Prep Rally: High school baseball players and teams to watch

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. Spring is near, so let’s start talking high school baseball. The season begins Feb. 10.

Powerhouse Corona

Corona starting pitcher Ethan Schiefelbein is a UCLA commit.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

In Southern California, there’s little doubt which baseball team will start out as No. 1. Corona High is loaded from top to bottom with pitchers, hitters, fielders.

Over the course of the season, the Panthers will be tough to beat, but in a one-game situation in the Division 1 playoffs, anything can happens because there are plenty of elite pitchers this season.

Harvard-Westlake has Duncan Marsten, who has been clocked touching 99 mph. Thomas Bridges is another Wolverine pitcher who lost one game last season. Then there’s two-way prospect Bryce Rainer, a likely first-round draft pick.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has Texas commit Levi Sterling. JSerra has Matt Champion, a key pitcher who helped the Lions win the Division 1 title. Santa Margarita has two rising pitchers in Hayden George and Cade Townsend.

Here’s a look at Corona’s talent along with players to watch for the 2024 season.

Basketball rewind

Aidan Fowler of JSerra signs an autograph after scoring 36 points in win over Mater Dei.

(Gregory Stein)

Aidan Fowler of JSerra scored 36 points in his team’s upset of Santa Ana Mater Dei. That turns the possible Open Division playoff seedings upside down. Mater Dei has to defeat St. John Bosco at home Tuesday to determine the Trinity League title.

Justin Pippen launches Sierra Canyon celebration after rallying from 17 points down in fourth quarter to beat Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

(Craig Weston)

The best comeback of the season was pulled off by Sierra Canyon, coming from 17 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 81-75 and earn the No. 1 seed for this week’s Mission League tournament. The expected outcome is Sierra Canyon will host either Harvard-Westlake or Notre Dame on Friday night to decide the No. 1 seed in the Mission League and Open Division. Here’s a report from Sierra Canyon’s comeback.

The Nike Extravaganza took place, and here’s the report.

Ian Hunter of LACES made nine threes and scored 29 points in a 61-48 win over Fairfax.

Sophomore Timmy Anderson scored 52 points for Blair in a win over Temple City.

Damian Gaona of Legacy scored 40 points in win over South Gate and 46 points in win over Huntington Park.

Chatsworth upset Birmingham on a layup by Alijah Arenas in the final seconds.That means Birmingham and Cleveland are tied for first in the West Valley League and will play Wednesday at Cleveland.

Westchester appears headed to the Western League title. King/Drew holds down first place in the Coliseum League but ends play this week playing at Crenshaw and at Washington Prep. Gardena and San Pedro are headed to playing for the Marine League title this week.

Westlake sophomore girls’ player Mathis Dritz set a school record with 24 rebounds against Calabasas.

Here’s the latest Southern California girls’ basketball rankings.

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

A look at top high school boys’ basketball prospects for 2025 and 2026.

Charging ahead

Rialto High junior guard Carrington Davis brings the ball up court during a recent game.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Basketball is a sport full of momentum swings. How a player deals with adversity, whether in the form of a missed layup or a questionable foul, often determines how successful they are on the court. The same principle can be applied to life.

Take Rialto High junior Carrington Davis, for example. The 5-foot-10 junior guard and team captain has been dealing with the ultimate distraction yet continues to perform at a high level game in and game out, a testament to her inner strength and a strong support system.

Davis has been living out of a suitcase since her family was displaced after an electrical fire damaged their home the week before Christmas. Her 5-year-old brother was napping and her mother was in the shower when the fire started in the garage. Neither was harmed and the fire department was able to put out the blaze, but not before it destroyed most of what was in the garage, including some hidden Christmas gifts. Smoke overwhelmed the rest of the home, which has since been gutted down to the studs in several rooms. The insurance company estimated it will be roughly six months before the family is able to return home.

Here’s a profile.

Whiz kid

St. Bernard senior Jordan Brandford is the head JV basketball coach at 17 years old.

(Craig Weston)

When 17-year-old senior Jordan Bradford told his mother he had been hired to be the St. Bernard High junior varsity basketball coach, her reaction was, “There’s no way you’re the head coach.�

He assured her, “I’m the guy.�

So began the rare experiment of letting a student coach a team in which there’s at least one student older than the coach.

“I felt he could handle it,� St. Bernard varsity coach Tony Bland said. “He was mature, had a high IQ. If this is something to spark a career interest, we have to do it.�

A profile on the whiz kid from St. Bernard.

