Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. It’s the final week of the high school basketball season with regional finals Tuesday and the state championships Friday and Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Basketball finales
It’s crunch time in high school basketball. You either win and get to go on a trip to Sacramento or lose and the season is over. Let’s examine Tuesday’s regional final matchups.
Dominique Bentho is all smiles after Harvard-Westlake semifinal win over St. Joseph. The Wolverines face Sierra Canyon on Tuesday for the Southern California Open Division regional basketball championship.
BOYS
Open: Harvard-Westlake at Sierra Canyon. It’s the third meeting between these two Mission League powers. Sierra Canyon is 28-1 and pretty much has been unbeaten at home. Harvard-Westlake put in a little scare at Toyota Arena, coming within three points with 19 seconds left. The Wolverines will need to rebound well and limit their turnovers to have a chance at victory.
Division I: Damien at St. John Bosco. This is the Matt Dunn appreciation game. The St. John Bosco coach previously coached Damien to a state title. St. John Bosco’s Christian Collins is a McDonald’s All-American who’d love to show his stuff in an NBA arena. Damien is tough to beat when its players are making threes.
Division II: Palisades at Bakersfield Christian. The Dolphins are one of three City Section teams defying the conventional wisdom that City Section talent level has collapsed. The team is loaded with underclassmen and just might be able to make it to Sacramento.
Division III: Colony at Birmingham. The Patriots were eliminated in the first round of the City Section Open Division playoffs and have caught fire in the state playoffs behind high-scoring Tekeio Phillips.
Division IV: San Juan Hills at Tulare Union. San Juan Hills got a second chance in the state playoffs and hasn’t looked back.
Division V: Sylmar at Coalinga. At midseason, Sylmar coach Bort Escorto switched to a Paul Westhead-like Loyola Marymount run-and-gun philosophy and the Spartans have been scoring so many points and having so much fun they are one win from playing for a state title in Escoto’s 32nd season as coach.
GIRLS
Open: Sage Hill at Ontario Christian. Sage Hills pulled off the shocker of the season in defeating Southern Section Open Division champion Sierra Canyon 57-54 on the road. Ontario Christian remains the team to beat with Kaleena Smith.
Division I: Corona Centennial at Rancho Christian. Centennial got back 6-5 Sydney Douglas from an injury and is suddenly a formidable opponent.
Division II: Saugus at Santa Maria St. Joseph. The St. Joseph boys team was eliminated at Harvard-Westlake, but the girls are favored to reach Sacramento.
Division III: Leuzinger at El Dorado. Leuzinger was seeded No. 5, El Dorado No. 2. El Dorado finished third in the competitive Century League.
Division IV: Palisades at Godinez. Palisades was not a factor in the Western League during the City playoffs but has been surging in the state playoffs. Godinez is the No. 2 seed.
Division V: Schurr at Laguna Hills. The Hawks finished third in the Golden West League but have won 10 of their last 11 games. Sophomore Valerie Sepulveda leads Schurr in scoring at 13 points a game.
Moving on
Drew Anderson gets excited after scoring 29 points in Santa Margarita’s 75-71 win over Redondo Union.
(Nick Koza)
It was a nerve-racking week for teams trying to stay alive in the state basketball playoffs. Drew Anderson of Santa Margarita made all 11 of its shots in an upset of Redondo Union. Here’s the report.
Damien showed off its three-point shooting in a win over Crespi. Here’s the report.
Harvard-Westlake fell behind 19-3 and rallied to defeat Santa Maria St. Joseph. Here’s the report.
Etiwanda’s Arynn Finley is guarded by Ontario Christian’s Kaleena Smith during the Southern California Open Division regional semifinals on March 7, 2026. Finley scored 30 points in Etiwanda’s 80-66 loss.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Sage Hill and Ontario Christian reached the Open Division regional girls final. Here’s the report.
Here’s a look at revelations from four weeks of playoff action.
Track and field
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame track coach Joe McNab has produced three 100 meters state champions in Justin Fargas, Rodney Glass and Khafani Muhammad. Muhammad is now an assistant coach for the Knights, so watch out for the development of Quincy Hearn, a 6-foot-3 junior receiver who began his spring track season with a 10.52 100 meters.
In Texas, Jorden Wells of Servite came close to California’s state record for 100 meters running a wind legal 10.33 seconds. He finished third in his race.
At Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Redondo Union’s Bo Ausmus turned in a massive effort of 63-07.75 in the shotput.
