Prep Rally: Beverly Hills high school basketball tournament makes history

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. There’s a historic basketball tournament taking place at Beverly Hills High School this week. Coach Jarvis Turner has 24 teams participating. Every head coach is Black. Let’s examine why that’s significant.

A celebration

Beverly Hills basketball coach Jarvis Turner is hosting a 24-team tournament this week in which every team has a Black head coach.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

One year ago, all 16 teams in the Beverly Hills tournament were led by Black head coaches. When the tournament moves into high gear on Monday, all 24 teams will have Black head coaches. Beverly Hills coach Jarvis Turner said it’s important to celebrate the progress of inclusion in high school basketball and the fact these coaches are also athletic directors, administrators, business owners and most of all, good coaches.

What Turner has pulled off is also having an effect on players. Point guard Jameson Caruso said seeing all the head coaches gives him inspiration for the future.

“It means a lot,” Caruso said. “Growing up in the world as a Black kid, to see so many role models who look like me and people in power, it’s fantastic.”

Turner said he didn’t exclude anyone from the tournament and welcomes teams with non-Black head coaches, but he is also happy to recognize a growing group of talented individuals, from Ryan Bailey of Brentwood to Derrick Taylor of Taft to Tony Bland of St. Bernard to Steven Tolbert of Campbell Hall.

St. John Bosco quarterback Pierce Clarkson.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

It’s Week 16 and the final weekend of high school football. The CIF state championship bowl games will take place around the state, with five being held at Saddleback College, led by Saturday’s 8 p.m. Open Division final between St. John Bosco and San Mateo Serra.

St. John Bosco has 45 players on its roster with scholarship offers. There’s a group that you’ll be seeing playing on Saturdays in the fall. Here’s a look at the elite St. John Bosco players to watch this weekend.

Granada Hills will be playing for a Division 4-A championship after surviving one of the wildest regional finals, pulling out a 56-55 win over Laguna Beach that saw 11 lead changes.

Dijon Stanley of Granada Hills rushed for 252 yards and four touchdowns. Granada Hills will be play at San Marin on Saturday. Granada Hills has yet to complete a pass all season, relying on its extraordinary rushing attack out of the double wing formation.

Crenshaw, a team at this time last season that couldn’t play in the playoffs because it didn’t have enough players because of COVID-19 eligibility requirements, is playing for a state 7-A title after a 48-7 regional win over Whittier Christian. The Cougars will travel to play San Francisco Lincoln.

Birmingham had its season end in a hard-fought 35-28 loss to Laguna Hills. Here’s the report.

Downey came so close to advancing, opening a 21-0 lead before falling to Chula Visa Mater Dei 22-21. Here’s the report.

Here’s the complete championship schedule for this weekend.

Basketball rewind

Sierra Canyon’s Bronny James dribbles during a game against Crossroads on Nov. 30, 2022.

(Nick Koza)

Bronny James opened his senior season at home with a 25-point performance for Sierra Canyon. Here’s the report.

Brothers Marcus and Maximo Adams have made a huge impact in their arrival at Narbonne. Here’s the report.

It was a big week for freshmen. Jason Crowe Jr. scored 51 points for Lynwood. Alijah Arenas scored 46 points for Chatsworth.

There’s some new teams making an early impact. Mira Costa (10-0), Anaheim Canyon (6-0), Rancho Cucamonga (9-0), Beverly Hills (6-0), Walnut (7-0), Oaks Christian (6-0), Thousand Oaks (5-0), Crenshaw (6-0) and Oxnard (4-0) are all unbeaten.

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

In girls’ basketball, No. 1 Sierra Canyon (3-0) is taking a trip to Utah this week.

Etiwanda, off to a 5-0 start, has a Monday game against Aliso Niguel.

Mira Costa is the site for a good girls’ tournament this week.

Tyus Edney-like

Jameson Caruso of Beverly Hills drove the length of the court with 5.5 seconds left in a game against Long Beach Poly after a missed free throw and scored with 0.3 seconds left to give the Normans a 46-44 win. Afterward, he was asked if he knew about Tyus Edney.

“No,” he said.

Edney is the player in 1995 who drove the length of the court for UCLA with 4.8 seconds left to deliver victory against Missouri that led to an NCAA championship for the Bruins. Here’s the YouTube video.

Caruso said he’d “Goggle” Edney’s name afterward. Edney happens to be a Long Beach Poly grad, too.

