Margarita

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. 2026 has arrived, which means league play starts getting serious in high school basketball with a number of huge games scheduled for Friday night.

The matchups

Christian Collins is all smiles after leading St. John Bosco to its own tournament championship.

(Nick Koza)

The Trinity League starts this week, and no game is bigger than Santa Margarita (19-2) hosting St. John Bosco (11-4) on Friday night in a game matching the preseason league title favorites.

Santa Margarita has been doing what everyone expected — taking advantage of its experience with four returning starters. The Eagles already own two wins over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, a Mission League power. St. John Bosco has relied on Christian Collins but suffered defeats to some very good teams in recent weeks.

The Mission League begins with a key Friday matchup of defending champion Harvard-Westlake (17-2) playing at Crespi (13-5). Both schools need a win to challenge league favorite Sierra Canyon, which plays host to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. Former Sierra Canyon women’s star JuJu Watkins will have her jersey retired at halftime.

In the Gold Coast League, Brentwood (18-1) is playing at Crossroads on Friday in the first meeting since Shalen Sheppard transferred from Brentwood to Crossroads.

In the Marmonte League, unbeaten Thousand Oaks (16-0) plays host to Oaks Christian (15-3) on Friday.

In the Del Rey League, St. Bernard is playing at St. Anthony in an early league match that could establish a league favorite.

In the Gateway League, the top two teams face off on Friday, with La Mirada hosting Mayfair. In the Baseline League, 17-1 Etiwanda plays host to 15-4 Damien on Thursday in a matchup of the league’s top two teams. On Tuesday in the Sunset League, the two favorites, Los Alamitos and Corona del Mar, meet at Los Alamitos.

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

City Section

Tajh Ariza (right) and Malachi Harris of Westchester celebrate after winning the City Section Open Division title last season. Westchester is 2-8 this season.

(Nick Koza)

City Section basketball is in a precarious place. The talent level has diminished. The history of great teams and great players is in decline.

Here’s a look at the troubles facing the City Section and what can be done to change the trend.

Girls basketball

Etiwanda coach Stan Delus.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Ontario Christian (18-0) and Etiwanda (13-2) continue their march to the Southern Southern Open Division playoffs. Sierra Canyon (13-1) is right behind.

Mater Dei (12-4) is still adjusting to season-ending injury to Kaeli Wynn, but received a 28-point performance from Harmony Golightly in a win over Nevada Democracy Prep.

Sage Hill, with a new coach, is 14-4. Kamdyn Klamberg had a 31-point performance last week.

Villa Park is 15-3. Olivia Sturdivant and Lauren Wolfe are both averaging 13 points a game. JSerra is 14-2 and ranked No. 2 in the first Southern Section power rankings. JSerra faces Corona Centennial in a big nonleague game Monday.

In the City Section, Westchester, King/Drew, Birmingham and Granada Hills are emerging as the top teams. Junior Savannah Myles has been leading Westchester, which is 13-0 overall and 3-0 in the Western League.

Transfer tracker

Quarterback Jaden Jefferson of Cathedral is leaving for Corona Centennial.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

It’s time. The high school football transfer tracker for 2026 is up and running. Here’s the link.

The big transfers confirmed last week were Cathedral quarterback Jaden Jefferson and Cathedral receiver Quentin Hale announcing they would be transferring to Corona Centennial.

January is a big month for football transfers because it’s the start of the spring semester. As usual, quarterbacks are leading the way in switching schools.

Looking ahead to 2026

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s JJ Harel is ready for a big 2026.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Predictions for 2026 include lots of unique NIL deals, some baseball standouts and football stars. Here’s my crystal ball forecast.

Soccer

Anderson Carranza has 10 goals for Cleveland’s soccer team.

(Cleveland HS)

City Section boys soccer gets serious this week with the start of West Valley League play. El Camino Real, the defending champion, faces tough games against Cleveland on Wednesday and Birmingham on Friday. Here’s a report.

