BOYS' BASKETBALL

ACADEMY LEAGUE

St. Margaret’s 81, Brethren Christian 45

Pasadena is finally healthy and at full strength. That means trouble for opponents.

The Bulldogs avenged their only Pacific League defeat on Tuesday, routing Crescenta Valley 83-45. Back on Jan. 3, when the Bulldogs were missing players, they lost to Crescenta Valley 65-60.

With Bryce Hamilton and Darius Brown leading the way, Pasadena is 6-1 in the league and finally starting to look like the team everyone thought would be a top 25 team. Hamilton scored 24 points and Brown 20 points.

It’s time to start saluting the multisport high school athletes, and first up is Rylee Penn of Corona Centennial.

She has been a track and field standout for the Huskies. She won the Southern Section Division 1 800-meter title in 2016 as a sophomore and finished fifth last season. She also has run cross country.

This season, even though she’s headed to the University of Cincinnati on a track scholarship, she’s playing soccer for the first time in high school. She used to play club soccer.

The advantage that Westchester’s basketball team has right now over the rest of City Section schools is the play of its big men.

Kaelen Allen has become a force inside. He scored 21 points on Monday as the Comets (19-4) cruised to a 65-34 Western League win over Palisades.

Fairfax defeated Hamilton 84-45. Robert McRae finished with 22 points and Kirk Smith 13. Daisone Hughes scored 40 points in University’s 70-67 win over Venice.

With seven returning starters from a 23-9 team, including standout pitchers Lucas Gordon (sophomore) and Carter Kessinger (junior), Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is gearing up to be one of the top baseball teams in Southern California.

Yes, Hunter Greene is gone and off to pro baseball, but the Knights are loaded with some of the best young players in the Southland.

Everything starts with Gordon, a USC commit who’s not only a standout pitcher but will provide plenty of hitting support. Kessinger was the big surprise last season, going 6-1 as a sophomore. As soon as Notre Dame identifies a No. 3 pitcher, watch out.

Bishop Montgomery and Etiwanda are ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, in the latest Southern Section Division 1 boys’ basketball poll.

Here’s the link to the complete rankings.

In girls’ basketball, Windward and Harvard-Westlake hold down the top two spots.

The one-day Rolling Hills State Preview Classic is set for Saturday at Cerritos College. There will be eight boys’ basketball games beginning at 9:30 a.m.

The schedule:

LB Jordan vs. Crean Lutheran, 9:30 a.m.; Heritage Christian vs. Brentwood, 11 a.m.; Durango vs. Maranatha, 12:30 p.m.; Loyola vs. Rolling Hills, 2 p.m.; Wasatch vs. Taft, 3:30 p.m.; Corona Centennial vs. Oak Park, 5 p.m.; Fairfax vs. Bishop Montgomery, 7 p.m.; Santa Monica vs. Chino Hills, 8:30 p.m.

It’s a month before the prep baseball season begins, and teams are in full winter mode playing weekend games.

El Camino Real hosted a talented Ayala team on Saturday. Ayala should battle Simi Valley and Damien for supremacy in Southern Section Division 2. And ECR will once again challenge for a City title.

The Conquistadores have two top young players to watch. Junior Cole Kitchen should be one of the best hitters in the City Section. And sophomore pitcher Adam Christopher has grown to 6 foot 2 and will team with seniors Bryan Golnick and Jack Whisnant to give the Conquistadores the required trio to make it and win at Dodger Stadium.

With 16.5 seconds left, unbeaten Bishop Montgomery held a three-point lead over Westchester on Saturday night. The Knights needed one last defensive push to improve to 19-0.

On the bench, injured guard Gianni Hunt was jumping up and down higher than some cheerleaders, letting everyone know he was close to returning from a broken ankle. But this was one last chance for the Knights to show how good they were without him.

Westchester inbounded the ball and got up four three-point shot attempts. None made it through the net. Game over. Bishop Montgomery won 64-61.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

ACADEMY LEAGUE

St. Margaret’s 70, Whitney 59