SoCal Top 10: Chino Hills, SJB face challenges
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – It’s a tad more than a week into 2018 and the elite high school programs in Southern California are about to go deep into league play.
Let’s dive into my updated Southern California (the CIF Southern, L.A. City and San Diego Section members) Top 10/Plus 15 for some examples:
*Top-ranked Bishop Montgomery, after wins over then-No. 2 Sierra Canyon and “Plus 15” Oak Park last week, has Del Rey League matches at Serra (12-4) on Wednesday and No. 7 St. Bernard (11-4) on Friday;
*One more “Plus 15”, Chino Hills (8-6), led by superb 6-foot-9 junior Onyeka Okongwu, has Baseline League games at No. 8 Damien (14-2) Tuesday night and at home to No. 2 Etiwanda (15-1) Thursday;
*And another “Plus 15”, St. John Bosco (13-2), has Trinity League home games against Top 10 foes in No. 3 and 10-4 Mater Dei on Wednesday and No. 9 and 11-3 Santa Margarita on Friday.
The Top 10
(Records as of Jan. 6)
- Torrance Bishop Montgomery (Southern Section/14-0)
- Etiwanda (Southern Section/15-1)
- Santa Ana Mater Dei (Southern Section/10-4)
- Temecula Rancho Christian (Southern Section/13-2)
- Chatsworth Sierra Canyon (Southern Section/11-2)
- Westchester (L.A. City Section/14-3)
- Playa del Rey St. Bernard (Southern Section/11-4)
- La Verne Damien (Southern Section/14-2)
- Santa Margarita (Southern Section/11-3)
- Fairfax (L.A. City Section/10-4)
Next 15 (alphabetical): Cajon (SS/9-6); Montebello Cantwell-Sacred Heart (SS/14-3); Chino Hills (SS/8-6); Encino Crespi (SS/15-2); El Cajon Foothills Christian (San Diego/12-5); Studio City Harvard-Westlake (SS/14-2); Hacienda Heights Los Altos (SS/13-2); Oak Park (SS/9-6); Long Beach Poly (SS/9-4); San Diego Mission Bay (SD Section/14-3); Eastvale Roosevelt (SS/12-1); Long Beach St. Anthony (SS/13-2); Bellflower St. John Bosco (Southern Section/13-2); Vista (SDS/12-5); and Woodland Hills Taft (L.A. City Section/14-5)