Prep Rally: This is the week high school basketball fans have been waiting for

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s championship week in basketball.

Championships

Finally healthy, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame showed what it’s capable of doing by handing Harvard-Westlake only its second defeat of the basketball season and advancing to Saturday’s Southern Section Open Division championship game at Toyota Arena in Ontario. Here’s the report of the Knights’ victory.

Notre Dame’s opponent will be determined Tuesday when Roosevelt hosts St. John Bosco. Here’s a report on Roosevelt’s 65-64 win over Sierra Canyon to stay alive.

The City Section has a huge Open Division semifinal doubleheader Monday at Roybal, with Cleveland facing Westchester at 6 p.m. followed by Chatsworth facing Palisades. The championship game will be Friday at 8:30 p.m. at L.A. Southwest College. Other championships will be Saturday at Pasadena City College.

Here’s a report on Cleveland’s win over Washington Prep.

Here’s the results of City playoff games.

In girls basketball, Ontario Christian will play two-time defending champion Etiwanda in Saturday’s Open Division championship game at Toyota Arena in Ontario.

Kaleena Smith of Ontario Christian launches a shot against Etiwanda’s Aliyahna Morris.

(Craig Weston)

Ontario Christian, led by sophomore guard Kaleena Smith, is trying to end Etiwanda’s championship run. Here’s a look at the excitement Ontario Christian is creating with its young players.

Here’s a report on Ontario Christian’s win over Sierra Canyon to advance to the final.

Soccer

It will be a battle of the unbeatens in Southern Section Open Division boys soccer with JSerra playing Loyola for the championship. The final will be Friday at 5 p.m. at El Modena.

Santa Margarita will play Corona Santiago in the Open Division girls final at 7:15 p.m. Friday at El Modena.

The City Section Open Division boys and girls finals will be Friday at Valley College. The boys semifinals on Tuesday have El Camino Real facing South Gate and Birmingham taking on South East. In girls, Palisades is at Cleveland and Granada Hills plays at San Pedro.

Baseball

Quentin Young of Oaks Christian sends a slider over the fence in left field at Cleveland High on Monday. Oaks Christian won 5-3.

(Craig Weston)

Opening day in high school baseball produced lots of impressive performance, including a home run from Quentin Young of Oaks Christian on his first at-bat on a 3-and-0 pitch against Cleveland. Here’s the story.

Pitchers in the Mission League look strong. Here’s a report on the opening week.

Two freshman pitchers came out hot. Carlos Acuna of Birmingham struck out eight aganst Westlake. Jordan Ayala of Norco struck out 11 in a 2-1 win over Orange Lutheran.

Seth Hernandez of Corona was impressive in his season debut, striking out seven in three innings. Here’s a report.

Here’s the top 25 baseball rankings by The Times.

Softball

Orange Lutheran’s Kai Minor.

(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)

The attention that comes with being one of the top high school recruits in the nation at their position can be a distraction for many players but not so for Orange Lutheran senior center fielder Kai Minor.

For her, the game is all about winning, and coming so close last year only to lose to Garden Grove Pacifica in the Southern Section Division 1 championship game fuels the fire for her and her teammates to get back to the finals and win. Minor desires to leave an indelible mark on the program and what better way to do so than to deliver a section title.

“The culture,” Minor said when asked why she signed with Oklahoma in November. “It was a good visit to Norman and reflects everything I’m about. I’m looking forward to this season and getting ready for the next level. We have more pitching depth than last year.”

Here’s a softball preview and profile of Minor.

Norco has come out making a statement with wins over Murrieta Mesa and JSerra. Leighton Gray had a home run in a 1-0 win over JSerra.

Girls water polo

Newport Harbor’s Harper Price (2) shoots for the goal over Oaks Christian’s Mia Faros (7).

(James Carbone/James Carbone)

All hail Oaks Christian, the Southern Section Open Division girls water polo champion after a 7-5 win over Newport Harbor ended the domination by Orange County teams.

Here’s the report.

Birmingham won the City Section Open Division girls water polo championship.

The Southern California regionals begin this week. The finals are Saturday in Long Beach. Here are the pairings.

Wrestling

The state wrestling championships begin Thursday in Bakersfield. Here’s the link to Southern Section Masters Meet results.

Don Norford honor

Long Beach Poly will rename its track and field facility after former coach Don Norford in a ceremony Saturday.

He coached from 1976 to 2014, winning 18 state titles when he was head coach of the boys and girls teams starting in 1989. He also won 25 Southern Section titles.

Notes . . .

Christian Dearborn is the new football coach at Moorpark. He’s a former Royal coach and the son of Moorpark athletic director Rob Dearborn. . . .

Doug Bledsoe is the new football coach at defending City Section Open Division champion Narbonne. He’s been a head coach at Dorsey, University, North Hollywood and Pasadena and served as an assistant at Salesian last year. Narbonne is ineligible for the playoffs in 2025. . . .

Vincent Smith, a former offensive coordinator, is the new football coach at Maya Angelou. . . .

Tony Davis is out after three years as basketball coach at Servite. He left Mayfair trying to get the Friars’ program on track but went 0-30 in Trinity League games. . . .

Daniel Robles is the new football coach at Don Lugo. . . .

Long Beach Wilson has hired Raudric Curtis to be its football coach. He has coached at Bellflower and Mayfair.

Defensive end Simonte Katoanga, a junior who recently left JSerra for Santa Margarita, has committed to USC. . . .

Baseball player Ethan Montes of Sierra Canyon has committed to Puget Sound. . . .

Mira Costa, the likely No. 1 team in boys volleyball, started its season by winning its own tournament championship, defeating Huntington Beach in the championship match.

From the archives: Neil Diamond

Photo from Los Angeles Times newspaper in 2014 Neil Diamond opening Sherman Oaks Notre Dame field.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

It was Feb. 22, 2014, when Neil Diamond came to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame to open its new $3 million baseball field. There were celebrities everywhere, from Pete Rose to Larry King to director Dennis Dugan, who helped design the stadium.

Diamond came to sing, “Sweet Caroline,” his famous song. The moment was surreal. Here’s video of that memorable day in 2014.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, a story on a high school basketball team being on the road for every game as its gym is under construction.

From Yahoo Sports, a story on a Kentucky high school swim team winning its 37th straight state title.

From MLB.com, a story on why former Harvard-Westlake outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs changed his uniform number.

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