CIF Southern Section Divisional Preview: Division 3A Teams to Watch

With the the 2019-20 boys basketball season ready to kick off next week, we’ll be rolling out some divisional previews taking a look at some of the top teams and players. In our first piece, we breakdown some teams to watch in Division 3A based on research combined with what we’ve seen in person this fall. Division 3A Teams to Watch Eisenhower (Rialto) 2018-19 Record/Result: 18-9 overall, 9-1 San Andreas League, lost in Division 3A second round Outlook: The Eagles lost a handful of contributors from last season, including leading scorer, Dorian King, but having a forward/center the quality of 6-foot-8 Daniel Rouzan will give Eisenhower a competitive edge in the paint offensively. Rouzan put up averages of 18 points and 8.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore and now, being the focal point of the offense, is primed to take that production to the next level. Eisenhower also returns guard duo which saw a lot of varsity action last season in Jordon King and Justin Edwards. The key for coach Jonathan Cheney will be which of his upperclassmen have a breakout season to add to Rouzan’s production. Fountain Valley 2018-19 Record/Result: 9-19 overall, 2-4 Wave League, missed playoffs Outlook: Is this the year the Barons put it all together? Head coach D’Cean Bryant enters his third season of rebuilding the Fountain Valley program and has a host of talented players on his roster. It will all start with 6-foot-2 junior guard Jeremiah Davis who has dynamic scoring ability in both half-court and transition settings. Fellow junior Preston Amarillo is the glue guy who plays a point-forward type of roll with his vision and IQ. Sophomore Aden Casarez and junior Brad Farnsworth are the Barons’ best spot shooters and both can get hot in a hurry from distance. They key to this year’s team will be sophomore Roddie Anderson. The 6-foot point guard is a big time athlete with impressive speed in transition, but can he harness that energy and use it properly? And has his jumper come along enough to keep defenses honest? Quartz Hill 2018-19 Record/Result: 15-13 overall, 8-6 Golden League, lost in Division 4AA semifinals Outlook: If you look at last year’s statistics for the Rebels, there wasn’t a bonafide star. Instead, Quartz Hill had seven players average between 10.6 and 5.1 points per game and will have four of those players returning this season. Josiah Taylor and Alaijian Russell are the two top returning scorers for the Rebels after posting just over 10 points apiece as juniors. If Quartz Hill can bring another balanced scoring attack and get a little bit more production out of Jacob Mani and Yeshua Brice, it could experience similar playoff success to last year. Shadow Hills (Indio) 2018-19 Record/Result: 20-9 overall, 7-3 Desert Empire League, lost in Division 4AA second round Outlook: Desert-area teams don’t get a whole lot of publicity because of location, but senior Dominic Escobar is good enough to put Shadow Hills on the radar. The 6-foot-4 forward is an absolute workhorse on both ends of the floor and plays with a fearlessness and toughness to his game that is refreshing to see. Aside from Escobar, coach Ryan Towner is expecting a big season out of senior guard Deonta Strange who can spread the floor with deep range on his 3-point shot. Towner also said he expects Cord Stansberry and Malachi Murrell to make big leaps in their sophomore seasons. Valley Christian (Cerritos) 2018-19 Record/Result: 16-13 overall, 4-5 Olympic League, lost in Division 3AA first round Outlook: The Defenders return one of the best guards in the division in senior Malvin Payero and add a freshman point guard in TJ Waters who plays with a feel and IQ well-beyond his years. Payero is an extremely tough cover because of his shiftiness and ability to manipulate the defense with changes of speed and direction and he’s also a high level on-ball defender. Sophomore Nathan Medina is your prototypical shooting guard at 6-feet-1 with deep range on his 3-point shot. The potential difference-maker for Valley Christian is 6-foot-8 sophomore Meilan Martinez who is both mobile and athletic with impressive length and timing on shot blocks and contests. Westminster 2018-19 Record/Result: 11-17 overall, 5-5 Golden West League, lost in Division 3A first round Outlook: The Lions will go as far as Matthew Brookins takes them, and based on the improvement shown by the 6-foot-6 power forward, Westminster could make a strong push in the postseason. Brookins has tightened up his frame and it has paid off with his footwork, mobility and conditioning. The key addition to the Lions’ roster that has coach C.J. Hollingsworth looking forward to the start of the season is Kyle Halk, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound sophomore who brings a physicality factor to both ends for the Lions. Look for guard Isaiah Banks to handle most of the ball handling and offense initiation for Westminster.