Prep Rally: State basketball championships were a showcase of incredible moments

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It was a weekend of historic performances and memorable moments at the state high school basketball championships in Sacramento.

Memorable finals

What a weekend it was in Sacramento, where 12 new state champions were crowned in high school basketball. There were so many memorable moments. Among my favorite:

Watching Brayden Burries of Eastvale Roosevelt turn in one of the best 16 minutes of individual basketball I’ve seen in a championship playoff game. His 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting at Golden 1 Center in the first half against Riordan in the Open Division championship game was truly a “wow” moment. He finished with a division-record 44 points and 12 rebounds. Everyone always says he rises to the occasion. He was in a zone that was extraordinary.

There was the moment LeBron James and family walked into the Golden 1 Center, causing fans to stand and scream in unison. I haven’t seen that kind of reaction since singer Chris Brown walked into the Fairfax gym during a game against Westchester and made fans crazy with excitement.

There was inspiration watching how a teenager handled defeat. That was Alijah Arenas of Chatsworth embracing each of his teammates as their names were called and having the strength to keep being a leader when he was feeling miserable.

It was so informative to listen to the great master teacher, Etiwanda girls basketball coach Stan Delus, in his huddle and on the court guiding his team to a third consecutive Open Division girls title. He was constantly shouting, “Up, up, up,” trying to get his players to deploy pressure on defense. They’ve heard him say “up” so much that they dream about it in there sleep.

Then there was the Whitney girls, all of whom are A students, proving brains and brawn can go together in winning the Division IV girls title.

Boys basketball

Roosevelt’s Brayden Burries is on the ground after making a three-point shot and being fouled as teammate Myles Walker offers him a hand.

(Greg Stein for The Times)

Eastvale Roosevelt finished off an historic season winning the state Open Division championship. Here’s the report.

Sierra Canyon won Division I behind a strong fourth-quarter performance from junior Maximo Adams. Here’s the report.

Chatsworth fell short in its bid to win the Division II title. Here’s the report.

San Gabriel Academy won the Division III title. Here’s the report.

Girls basketball

It’s three-peat time for Etiwanda winning a third straight Open Division girls basketball state championship.

(Greg Stein for The Times)

Etiwanda won its record third straight Open Division title. Here’s the report.

Whitney in Cerritos won the Division IV title, its first in school history. Here’s the report.

Sage Hill was runner-up in Division I. Here’s the report.

Baseball

Talan Larson of Servite threw a one-hitter on Saturday in 6-0 win over Dana Hills.

(Servite HS)

With a no-hitter going, Talan Larson of Servite ended up with a one-hitter on Saturday in a 6-0 victory over Dana Hills after the scorers disagreed on a play in the seventh. A soft line drive to center field was dropped. Servite ruled it an error but the home book decided it was a hit. Larson retired the first 16 batters in order until a hit batsman broke up the perfect game.

Crespi is off to a 7-0 start and showing a great one-two pitching duo in Jackson Eisenhauer and Tyler Walton. Eisenhauer has started the season throwing 19 consecutive scoreless innings. Here’s a look at his story of major improvement in his senior year.

Big VIII League play begins this week with Corona and Norco scheduled for a three-game series starting Monday at Norco.

Villa Park coach Burt Call won his 500th game on Saturday. Call won two Southern Section championships during his years as head coach at Mater Dei.

Here’s a look at this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.

El Segundo, Calif.’s Louis Lappe (19) celebrates as he rounds second after hitting a solo walk-off home run off Curacao’s Jay-Dlynn Wiel during the sixth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

(Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press)

Louis Lappe, the hero for El Segundo Little League’s World Series championship team in 2023, announced he will attend Harvard-Westlake in the fall as part of the class of 2029. It’s a big pick up for the Wolverines. He has grown to 6 feet 3 and will be one of the best for his class. Here’s a report on his decision.

Softball

Rain has disrupted the softball season. El Modena deserves the title as No. 1 softball team with an 8-1 record and a win over Norco in Arizona. El Modena picked up a 1-0 win over Tesoro.

Parker Mayes had the walk-off hit in the seventh. Sara Pinedo struck out 11. Loula McNamara was the tough luck losing pitcher for Tesoro. El Modena faces 10-3 Cypress this week.

Orange Lutheran has started with a 7-1 record. Freshman Mia Scott has 12 hits, the same as Oklahoma-bound Kai Minor.

Oaks Christian has played just one game and picked up an 8-0 win over Oak Park. Freshman Trystyn Crutcher threw the shutout in her high school debut.

Golf

Loyola and Oaks Christian have been impressive in early-season golf matches.

Lacrosse

Loyola defeated the top-ranked team in California, St. Ignacious of San Francisco 14-11.

Track

Max Douglass of Corona del Mar broke nine minutes in the 3,200 at Laguna Beach, winning his race in 8:59.28.

Quran Clayton of Oak Hills ran the 110 hurdles in 14.36 at Covina. Servite’s 4×100 relay teams keeps turning out fast time after fast time, proving it’s for real. The Friars ran 40.94 at Covina.

The Pasadena Games are set for Saturday at Pasadena City College. Mira Costa is osting the Mustang Speed Invitational.

Volleyball

If you can get a ticket for Friday’s volleyball showdown between Mira Costa and host Loyola, consider yourself to be lucky. The Cubs have chosen to play the match in their home gym rather than the larger Loyola Marymount facility, so prepare to get cozy and bring earplugs for the high noise level in one of the great rivalry matches of the season.

Loyola won the Best of the West tournament by handing Mira Costa its first defeat.

Corona del Mar won a rivalry match against Newport Harbor led by a newcomer from Chicago. Here’s the report.

Raising giant linemen

Lee Schwartz, the father of former Palisades High and NFL linemen Geoff and Mitchell Schwartz, has written a book.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Geoff and Mitchell Schwartz were offensive linemen at Palisades High and made it to the NFL.

Now his father, Lee, has written a book entitled, “Raising Giants: My Extraordinary Journey With TWO NFL Sons.”

It’s available via Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Here’s a story about Geoff and Mitchell.

Notes . . .

Trent Mosley of Santa Margarita.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Trent Mosley of Santa Margarita, the Trinity League football player of the year as a sophomore, has committed to USC. The junior receiver adds to an impressive group of recruits from the class of 2026 who have committed to the Trojans from Southern California. . . .

Ryan Lawrence has been promoted to football coach at Glendora. He was an assistant coach. . . .

The interim tag has been removed from Shawn Johnson to become the football coach at Chatsworth. . . .

Katie Daly has resigned as girls volleyball coach at Santa Margarita. . . .

Campbell Hall has hired Georgetown swim coach Jack Leavitt to be its new athletic director. . . .

Former L.A. Jordan football coach Derek Benton is moving over to Fremont to be its football coach. . . .

Chris Saucedo of Santa Margarita has committed to Vanguard University baseball.

Prep talk

From the archives: Jerime Anderson

Former Anaheim Canyon and UCLA guard Jerime Anderson continues to enjoy a long career playing professional basketball overseas.

He’s 35 years old. He played for UCLA from 2008 through 2012, went undrafted and that didn’t stop him. He started playing in Belgium and the rest is history. He’s still playing, currently in the Mexican League.

Here’s a story from 2007 on Anderson and his brother, Chris, leading Canyon.

Recommendations

From WashingtonPost.com, a story on a high school runner suffering a concussion after being struck by a baton.

From the Sacramento Bee, a story on how Jesuit won the state Division II championship over Chatsworth.

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