Baseball
No. 1-ranked St. John Bosco has played two games and won both by shutouts. Nothing has changed from a season ago when Jack Champlin emerged as a dominant closer. Until opponents figure out how to score off Champlin or get a lead before Champlin comes in, it looks like the Braves will be hard-pressed to lose.
The Mission League begins this week with a showdown series between Harvard-Westlake and Sierra Canyon. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is unbeaten. The league is filled with outstanding pitchers, so scoring runs will be tough.
Bell is 8-1 and surging among City Section teams. Gustavo Ramirez had a grand slam in a mercy rule win over Kennedy.
Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.
Softball
There were some surprises in Arizona, where many of the region’s top teams went for the Dave Kops tournament.
Murrieta Mesa (11-0) emerged as the champion. The Rams defeated JSerra 2-1 in the championship game. Lilly Hauser’s pitching and hitting led Murrieta Mesa. She struck out 11 against JSerra.
No. 1-ranked Norco lost games to JSerra 2-1 and Fullerton 3-2.
Oaks Christian is 8-0. Here’s a report.
Jake Brande returns
Rancho Christian pitcher Jake Brande.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
For months, Jake Brande, a pitcher at Rancho Christian, has been dealing with the loss of his teenage brother, Johnny, who died of cancer last December. He was finally approved to play after transferring from Palm Desert to Rancho Christian. He and his family have gone through a lot, but sports has been the distraction they all appreciate.
Here’s a look at the family trying to move forward.
Soccer
The first state championships in high school soccer will take place Friday and Saturday at Natomas High in Sacramento. Here’s the schedule.
Garfield from the City Section has made the 10 a.m. Division V championship game against Branson. The Bulldogs won the Southern California regional final with a 1-0 win over Bakersfield Taft.
Mater Dei’s boys and girls team are going for state championships in Division 1.
Jason Crowe Jr. ends prep career
Four Damien players pay attention to Inglewood’s Jason Crowe Jr., the state’s all-time scoring leader in his final high school game.
(Nick Koza )
The fabulous four-year high school basketball career of Jason Crowe Jr. has come to an end. He finished with a state-record 4,718 points in 124 games playing for Inglewood and Lynwood. He’s headed to Missouri. Here’s a look at his final game against Damien.
New jobs for Fenton, Herrington
Ray Fenton is the new football coach at Orange Lutheran.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Two high school football jobs were finally filled last week. Ray Fenton is leaving Los Alamitos to become head coach at Orange Lutheran. Former St. Francis coach Dean Herrington is the new head coach at St. Bernard. Here’s the report.
Notes . . .
Mira Costa won the Best of the West boys volleyball tournament in San Diego, defeating Corona del Mar in the final. . . .
Loyola’s lacrosse team had one shutout and one game allowing one goal this past week.
(Andrika King)
Loyola’s lacrosse team showed its domination this past week with a shutout against Sierra Canyon and giving up one goal against Crespi. Here’s the report. . . .
Kristen Sherman, flag football coach at Orange Lutheran, has resigned to become an assistant at Cal Poly under her husband, Rod, who was released as Orange Lutheran’s 11-man coach and named this last week as Cal Poly’s first flag football head coach. . . .
Eric Cooper has resigned as boys basketball coach at Chino. . . .
Darrell Davis, the baseball coach at Castaic, has announced that 2026 will be his final season as coach. . . .
Daniel Fierro is the new football coach at Cantwell-Sacred Heart. . . .
Marcus Fakatou, a standout defensive lineman from Orange Lutheran and one of the top prospects from the class of 2027, has transferred to Sierra Canyon. Here’s the transfer portal’s latest transfers.
From the archives: Will Gasparino
From 2021, JSerra shortstop Cody Shrier tags out and Harvard Westlake’s Will Gasparino.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Will Gasparino played high school baseball at Harvard-Westlake, then spent two years at Texas before transferring to UCLA this season, and the 6-foot-7 outfielder has come into his own, with 11 home runs to start the season.
He was selected MVP of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series two weeks ago after going 5-for-11 with four home runs in helping UCLA beat teams that were ranked No. 4, No. 20 and No. 23.
Recommendations
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the journey of 6-11 Chadrack Mpoyi of Crean Lutheran.
From NFHS.org, a story on how breaking high school records should take into account sportsmanship.
From USC Annenberg, a story on the rise of women’s flag 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.
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