Here comes Mira Costa

Mira Costa’s Will Householter after a game on Nov. 28, 2022.

(Luca Evans / Los Angeles Times)

Will Householter sprung for rebounds, turning in one motion with nary a dribble and flinging the ball the length of the court, a floppy-haired high school point guard turning into a supercharged Kevin Love.

In the third quarter, the Mira Costa point guard flung a pass to senior Nick Lundy for a layup — and seconds later whipped another outlet to Lundy for another bucket, Householter jogging back down court with a grin and two fingers held up toward his bench.

He was hunting for a triple-double in a Monday night win over Lynwood. Two fingers for two assists away. He was hunting, too, because that’s what this Mira Costa team is built to do, to hunt for steals and push the pace for lightning-quick fast breaks.

“Our motto is, ‘Let’s hunt,’ ” Householter grinned.

He got his triple-double and Mira Costa earned a 92-64 win, the team jumping out to a 7-0 start, hoping to claim a Southern Section Division 1 crown and establish itself among Southern California’s best programs by playing tough defense and controlling the break.

Here’s the report.

Beverly Hills controversy

A Beverly Hills High School wrestling coach was fired after shoving a student in an incident that was caught on camera, school district officials said.

Campus security footage recorded Nov. 2 and released through a public records request shows the coach, Ryan Faintich, speaking with the student as another boy stands nearby. The coach places his hand on the student’s shoulder and pushes him once before continuing to talk, then shoves the student twice more before leaving.

But there’s more to the story. Here’s the report.

Soccer preview

Sophomores Adrian Diaz (left) and Steve Ramos are key players for Birmingham’s soccer team.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

It’s a moment that still haunts the Lake Balboa Birmingham High boys’ soccer team.

“It’s hard to forget,” sophomore Adrian Diaz said.

The heavily favored Patriots lost to South East 2-1 in last year’s City Section championship game on a goal in overtime by Nico Magaña. It was a defensive breakdown.

“You coach this game long enough you understand one mistake can overturn an entire game and you learn to live with it,” coach EB Madha said. “That’s why we love this game. It can be cruel and beautiful at the same time.”

The Patriots won’t have their four-year standout David Diaz to pester teams with goals this season — he moved on to Cal State Northridge. But they remain the City title favorites behind sophomores Adrian Diaz and Steven Ramos as well as seniors Tony Macedo and Joe Barcenna. They’ve also hired a goalie coach and added one of the top players from rival Woodland Hills El Camino Real, Julio Chacon, which will make the two teams’ annual West Valley League games even more spicier.

A report on top players and teams.

Downtown World Cup

Cathedral High players bow their heads for prayer before Saturday night’s rivalry soccer match against Loyola.

The last rays of sunshine glint across the grass. Wisps of orange and pink dance above, intertwining across the Los Angeles skyline, fading behind the concrete jungle that unfurls below Cathedral High’s football field.

The Wilshire Grand Center soars in the east. As night falls, City Hall glows in the distance. This view cherished so dearly by the Cathedral community, the field nestled in the winding hill up to Dodger Stadium, is a sacred slice of Los Angeles.

And the soccer, this blooming downtown rivalry between neighboring Cathedral and Loyola, is a sacred slice of the world.

Over Thanksgiving week, Loyola assistant coach and soccer alumnus Marvin Mires flew to Qatar for the World Cup, representing with a Loyola Soccer shirt. He saw 15 games in six days, taking mass transit around the city while walking roughly 12 miles each day.

His feet blistered. His shins sore. Yet this was a chance to learn, to grow, to study elements of the international game and synthesize them with the Cubs’ style.

Before what’s come to be known as the “Downtown World Cup” on Saturday night, Mires talked to his players about the formation the Netherlands ran in its 3-1 World Cup win over the U.S., the same Loyola’s been using at times to start this season. It’s called a 5-3-2 — five players in the back as opposed to three or four.

“The coach of Holland [Louis Van Gaal], at the end of the game, said, ‘You know, the U.S., they weren’t able to adapt to our system,’” Mires said. “And that was the case, and that’s one of the reasons the U.S. lost.”

A look at the Downtown World Cup.

Army-Navy week

Navy cornerback Elias Larry from Sierra Canyon.

(Navy Athletics)

It’s “Go Army, Beat Navy” week. Or “Go Navy, Beat Army.”

The two service academies play their annual football game Saturday in Philadelphia and there’s Southern California natives listed on both rosters.