Rivals Mira Costa (6-2-1) and Palos Verdes (13-2) face off Tuesday at Mira Costa. Mira Costa won the Nike SoCal Holiday Classic last week in Oceanside. Former Palisades player Noah Szeder had two goals in the championship game.

In girls soccer, Santa Margarita has won its first 10 games, including a 3-0 win over Bishop Amat on Saturday. The Eagles have recorded six shutouts and given up just two goals.

Mater Dei is 9-1-3 but suffered its first defeat Saturday, losing to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 1-0.

Harvard-Westlake is 5-1-3 with its only loss to Mater Dei.

Notes . . .

Lance Mitchell is the new football coach at St. Francis. He was head coach at Muir. . . .

Johnathan Coutee is the new football coach at Murrieta Mesa. . . .

Nick Torres, 32, a Lakewood High graduate, was named 2025 MVP of the Mexican League in baseball and signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees. . . .

Former Long Beach Poly football coach Justin Utupo said he has won an appeal and will be able to coach again in the district in three years. Previously he was banned lifetime. . . .

Westlake football coach Rick Clausen, who took over an 0-10 team and led them to a 10-1 record, has been selected the Rams’ Don Shula award coach of the year. Also honored was Mike Moon of Oxnard Pacifica. . . .

In a big girls water polo match, Mater Dei suffered its first defeat when defending Southern Section champion Oaks Christian beat the Monarchs 11-7. The Santa Barbara tournament is this weekend.

From the archives: Amon-Ra St. Brown

Amon-Ra St. Brown during his Mater Dei days in 2015.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

After 17 NFL games this season, former Mater Dei and USC receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions ranks among the top receivers. He finished with 106 receptions for 1,262 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Remember he’s one of three football-playing brothers and is multilingual being fluent in German.

Here’s a look at two St. Brown brothers from their Mater Dei days in 2015.

Here’s a story from 2014 explaining that you better learn how to spell the first names of the St. Brown brothers.

Here’s a story from 2016 giving a sneak peek at what Amon-Ra might be capable of.

Recommendations

From the Daily Pilot, a story on Bailey Turner of Huntington Beach becoming a world junior champion in surfing.

From NBCPalmSprings, a story on the death of a teenager golfer who fought to the end dealing with cancer.

From MaxPreps, a story on the 100 most influential people in the history of high school football.

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.

Did you get this newsletter forwarded to you? To sign up and get it in your inbox, click here.

With a week to go before opening the Trinity League with a showdown against St. John Bosco at home, Santa Margarita continued its preparation Friday night, defeating defending state Open Division champion Eastvale Roosevelt 65-49 at JSerra.

The Eagles are 18-2 and have one final tuneup Saturday against Fairfax at St. Francis before facing the Braves on Jan. 9.

Santa Margarita almost lost a big lead in the second half before prevailing. The Eagles led 16-2 to start the game. Drew Anderson had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Kaiden Bailey added 14 points and Brayden Kyman 13.

St. Francis 58, Fairfax 41: The Golden Knights (15-2) received 18 points, 11 rebounds, 10 blocks and eight assists from center Cherif Millogo.

Seattle Rainier Beach 75, Mater Dei 67: Former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame senior Tyran Stokes had 26 points for Rainier Beach in Arizona. Zain Majeed led Mater Dei with 28 points.

Servite 76, Rolling Hills Prep 72: The Friars picked up a good nonleague victory before opening Trinity League play.

Campbell Hall 61, Arcadia 54: The Vikings picked up their biggest win of the season. Ean Britt finished with 21 points. Christian Rogers had 15 points.

Inglewood 112, St. Paul 57: Jason Crowe Jr., averaging 43.9 points, scored 50 points in the win at Morningside.

Redondo Union 89, Santa Barbara 54: Chace Holley scored 41 points for the Sea Hawks (15-3).

Calabasas 66, El Camino Real 49: Johnny Thyfault had 17 points for Calabasas.

La Mirada 68, Crespi 57: The Matadores (11-6) helped their Southern Section Open Division playoff hopes by knocking off the Celts. Jordyn Houston had 17 points.