McDonald’s All-Americans

Trent Perry of Harvard-Westlake was selected to the McDonald’s All-American game.

(Nick Koza)

Standout point guard Trent Perry of Harvard-Westlake and 6-foot-8 Carter Bryant of Corona Centennial have been selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American basketball game on April 2 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Perry has committed to USC while Bryant has committed to Arizona.

Here’s the complete story.

Soccer

Players from Cathedral and Salesian received suspensions for their participation in a fight that disrupted their soccer match last week.

Long Beach Veterans Stadium will be the site on Feb. 23 for the top division championships in the Southern Section for boys and girls soccer.

For the first time since 1991, Louisville has won a girls’ soccer league title. Leading the way has been Miye Kodama, who is also playing basketball at the same time and could win a league title, too. Talk about two-sport standouts. The last time Louisville won a league title was with Bishop Alemany, and Kodama’s mother and her twin sister were the stars for Alemany. Kodama has 28 goals and 10 assists this season.

Arlington is ranked No. 1 in Division 1 soccer. Here’s the Southern Section rankings. Santa Margarita is No. 1 for girls. Here’s the Southern Section girls’ rankings.

Notes . . .

Mater Dei baseball player Brody Connors has committed to Old Dominion. . . .

Infielder Antonio Lujan of Cypress has committed to Azusa Pacific. . . .

Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura has been named the Gatorade state girls’ cross country player of the year. Evan Noonan of Dana Hills was named the state boys’ cross country player of the year. . . .

Thomas Randolph is the new football coach at Taft. He was previously an assistant. . . .

Cal State Dominguez Hills will be the site for eight City Section boys and girls championship basketball games Feb. 23-24. El Camino College will host semifinals in the Open Division boys and girls on Feb. 17. Boys and girls soccer finals will be Feb. 23-24 at Valley College. The wrestling championships will take place Feb. 10 at Roybal. . . .

Calabasas pitcher Jordan Kingston has committed to San Diego State. . . .

Eric Martinez is the new football coach at Valley View. He was previously head coach at Diamond Ranch. . . .

Pitcher Nolan Tillitt of Orange Lutheran has committed to Loyola Marymount. . . .

Former Laker Michael Cooper will have his jersey retired by Pasadena High on Tuesday. . . .

Carson High grad Dave Canales is the new football coach of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. . . .

Adam Wadley is the new girls’ volleyball coach at Lakewood. . . .

Alex Morfin is the new football coach at Hueneme. . . .

For the second time this season, a basketball coach in Long Beach has resigned in the middle of the season citing parental pressure, according The562.org. Long Beach Millikan coach Curtis Boyer resigned with one week left in the season. . . .

Laron Johnson has resigned as football coach at La Puente. . . .

In girls’ water polo, Foothill won the Newport Invite title match with a 9-8 win over Newport Harbor. Ryan Chalupnik scored three goals for Foothill. . . .

Watch out for junior Brandon Gorski of Mater Dei in track and field this spring. In a winter meet, he went 23-3 in the long jump and has a 6-8 high jump. . . .

The Southern Section Council will meet Tuesday and one of the action items is to approve or reject a proposal that would change playoffs for team sports using current data rather than placing schools in a division before the season. It would be similar to the football playoffs that rely on CalPreps.com rankings and based on competitive equity. It is expected to pass since it was approved by the Executive Committee by a unanimous vote earlier this month.

From the archives: Jordan McLaughlin

The Clippers’ Reggie Jackson drives on the Timberwolves’ Jordan McLaughlin during the first half Nov. 5, 2021.

(Andy Clayton-King / Associated Press)

Former Etiwanda and USC guard Jordan McLaughlin continues to excel in the NBA after being undrafted. He has been with the Minnesota Timberwolves since 2019.

The 2014 Etiwanda grad had his No. 11 jersey retired last year.

Here’s a story from 2013 on McLaughlin choosing USC over UCLA.

Here’s a 2018 story on how McLaughlin helped USC’s turnaround.

Recommendations

From the562.org, a column on the resignation of Long Beach Wilson girls’ basketball coach after parental pressure.

From the TOAcorn, a story on the many talents of Thousand Oaks basketball player Elias Chin.

From the Washington Post, a story on former Sierra Canyon standout Marvin Bagley III.

From SI.com, a story on the former De La Salle backup quarterback named head coach in the NFL.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on UCLA and USC basketball recruiting.

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