For Army, the players are Keanu Rebuldela (Santa Margarita), Cameron Jones (Harvard-Westlake), Zion Sims (Servite), Hunter Roddy (Chapparal), Tyler Delon (Los Alamitos), Caden Harman (Sierra Canyon), Jacob Tuioti (Long Beach Poly), Chris Frey (Temecula Canyon).

For Navy, there’s Elias Larry (Sierra Canyon), Kai Puailoa-Rojas (St. Bonaventure), Mike Mauai (Long Beach Poly), Broden Crane (Santa Margarita) and Tyler Narayan (Mater Dei).

Winter ball

Harvard-Westlake and Huntington Beach, expected to be top 10 teams in high school baseball, faced off in a winter league game Saturday in Encino. The talent was pretty impressive.

First there’s Bryce Rainer of Harvard-Westlake. One of the top players in the nation from the class of 2024, he has grown to 6 feet 4, reached 200 pounds and has started to test his arm after not pitching last season. He was 9-0 as a freshman. Pitching coach Joe Guntz said Rainer has been very impressive in bullpen workouts.

Huntington Beach first baseman Ralphy Velazquez, perhaps the No. 1 home-run threat in the Southland, continues to get stronger. Center fielder Aidan Espinoza hit doubles in his first two at-bats for the Oilers. Pitcher Brad Grindlinger sure looked good striking out Rainer on three pitches in the first inning.

Harvard-Westlake center fielder Will Gasparino has grown to 6-7 and maybe taller. And he’s still one of the fastest players. The Wolverines are hoping junior pitcher Duncan Marsten, who has been injured for the last two years, will finally make his first appearance in February. Huntington Beach won the unofficial game 9-6.

Remembering Pete Ackermann

Oaks Christian softball coach Pete Ackermann has died. He was 77.

(Marvin O. Jimenez)

Pete Ackermann, a longtime high school softball coach who started the Oaks Christian program from its inception and accumulated more than 600 victories, has died, athletic director Brad Cook confirmed Saturday. Ackermann was 77.

“He was a legend in the softball world and made a difference in the lives of his players and in the community,” said Brentwood athletic director Dana Vasquez, a former high school coach who spent years competing against Ackermann-coached teams.

A look back at the impact Ackermann made.

Notes . . .

Baldwin Park football coach Ibis Aguilar has resigned. . . .

Jeff Turley has resigned as football coach at Marina. . . .

Zach Dilley has resigned as football coach at Paloma Valley.. . .

Brian Collins has resigned as football coach at Morningside. . . .

Leonard Hudson has resigned as football coach at Pomona. . . .

Sophomore outfielder Joseph Moreno of South Hills has committed to UC Santa Barbara . . . .

Ventura girls’ basketball coach Ann Larson earned her 500th coaching victory against Newbury Park. She’s in her 23rd season and has won two CIF titles. . . .

Freshman Kenzie Nguyen of Portola won the Southern Section girls’ singles tennis championship 7-5, 6-1 over Marina’s Mika Ikemori. The Mater Dei duo of Chloe Vu and Natalie Lynch won the doubles title. . . .

Mission Viejo receiver Mikey Matthews has committed to Utah. . . .

Aaron Sahlman of Newbury Park won the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, rallying in the final 600 meters to take the 5K race in 14:44.5, setting a course record that was held by his brother, Colin. Newbury Park won the boys’ team national championship. Peyton Godsey of Oaks Christian won the Garmin RunningLane girls’ cross country championship in Huntsville, Ala.. . .

From the archives: Zevi Eckhaus

Culver City quarterback Zevi Eckhaus walks off the field visibly upset after a 49-42 loss to Apple Valley in the last game of the season last year.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Zevi Eckhaus was a star quarterback at Culver City who just completed his second season at Bryant University in Rhode Island. He’s found a new home.

He completed 61% of his passes for 3,228 yards and 26 touchdowns with 15 interceptions for 4-7 Bryant.

Here’s a 2021 story about Eckhaus comforting his brothers after a defeat.

Here’s a 2021 story about Eckhaus being the Times’ back of the year during the spring COVID season.

Recommendations

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on former Windward star Charisma Osborne at UCLA.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the impact of Whittier College dropping its football program and other sports.

From the Aspen Project, a look a sports participation trends.

From the Daily Pilot, a story on a high school student from Newport Beach who’s one of the world’s best Madden NFL video game players.

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