Prep Rally: Here is the football player of the year at each position
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s awards time for the 2023 high school football season, and St. John Bosco linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa has been selected Southern California’s player of the year by The Times. He’s headed to South Bend, Ind., to play for Notre Dame.
Dominant season
Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa of St. John Bosco plays defense with a fierceness and relentless that simply can’t be taught. The fact he overcame a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2021 to reach the top of his game this season speaks to his dedication and talent.
“He’s one of the best football players in my 21 years as a head coach,” Jason Negro said. “His intelligence is the No. 1 thing. His ability to understand the position and his relentless pursuit to the football is beyond my imagination how someone can play that well.”
Here’s the profile on The Times’ player of the year.
The back of the year is Cornell Hatcher Jr. of Corona Centennial. Here’s the report.
The lineman of the year is Brandon Baker of Mater Dei. Here’s the report.
The coach of the year is Jim Benkert of Simi Valley. Here’s the report.
Here’s the link to The Times’ 24-player all-star team.
Here’s the link to the final top 25 rankings.
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Basketball rewind
Mercy Miller of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame set a school record for most points in a game by scoring 68 points in a win over Oakwood. It’s the highest scoring total for a Southern Section player since 2019 when three players scored 70 points in a game.
Antranik Balian, a junior guard at Pilibos, has to be one of the most underrated players. He had games of 51 points and 39 points at the North OC championships and is averaging over 30 points a game.
Xavier Clinton of Damien made eight threes and finished with 39 points in an 81-43 win over San Gabriel Academy.
Noah Williams of. Sierra Canyon, a CSUN commit, exploded for 40 points in a win over St. Francis de Sales of Austrailia.
Alijah Arenas of Chatsworth delivered 34 points Westlake and Agoura, two impressive wins for the Chancellors.
Make no mistake about it, Robert Hinton of Harvard-Westlake is one of the most improved players in Southern California. He scored 28 points in a rout of Campbell Hall for the unbeaten Wolverines and added 20 points in another rout of Rancho Christian.
Derek Peterson pulled off a 31-point performance as South Pasadena dropped San Marino (13-1) from the unbeaten ranks with a 112-76 victory.
Junior guard Jayden Oei of Edison made a school-record 11 threes and scored 37 points in a 64-35 win over Capistrano Valley.
Eric Freeny of Corona Centennial had a 40-point performance in Idaho.
In a Valley Mission League game, Sylmar’s Gustavo Lopez scored 30 points in a 66-48 win over Kennedy.
Donald Thompson had 36 points in King/Drew’s win over Chicago Clark.
The most important victory of the week was St. Pius X-St. Matthias knocking off La Mirada 71-67 in a game between two teams that might be competing for a single remaining spot come February for the Open Division playoffs. Tyrone Riley scored 33 points for St. Pius X.
It was father going against son. Shalhevet coach Ryan Coleman coaching against his son, freshman guard Grayson of Calabasas. Shalhevet won 53-44. Grayson scored 10 points. Dad said, “My own mother is not talking to me, if that gives you any insight on the rest of my family.”
Jaden Hubbard scored 41 points for Orange Lutheran in a win over Sage Hill.
A big win in girls’ basketball was Village Christian knocking off Orange County power Rosary in overtime. Village Christian’s Alanna Neale was named MVP of the San Dimas tournament by the Crusaders.
In the Bahamas, Etiwanda defeated Florida’s Lake Highland Prep 75-65 but lost to DeSoto of Texas 55-52.
Here’s this past week’s girls’ basketball rankings from CalHiSports produced for The Times.
Here’s this week’s top 25 boys’ rankings by The Times.
Transfer freedom day
The sitout period for basketball transfers ends on Dec. 24. Several teams are expected to be strengthened.
No team should benefit more than Mater Dei, which finally gets to show off junior Brandon Benjamin, who was a standout at Anaheim Canyon last season as a sophomore.
Fellow Trinity League teams St. John Bosco, JSerra and Santa Margarita are also adding transfers.
Eastvale Roosevelt adds 6-foot-10 center Tochi Anigbogu. Sierra Canyon picks up guard Ethan Johnson, a top scorer from Chaminade.
Fairfax will add several transfers in an attempt to help it reach the Open Division playoffs in the City Section.
Season 4 of Sierra Canyon show
It’s happening.
The new season of Uninterrupted’s “Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers” will premiere Jan. 12, 2024 on Amazon Freevee, featuring the senior season of Bronny James.
