill at Brentwood, Chris Paul Jr. at Campbell Hall and the trio of Evan Willis, Shalen Sheppard and Van Moczydlowsky of Crossroads are part of a wicked Gold Coast League, which will be the toughest to predict a champion.

The best three-point shooting guard is back at Damien in Zaire Rasshan. Etiwanda has 6-3 junior Devin Mitchell. Grayson Coleman of Milken should have lots of games beyond 30 points. Oaks Christian returns its leading scorer, junior Brady Sullivan. Maxwell Scott from Corona del Mar averaged 21.7 points last season and is headed to Harvard. Guard Earl Bryson is at Crean Lutheran after starring at JSerra.

This is just a refresher of some names before games officially begin Nov. 13 in the City Section and Nov. 16 in the Southern Section. And, if some of your favorite players from last season are now at different schools, welcome to how you try to win a championship in 2026-27.

Carson quarterback Chris Fields III points toward the sky after his 71-yard touchdown run against San Pedro.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

It’s week 10 and the last chance to seal up playoff spots or league championships.

Carson wrapped up the Marine League championship and the No. 1 seed for the City Section Open Division playoffs with a 35-0 win over San Pedro. Here’s the report.

Compton won its first league championship since 1979 winning the new Hub City League title. Compton finished the regular season 9-1.

San Juan HIlls delivered the biggest upset of the week, knocking off San Clemente, which played without injured quarterback Preston Beck. Here’s the report.

Tru Warrior Casas of Fairfax turned in a great individual performance, rushing for 331 yards and four touchdowns in a loss to Palisades.

Sophomore Asir Nembhard of Mater Dei set a school record with 349 yards rushing in a wild win over Orange Lutheran.

Santa Barbara’s Cade Mault accounted for all 13 of his team’s points in a 13-10 win over Westlake, getting an 85-yard touchdown reception, making the PAT and making field goals from 49 and 43 yards.

Culver City’s Nicholas Hoang passed for 480 yards and six touchdowns in a win over Torrance. Nathaniel Cadet of Marshall had seven touchdown passes in win over L.A. Wilson.

League championships are on the line in Bishop Amat at Sierra Canyon, Valencia vs. Hart at College of the Canyons, San Juan Hills at Mission Viejo. Another good game is unbeaten Mary Star at Carson, not to mention the annual East. L.A. Classic matching Garfield and Roosevelt at East Los Angeles College.

And St. John Bosco plays Mater Dei at Santa Ana Stadium in a game for second place in the Trinity League and a top four playoff berth in Division 1.

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

Here’s the top individual performances.

Here’s this week’s 10 schedule.

Chemistry vs. talent

Quarterback Ryan Rakowski (left) and receiver Jalen Flowers before a Palos Verdes game praying. They have great chemistry on the football field.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

There’s debate: What’s more important, chemistry or talent?

In regards to quarterbacks and receivers, it’s pretty clear chemistry is a must, with both being able to anticipate and understand each other’s moves.

Here’s a look at some of the top duos this season.

The Southern Section flag football playoffs continue, but there’s still no sign any team can offer competition to unbeaten JSerra (25-0).

Here’s this week’s matchups.

The only upset in the opening round of Division 1 was Lakewood St. Joseph defeating No. 4 Huntington Beach.

Cross country

At the Mt. SAC Invitational, Sabina Cruz of Westlake stamped herself as a CIF title contender with a win in the girls team sweepstakes race in 16:35.1.

Redondo Union’s Mario Montoya ran a scorching 13:43.5 to top the boys races.

Crescenta Valley had the best team score in boys. Great Oak was second in girls.

Power of grandparents

The Reis twins, Christian (left) and Weston, are juniors for Palos Verdes and cheered on by grandparents.

(Nick Koza / For The Times)

Grandparents sitting in the football bleachers offer moments of magic at high school football games.

For a look at their loyalty and impact, here’s a look at the grandparents of Palos Verdes twins Christian and Weston Reis.

Notes . . .

Outfielder Matti Di Maggio of Dos Pueblos has reclassified from class of 2029 to class of 2028. He was on The Times’ all-star baseball team last season as a freshman and won a gold medal playing for the USA 15U national team. Now he’ll be considered a junior this spring….

Tresbien Caraway has resigned after 11 years as basketball coach at New Roads….

Mahamadou Diop, a 6-foot-11 center from San Gabriel Academy, has committed to San Diego State….

Ender Berg, a 6-11 transfer from Legacy Christian, and Ryan Doane, a 6-8 transfer from JSerra, will be eligible at Mater Dei beginning Christmas Day….

Junior center fielder Dane Disney from Oaks Christian has committed to UCLA….

Zain Majeed, a 6-8 senior at Mater Dei, has committed to Princeton….

Long Beach Wilson’s boys’ water polo team did not apply for a Southern Section playoff spot as the program deals with a hazing incident….

UCLA volleyball All-American Brandon Taliaferro, who is a 1996 graduate of San Clemente High, is the Tritons’ new boys volleyball coach. He also served as an assistant coach at UCLA….

Junior pitcher Christian Reis of Palos Verdes has committed to Oregon State….

Mark Wulfemeyer, a legendary high school basketball player for Troy High in the 1970s, has died in Hawaii. He was 70. He held the state scoring record from 1974 through 1979. Here’s a story from 1991 describing his journey in basketball and baseball. His grandson, Warren, is a top baseball player at Santa Margarita….

St. Francis athletic director Matt Luderer has died after a long fight with brain cancer. He was 54. Luderer took over at St. Francis in 2013 after being athletic director at Crespi…..

Joe Kelly, who guided Palos Verdes and Peninsula to cross-country success in the 1980s and 1990s, has died….

Junior quarterback Josiah Boyd of Vista Del Lago has committed to UCLA….

Outfielder/pitcher Jesse Mendoza of Corona Centennial has committed to Cal Baptist….

From the archives: Bryce Young

Quarterback Bryce Young in 2019 when he was selected the Gatorade state player of the year at Mater Dei.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Quarterback Bryce Young has gone from Mater Dei to Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama to No. 1 pick of the Carolina Panthers to star quarterback for the Panthers.

Here’s a story from 2020 about his father discussing the perils of the college recruiting process.

Here’s a story from 2019 how Young became a ground-breaking quarterback at Mater Dei.

Mater Dei unveiled its updated Heisman Lane campus sign that added Bryce Young.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Here’s a story from 2022 when Young came back to Mater Dei to celebrate winning the Heisman Trophy.

Recommendations

From the Star-Telegram, a story on Texas approving the 35-second clock for high school basketball.

From Elevenwarriors, a story on former Mission Viejo quarterback Luke Fahey set to star for Ohio State.

From Chron.com, a story in Texas about coaches getting stipends cut if they don’t get a commercial driver’s license to help with lack of bus drivers.

From NFHS.org, a story about high schools needing emergency action plans and AEDs for sports competitions.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the “Marina Brewers” playing in the World Series.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

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