Girls basketball

Ontario Christian 100, Carondelet 49: There’s no slowing down 16-0 Ontario Christian. Tatianna Griffin had 32 points and 11 rebounds. Kaleena Smith added 29 points.

Brentwood 73, Thousand Oaks 50: The Eagles handed Thousand Oaks its second loss of the season. Reena White scored 21 points.

Troy 59, Sonora 42: Lexi Joko scored a career-high 26 points for Troy in a league opener.

In a high school football season full of surprises, the biggest was a Heisman Trophy winner guiding his alma mater to a state championship in California’s toughest division in his rookie season of coaching.

Who had Carson Palmer and Santa Margarita on their bingo card toppling Sierra Canyon, Orange Lutheran, Corona Centennial and Corcord De La Salle in a four-game postseason stretch that left the Eagles as Southern Section Division 1 and CIF Open Division state champions?

The final piece of the puzzle was solved with Santa Margarita’s 47-13 win over De La Salle on Saturday night at Saddleback College, the ninth consecutive season a Southern California team won California’s highest bowl game.

It’s been fruitless to think anyone was beating Santa Margarita (11-3) over the last month with a healthy Trent Mosley. Two weeks ago he dazzled Corona Centennial in the Division 1 final with 10 catches for 292 yards. On Saturday, even though De La Salle knew what he could do, Mosley still was unstoppable. In the first half, when Santa Margarita opened a 35-7 halftime lead, Mosley had eight catches for 134 yards and touchdowns from 34 and six yards and also ran seven yards for another touchdown. He finished with 11 receptions for 183 yards.

With his underrated speed, upper-body strength and skills to play multiple positions, Mosley has been the best player in California for weeks. Santa Margarita has been getting him the ball much more in the postseason, and opponents have had no answers for defending him.

“Mosley is incredible,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said of the USC commit. “He does some special things on the football field.”

Said Mosley: “It feels great. We’ve worked hard. I wanted to come out and do my best. It’s sad to go but a what a great way to end it.”

Leki Holani of Santa Margarita was throwing down De La Salle running backs all night in the CIF state final.

(Craig Weston)

How Santa Margarita rose to the top with Palmer at the helm is an equally compelling tale. Palmer was hired with little coaching experience but his decision-making, judgment and connections from the NFL world became clear with the all-star coaching staff he put together, none more important than retaining defensive coordinator Steve Fifita, last season’s interim coach. With nine returning defensive starters and three defensive line transfers, the Eagles had no weaknesses on a defense that repeatedly neutralized the best offensive players game after game.

“It’s been an unreal year from start to finish,” Palmer said. “I could not be more proud of these guys, could not be more proud of our coaching staff and support system.”

Quarterbacks were pressured by a line that had Isaia Vandermade recording nine sacks in the postseason. The linebackers, led by Dash Fifita and Leki Holani, were able to move freely and make tackles with blockers preoccupied by the line. The secondary, led by sophomore star Ca’ron Williams, had the freedom to be aggressive knowing quarterbacks wouldn’t have much time to release the ball. Siua Holani closed the scoring with an interception return with 1:36 left in the fourth quarter.

De La Salle (12-1) thought it would have a chance to end Northern California’s losing streak. Santa Margarita had not seen the Spartans’ veer-option attack. Steve Fifita even had dreams about the veer watching so much film to prepare his players. But the Eagles were ready for quarterback option plays and power runs up the middle. And De La Salle didn’t help matters by committing four personal fouls in the first four minutes. The only touchdowns for De La Salle came on short runs by Jaden Jefferson after recovering Santa Margarita fumbles.

The reason Santa Margarita became so dominant over the last month was the improvement in the offense. Quarterback Trace Johnson became comfortable and injured players came back, including tight end Luke Gazzaniga, who had touchdown receptions from 20 and two yards Saturday. Johnson ended his brief stay at Santa Margarita after transferring from Florida by completing 17 of 20 passes for 247 yards and four touchdowns.