The season consists of eight episodes. Here’s the trailer.
It was the season the Trailblazers struggled to beat the top teams in the Mission League while the focus was on James’ last year of high school basketball. Coach Andre Chevalier is seen trying to get his talented team to raise its level of play.
Viewers are given a look inside the world of Sierra Canyon basketball, and some unsung players get attention. But make no mistake, James’ senior year is the focus as he is recruited by USC and ultimately chooses to become a Trojan.
James’ father, LeBron, is an executive producer.
Soccer
Avery Oder of Oaks Christian certainly ranks among the best girls’ soccer players in the Southland. She had four goals in a win over El Camino Real. She’s committed to Duke.
Mira Costa handed JSerra its first loss of the season 2-1 at the Best of the West Soccer Classic.
Long Beach Millikan (9-0-1) won the Best of the West tournament by defeating Huntington Beach in the final 2-1.
El Camino Real’s boys’ soccer team continues to impress. Its latest win was a 3-0 victory over Newbury Park. Goalies Isaac Ortega and Rey Lara combined on the shutout.
JSerra is off to a 5-0-1 start in boys’ soccer.
Harvard-Westlake’s Theo Ottosson scored four goals in his second game back since participating with his club team in a tournament.
San Clemente is unbeaten. In a 4-1 win over Palos Verdes, Griffin Blair scored two goals.
Tyler Cash of Oak Park has nine goals in seven games.
Santa Margarita is No. 1 in this week’s Southern Section Division 1 girls’ soccer rankings.
Arlington is No. 1 in this week’s Southern Section Division 1 boys’ soccer rankings.
Notes . . .
There’s a changing of the guard at Hart, where longtime baseball coach Jim Ozella announced the 2024 season will be his last. Ozella has sent numerous players to college and in pro baseball, from the Valaika brothers to Tyler Glasnow and Trevor Bauer. The 2024-25 season will be the first in decades without Ozella coaching baseball and a Herrington brother coaching football. . . .
Defensive lineman TJ Ford from Newbury Park has committed to Portland State. . . .
Tennis star Daniela Borruel of Sunny Hills has committed to USC. She’s a junior and a two-time Southern Section individual champion. . . .
Hector Valencia is returning as football coach at Burbank High. He was head coach for five seasons, compiling a 37-20 record until resigning in 2014. . . .
Defensive back Mason White, a former City Section player of the year from Birmingham, has committed to Oregon State. . . .
Mike Boehle of Loyola was named national high school volleyball coach of the year. . . .
San Clemente defensive coordinator Fred Gambrell is the new football coach at Sunny Hills. . . .
Junior pitcher Maddox Moreno of La Habra has committed to Utah Valley. . . .
Bishop Gorman and Mater Dei have agreed to play in a nonleague football game in Santa Ana in 2024. . . .
Everyone knows about the college transfer portal but the high school transfer portal is under way. Every January the transfers begin, particularly at quarterback. The first one is sophomore quarterback Tristan Zale, who announced he’s leaving San Juan Hills for Trabuco Hills. . . .
Orange Lutheran defeated St. John Bosco in the championship game of the Palm Desert winter baseball tournament. Brady Murrietta had a home run for the Lancers. Servite and Corona Santiago also made the semifinals.
From the archives: Ziaire Williams
Ziaire Williams, who attended Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, then his senior year at Sierra Canyon, has settled in as a steady NBA contributor for the Memphis Grizzlies at the age of 22. He was the 10th pick of the 2021 NBA draft after playing one season at Stanford.
He made the game-winning shot his senior year in the CIF Open Division regional championship game against Etiwanda at CSUN, the final game of the shortened pandemic season. State championships were canceled.
Here’s the story from 2020 on his game-winning shot.
Here’s the story from 2020 on Williams earning The Times’ player of the year.
Here’s a 2018 story about Williams’ rising basketball talent.
Recommendations
From the Washington Post, a story on a high school football team in Maui playing on after the fires destroyed its town.
From VCstar.com, a tribute to Lorin Ledin, who covered Ventura County high school sports for more than 40 years until his death.
From CBS8.com, a story on how students helped get Castle Park High a new football stadium.
Vacation time
I will be taking the next two weeks off from the Prep Rally newsletter, resuming with the new year. Everyone have a merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And don’t forget Dec. 26 is one of the busiest days for high school basketball because of numerous tournaments beginning, including the Classic at Damien.
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 [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
