Prep Rally: Hopefully Birmingham and El Camino Real stay calm, on and off the soccer field

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s the week of the City Section soccer Super Bowl. Rivals Birmingham and El Camino Real play for the first time since last season’s City championship game that ended in a brawl.

The rivalry

When it comes to the Birmingham vs. El Camino Real boys soccer rivalry, you need to close the blinds, hide the kids and make sure mom and dad are ready for anything.

The last time these two schools met was the 2024 City Section championship game that ended in a Birmingham victory and also a brawl that led to both teams being prevented from playing in the Southern California regionals.

The coaches and players supposedly learned valuable lessons, so let’s hope for the best when the two outstanding programs meet again in their first of their two West Valley League matches scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. at El Camino Real. Of course, last week’s schedule was disrupted by air quality issues involving fires, so that also could affect whether Wednesday’s game is played.

The teams couldn’t be any better. Birmingham is 13-1 and might be the No. 1 team in all of Southern California. Four-year players Adrian Diaz and Steven Ramos are playing their best. El Camino Real is 8-1, led by the great goal scorer Jonathan Rabinovitch.

Players have been teammates on club teams, so there’s really no reason for fighting even if the matches are intense. They’re friends. What happens in the stands is another story, but everyone knows the City Section is watching and expectations are last season’s debacle will not be repeated.

There will be a rematch on Jan. 31 at Birmingham and maybe even another match in the City final.

Here’s a look at the duo of Diaz and Ramos.

Boys basketball

Jaime Jaquez Jr. .

(Megan Briggs / Getty Images)

Camarillo will honor its former standout, Jaime Jaquez Jr. of the Miami Heat, in a 7 p.m. ceremony on Tuesday before its game against Simi Valley. Jaquez will have his jersey No. 24 retired.

Santa Margarita opened Trinity League play with an impressive win over JSerra. Kaiden Bailey came through with a 25-point performance. Here’s a report.

Mater Dei was pretty much forgotten after a series of early season defeats. Then the Monarchs defeated St. John Bosco in a Trinity League game, changing all kinds of predictions and projections. Luke Barnett has been having a terrific junior season for the Monarchs.

Anaheim Canyon had a productive week with wins over La Habra and unbeaten Mira Costa. Senior Brandon Benjamin, averaging more than 30 points a game, had 30 points in win over Mira Costa. Here’s a report.

Here’s the second week of rankings for the Southern Section teams.

Here’s The Times’ top 25 rankings.

Girls basketball

Karisma Lewis is congratulated by teammates as she heads to the bench. She is ranked No. 50 in ESPN’s Super 60 for the class of 2026.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Southern California is home to many of the top 2026 high school girls basketball prospects in the country.

In Ventura County no junior is being more heavily recruited than Buena’s Karisma Lewis and, true to her name, she is building her brand with skill and a charismatic personality that makes her fun to watch and compelling to listen to.

The 5-foot-10 combo guard can do it all on the court — drive, post up, hit from long range, crash the boards and dish the rock — and college scouts are taking notice. Here’s the report.

One of the state’s top players, junior McKenna Woliczko of Archbishop Mitty, has been lost for the season because of a torn ACL suffered in a loss to Ontario Christian.

Here’s the latest Southern Section rankings for girls basketball. Ontario Christian is No. 1, Mater Dei No. 2 and Etiwanda No. 3.

Fire disruption

Firefighters battle a house fire off Bollinger Drive in Pacific Palisade.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

The high school sports season was disrupted last week by wildfires across Los Angeles. One of the areas hardest hit was Pacific Palisades, where the local high school received extensive damage.

The Palisades boys and girls basketball teams were preparing to practice in the school gym when told the evacuate. Here’s their story.

Legendary Palisades tennis coach Bud Kling lost his home to the fire. Here’s a report.

Loyola’s student body was greatly affected, with families losing homes in Pasadena/Altadena and Pacific Palisades. Supporters donated lots of materials to help. Here’s the report.

The Los Angeles Unified School District canceled sports Wednesday through the weekend and has also canceled practices and games for Monday.

The Gold Coast League, made up of Brentwood, Windward, Campbell Hall, Crossroads and Viewpoint, is expected to cancel all sporting events this week and resume Jan. 21. Brentwood’s campus is closed all week.

