SoCal Top 25 Rankings: No.’s 11-15

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first week of high school basketball action tips Monday with tournaments spread out across the southland. We've taken the time to watch countless fall ball events and done endless research on the key departures, returners and new additions to SoCal high school programs and below are the teams who come in ranked No.'s 11-15.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">11. St. Pius X-St. Mathias</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach:</strong> Donte Archie</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2023-24 Record/Results:</strong> 24-7 overall; 10-0 Del Rey League; 2-1 in Open Division pool play; Lost to Carlsbad in 1st round of state playoffs</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024-25 Outlook:</strong> Coach Donte Archie is tasked with replacing one of the state's top prospects from last season in Tyrone Riley - who is now starting as a freshman at San Francisco - and he has a good mix of players to do just that. Harvard-bound senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='1630631' first='Douglas' last='Langford'] will anchor the paint on both ends while transfers [player_tooltip player_id='1896224' first='Jaden' last='Erami'] (Bosco Tech) and [player_tooltip player_id='2131788' first='Kayleb' last='Kearse'] (Gardena Serra) bring a scoring and creating punch on the perimeter. Also look for returners [player_tooltip player_id='2436267' first='Omari' last='Cuffe'] and Saul Anaya to make major impacts for the Warriors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">12. Damien</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach:</strong> Mike LeDuc</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2023-24 Record/Result:</strong> 28-6 overall; 9-1 Baseline League; Lost to Windward in semifinals of Southern Section Division 1 playoffs</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024-25 Outlook: </strong>Everything at Damien will revolve around 7-foot center [player_tooltip player_id='1630667' first='Nate' last='Garcia']. The Cal Baptist-commit is one of the most dominant forces in Southern California high school basketball with his combination of size, strength, physicality and skill. While the Spartans will be focused on playing inside-out, they still have plenty of firepower on the perimeter, starting with versatile 6-foot-5 sharpshooter [player_tooltip player_id='1956481' first='Eli' last='Garner']. Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1903787' first='Lucas' last='Arrieta'] and junior [player_tooltip player_id='1956521' first='Elijah' last='Smith'] will handle the point guard duties for coach LeDuc and look for sophomore guard Zaire Rasshan to take a big step in his production.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">13. Los Alamitos</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach: </strong>Nate Berger</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2023-24 Record/Result:</strong> 24-6 overall; 6-0 Surf League; Lost to Windward in 2nd round of Division 1 playoffs</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024-25 Outlook: </strong>The Griffins might have snuck up on some unsuspecting teams last season but, with seven returning contributors, Los Al finds itself as one of the hunted heading into this season. The Griffins play a fast-paced style on both ends of the floor that is difficult for most teams to deal with and, when you add in the cohesion and talent of their players, it makes it that much more difficult to handle. There's really no true star on the Los Al roster as [player_tooltip player_id='1630669' first='Trent' last='Minter'], Wesley Trevino, [player_tooltip player_id='2571723' first='Samori' last='Guyness'], [player_tooltip player_id='2571749' first='Liam' last='Gray'], [player_tooltip player_id='2571730' first='Kedric' last='Delaney'] and Jordan Taylor are all impact seniors and junior [player_tooltip player_id='2425673' first='Tyler' last='Lopez'] provides scoring punch off the bench.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">14. Heritage Christian</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach:</strong> Paul Tait</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2023-24 Record/Result: </strong>26-10 overall; 8-0 Olympic League; Lost to St. Anthony in D2AA semifinals; Lost to Bakersfield Christian in State D2 semifinals</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024-25 Outlook: </strong>The Warriors have one of the most talented front court duos in the state in [player_tooltip player_id='1630627' first='Tae' last='Simmons'] (San Diego State) and [player_tooltip player_id='1630628' first='Dillan' last='Shaw'] (St. Mary's) and those two alone should propel Heritage to another 20-plus win season and put them in contention for another Olympic League title. The key for coach Tait will be the development and production of the young peripheral pieces like 6-foot-6 sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2435373' first='Max' last='Hackney'] and 6-foot-5 freshman [player_tooltip player_id='2750239' first='Eli' last='Simmons']. Keep an eye out for senior guards Jesse Tweneboah and Freddie Crawford to step up on the perimeter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">15. Inglewood</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach: </strong>Jason Crowe, Sr.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2023-24 Record/Result: </strong>13-12 overall; 6-4 Ocean League; Lost to St. Bonaventure in 1st round of Div. 3AA playoffs </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024-25 Outlook:</strong> There's nothing about this year's Inglewood team to last year's as a new era of Sentinels basketball will begin when [player_tooltip player_id='1956461' first='Jason' last='Crowe Jr']. and [player_tooltip player_id='1225568' first='Parker' last='Jefferson'] officially take the floor. Crowe, a transfer from Lynwood and one of the top 2026 prospects in the country, and Jefferson, a 6-foot-9 center from Texas, give Inglewood one of the best one-two punches in the state. While Crowe and Jefferson will (deservingly) receive most of the hype and publicity, senior guard Danaus Cockrell, junior wing Andre Nickerson and sophomore wing David Conley, Jr. will be impactful players throughout the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->