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STUDIO CITY — The Mission League had its first boys and girls basketball media day at Harvard-Westlake High School Wednesday.
The boys league is made up of Alemany, Chaminade, Crespi, Harvard-Westlake, Loyola, Notre Dame and a new addition, Sierra Canyon.
The girls league includes Chaminade, Harvard-Westlake, Marlborough and Notre Dame, along with Alemany (from the Sunshine League) and a new addition, Sierra Canyon, the defending CIF State Open Division champion.
After speaking to each coach and a trio of players from each team, here are some takeaways from the media day that sets up a much-anticipated Mission League campaign for the 2022-23 season that officially begins Nov. 14.
LOADED WITH TALENT
It’s hard to think of a time when the San Fernando Valley was filled with this much talent, let alone in one league. Some of the coaches tried Wednesday …
Crespi coach Andrew Moore brought up Gilbert Arenas (Grant High). Chaminade coach Bryan Cantwell mentioned Jason and Jarron Collins (Harvard-Westlake). Certainly, players like Jordan Farmar (Taft), Nick Young (Cleveland) and Jrue Holiday (Campbell Hall) come to mind.
Even recently, the area has watched De’Anthony Melton and Brandon Williams (both Crespi), Duane Washington Jr., Cassius Stanley, Kenyon Martin Jr., Marvin Bagley and Scotty Pippen Jr. (all from Sierra Canyon) play in the proverbial backyard, but this year’s Mission League might take the cake.
“I can say with confidence this is probably the best (high school basketball) league in the country. If not the top, then top two or three,” St. Francis coach Todd Wolfson said.
“Outside of fifth-year prep school and places like that, I’d like to see a high school basketball league with more talent than this one,” said Cantwell, who has been at Chaminade for 28 years.
The boys league boasts blue-chip recruits like Notre Dame’s Caleb Foster (Duke commit) and Sierra Canyon’s Isaiah Elohim (five-star junior recruit), along with Notre Dame’s Dusty Stromer (Gonzaga) and Mercy Miller (Houston). Then there’s Sierra Canyon’s Bronny James (four-star) and Ashton Hardaway (three-star). Harvard-Westlake is led by Brady Dunlap (Notre Dame), Jacob Huggins (Princeton) and highly-touted junior point guard Trent Perry (four-star).
Alemany’s Jayce McDonald, Loyola’s Hugh VenDeWeghe, St. Francis’ Jackson Mosley and Crespi’s Peyton White are all college-level players who will lead their respective teams.
WATKINS IS THE BIGGEST STAR
The girls league contains the biggest star of all, Sierra Canyon senior Juju Watkins, who is ranked the No. 1 girls basketball recruit in the country for the class of 2023.
She will attempt to lead the Trailblazers back to the CIF Southern Section and CIF State Open Division finals for a second straight year. She’ll play alongside teammates Mackenly Randolph, Sofia Ruelas, and internationals Crystal Wang (China) and Leia Edwards (Great Britain). The team also added 6-foot-4 freshman Emilia Krstevski.
“We can go undefeated,” Watkins said with a smile.
Melissa Hearlihy, the girls coach at Harvard-Westlake for the past 22 years after spending 15 years as the coach at Alemany, is an authority on the local girls basketball scene. Her comments about Watkins were flattering.
“(Juju) is the evolvement of girls basketball,” Hearlihy said. “She’s 6-feet tall, but plays on the perimeter. Five, 10 years ago a girl that tall was playing close to the rim with their back to the basket. She’s amazing.”
Chaminade and Marlborough – co-Mission League champions last year – will be strong. The Eagles return Laila Carrillo, Natalie Patrick-Aguilar and rising sophomore Alanna Neale, who might be the team’s most dynamic player.
Marlborough, which boasts three players 5-foot-10 or taller, returns reigning Mission League MVP Hana Speaks, along with Autumn Hill and Bella Munoz.
Notre Dame returns the core of its team, led by Lisette Meza, Kylee Williams and Natalie Villamor. Alemany, and Harvard-Westlake will be young. The Warriors have eight freshmen and the Wolverines have five freshmen.
Keep an eye on Alemany’s Kate Hackney and 5-foot-10 freshman Leila Boykin. Harvard-Westlake’s lone senior Jordyn Call is a smiley sharpshooter and point guard Jamie Yue is one of the fastest players with the ball in the league.
“We think this league will give a ‘Friday night lights’ atmosphere,” Alemany coach Jeff Dosado said.
WORTH NOTING
The league’s boys teams will play each other once before entering an end-of-season Mission League tournament, similar to how collegiate conferences end their season.
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The girls will use a traditional league schedule, playing each other twice (home and away).
The boys will play Wednesday and Friday nights, and the girls will play Tuesday and Thursday nights.
Mission League play begins in January.