With hundreds of homes destroyed, the California Interscholastic Federation has provisions for parents to gain athletic eligibility for their affected children through hardship waivers. Individual schools can make the appeal.

AGBU continues rise

Isaiah Bennett of AGBU has led his team to an 11-0 start.

(@picsbyHV)

Isaiah Bennett, a senior point guard at AGBU High in Canoga Park, has known his coach, Nareg Kopooshian, for so long that there’s a photo of Bennett with him as a smiling 9-year-old wearing a headband while holding a trophy.

“He knows all my stuff,” Bennett said. “He knows the inside and out. What I’m thinking, what I do.”

It’s no surprise that AGBU is 16-2 with the kind of chemistry between floor leader and mentor on and off the court.

Here’s the report.

‘My Jersey, Your Impact’

Newbury Park senior soccer girls will be handing out jersey in appreciation to teachers and mentors.

(Beth Neal)

Newbury Park’s girls’ soccer program has launched, “My Jersey, Your Impact,” where seniors present their game jerseys to the teachers or mentors who have impacted their lives.

Nine senior girls nominated teachers and administrators from the Conejo Valley Unified School District.

A ceremony will take place Wednesday at halftime of a soccer match against Westlake. The seniors will present a special jersey the teachers can keep.

Notes . . .

Former Crespi football coach Dameon Porter has been hired as the new football coach at Harvard-Westlake. Porter’s contract was not renewed at Crespi in 2022 after an 0-10 season. . . .

Alex Pierce is the new football coach at Rancho Cucamonga. . . .

The Nike Extravaganza is set for Jan. 24-25 at Mater Dei. Here’s the link to tickets. . . .

Corona, Huntington Beach and La Mirada will participate in the 16-team National High School Baseball Invitational April 9-12 in Cary, N.C. . . .

Ryan Huisenga has resigned after nine years as football coach at Moorpark. . . .

Joey LaRosa has resigned as football coach at Chino. . . .

Michael Wagner is the new football coach at Peninsula. . . .

Mike Maggiore has stepped down as football coach at West Covina. . . .

Outfielder Charles Rogers from Corona Centennial has committed to Cal State Northridge. . . .

Junior pitcher Corwin Allard of Tesoro has committed to San Diego State. . . .

Gavin Flores of JSerra has committed to Creighton baseball. . . .

Junior quarterback Derek Garcia of Ventura has committed to San Diego State. . . .

Senior receiver Jadyn Robinson of Gardena Serra has committed to Delaware State. . . .

Mike Christensen has resigned as football coach at Carson. . . .

Malcolm Manuel, who guided Narbonne to the City Section Open Division football championship this season, is the new football coach at Long Beach Cabrillo. . . .

Alfred Rowe is the new football coach at Long Beach Jordan. . . .

The high school football transfers tracker continues to see a rise in players. Here’s the link to follow. . . .

At the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions for girls water polo, Mater Dei won the championship with a 10-7 win over Orange Lutheran. Calabasas (15-4) went unbeaten at the Western tournament. . . .

JSerra’s boys’ soccer team handed defending Division 1 champion Mater Dei its first defeat 4-0.

From the archives: London Perrantes

Former Crespi basketball player London Perrantes continues his pro career in Greece. He also has played in Israel, Turkey and France.

He was a top point guard in high school, graduating in 2013, moving on to star at Virginia. He went undrafted but made his NBA debut in 2017 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He has been playing for Kolossos Rodou in Greece. His youngest brother, Malaki, is a starter at Crespi. Another brother, Darius, is a quarterback who declared for the NFL draft.

Here’s a story from 2015 from the Washington Post.

Here’s a story from 2011 when Perrantes tried football.

Recommendations

From Nevadasports.net, a story on former Simi Valley pitcher Owen Sharts going into coaching at Nevada.

From NFHS.org, a story on the CEO of the NFHS arguing that transferring solely for athletic purposes in high school must be stopped.

From the Orange County Register, a story on Edison girls soccer/flag football star Riley Crooks moving on to Texas A&M.

From the Daily Pilot, its Dream Team in football.

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