San Fernando Valley set for star-studded Open Division: Sierra Canyon, Harvard-Westlake, Notre Dame

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now.

The San Fernando Valley will be home to some of the best high school basketball in the state starting Friday when the CIF Southern Section’s Open Division boys basketball playoffs start.

No. 2 Sierra Canyon (22-3), No. 3 Harvard-Westlake (21-2) and No. 7 Notre Dame (19-4) are all in Pool B of the eight-team field, along with No. 6 Mater Dei (25-2). It’s the first time three boys basketball teams have been selected into the Open Division since the field went to eight teams. When the field was 16 teams, Sierra Canyon, Heritage Christian, Alemany and Oak Park were selected in 2017.

Sierra Canyon will host Notre Dame Friday night, Mater Dei Tuesday night and Harvard-Westlake Feb. 18. Harvard-Westlake will host Mater Dei Friday and Notre Dame Tuesday (Feb. 15). The only team leaving the valley is Notre Dame when it travels to Mater Dei on Feb. 18.

The trio of local teams clashing is also a glimpse into the future. Sierra Canyon, which finished its reign in the Gold Coast League winning 68 straight games dating back to 2013, will be in the Mission League starting this coming fall. Yes, that means football and baseball, too.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s focus on the next week of high school basketball.

WHO TO WATCH

Sierra Canyon boasts seniors 5-star guard Amari Bailey (signed to UCLA), 5-star center Kijani Wright (USC) and Nebraska-bound wing Ramel Lloyd Jr.. The junior class is impressive too: Mike Price, Bronny James and gutsy point guard Dylan Metoyer. Oh, and two of the top sophomores in the country in Isaiah Elohim and Trentyn Flowers. Flowers just became eligible after moving from West Virginia.

Notre Dame has stars of its own, most notably junior Dusty Stromer. Stromer is a 6-foot-7 playmaker with unlimited range and wiry athleticism. He’s being recruited by UCLA, Louisville and Arizona, among a plethora of others. His backcourt mate is Creighton commit Ben Shtolzberg. Kendall Hailey (Army), Dante Ogbu and senior Luke Rishwain are key role players.

Sierra Canyon’s size will be too much for Notre Dame, who’s tallest player is Stromer.

Harvard-Westlake is arguably the most complete team of the three, with no ‘star’, so to speak. If there is one, maybe it’s junior Brady Dunlap, who has offers from Kansas and Arkansas. His skillset is similar to Stromer’s, can shoot from anywhere, create his own shot and is very athletics. However, I’d give the defensive edge to Dunlap. He’s 6-foot-7 and plays tougher under the rim.

The Wolverines are experiences with senior Penn-bound guard Cameron Thrower and two 6-foot-8 forwards in Landon Lewis and junior Jacob Huggins. Point guard Trent Perry is a rising sophomore and senior point guard Dahnte Russell adds a lot of poise off the bench.

PREDICTION

I’ll make this simple. Look for Sierra Canyon and Harvard-Westlake to both be 2-0 heading into next Friday’s showdown in Chatsworth. The winner will play in the Open Division final on Feb. 25 at (I think) Coronna Centennial, the field’s No. 1 seed.

Parity in boys basketball Division 1 bracket headlines CIF-SS playoff pairings