REGION — A wave of graduations, transfers and new coaches has reset the landscape for North County boys’ basketball, setting up an exciting yet unpredictable start to the 2025-26 season. The Coast News hit the ground to learn more in the lead-up to opening tipoff this month.
Spotlight
Carlsbad Lancers (Coastal League)
Last season: 26-7, 8-2
Head coach: Clark Allard
North County’s premier boys’ basketball program enters the season 3,106 points lighter after graduating 2024 Section Player of the Year Jake Hall to the University of New Mexico. The focus, head coach Clark Allard said, hasn’t changed.
“As long as I’m at Carlsbad, our expectation is to contend for an Open Division championship,” he said. “That’s our goal again this year.”
Last season, the Lancers had to reshuffle after a 30-win campaign and an Open Division section title, graduating top scorer Tony Duckett and rim-protector extraordinaire Jael Martin — a transition Allard says prepared him for this year’s reset.
“The team that went 30-3 and finished top-40 nationally had a ton of athleticism and depth, but the next year we didn’t have that — Jake was our de facto center, and we had to adjust what we did to make the group the best it could be,” Allard said. “That’s the fun part of coaching: seeing the group in front of you and figuring out the best way to make it successful. Our staff did a good job last year putting guys in the right spots. The thought process is the same now — we’ll do things differently based on our personnel, and that challenge of reshuffling is one of the reasons I love coaching.”
Seniors Dylan Sims, Jayden Garner, Briggs Young, and Trenton Mehl are expected to lead the offense.
“We expect those four to shoulder a lot of the load this season, setting the tone in practice and games, leading on both ends, and any one of them could be our top scorer on a given night,” Allard said.
Rancho Buena Vista Longhorns (Coastal League)
Last season: 16-14, 4-6
Head coach: Aaron Abrams
RBV head coach Aaron Abrams called senior guard CJ Aldrich the best in San Diego. Last season, Aldrich averaged nearly 30 points and 10 rebounds per game. The challenge: eight players, including the other four starters, graduated, leaving the Longhorns to navigate the unknown.
“Our returners know the system and have been around for a few years, but we’ll be on the younger side this season,” Abrams said. “We’ve added some freshmen who have the ability to play, though adjusting to the speed of the game and learning our system will be a challenge. That said, we’re optimistic — we want to play fast, we have good athletes who compete on defense, and I think we can compete with just about any team we face this year.”
When in doubt, just give the ball to Aldrich and get out of the way.
“CJ’s been our guy since he was a freshman,” Abrams said. “He’s a game-changer. Even while managing a hip contusion during the offseason, he’s been working hard, and our philosophy is the same: we go as far as CJ takes us.”
Transfers Wyatt Myers and Amari Mitchell from Vista are expected to play significant roles once they become eligible.
“We’re going to get after it defensively,” Abrams said. “With such a large, mostly new roster, we’ve made practices extremely competitive. Once our transfers become eligible, they’ll have a huge defensive impact, which will fuel our transition game and create easy buckets. We expect to start hitting our stride around late December or early January.”
San Dieguito Academy Mustangs (Avocado League)
Last season: 1-20, 1-7
Head coach: Sean Keenan
First-year head coach Sean Keenan steps into a program coming off a 1-20 season. While he isn’t setting expectations for the record, Keenan believes the team is capable of more than a single win.
“There’s a lot of talent in the program, and that’s exciting. I’m optimistic — whether the wins and losses come right away or not, we have guys who are talented and work hard. We’re definitely a lot better than a one-win team.”
Above all, Keenan expects the team to compete on defense.
“We’re taking a somewhat unique defensive approach to throw teams off,” Keenan said. “Our goal is to force opponents into low-value shots while clearly defining what we’ll allow, knowing they might get hot and steal a game here or there. Over the long run, we believe this approach will help us win and give our players a clear understanding of how we want to defend.”
Keenan singled out a trio of players to watch this season: junior point guard Jack Melekian, 6’4” senior Grant Volz, and sophomore shooting guard Citizen Zamora.
“[Melekian] was probably five feet, 100 pounds when he started, but he’s put in a lot of work in the weight room,” Keenan said. “He and Grant will be our key returning leaders, and we have four sophomores who will play big minutes at the varsity level, with Citizen Zamora expected to be a major scorer.”
Quick Hitters
Torrey Pines (Coastal League)
Last season: 24-7, 10-0
Head coach: John Olive
Quotable Notable: “I expect myself to be an all-CIF first team contender. For my team, I expect us to go undefeated in league, and win the CIF Open Division championship.” – Tevaris Green, senior, shooting guard
Mission Hills (Palomar League)
Last season: 19-11, 6-4
Head coach: Curtis Hofmeister
Quotable Notable: “Jake VanDerVorste, I see him all the time in practice and his game is so complete. I think because he has the shot and the post-up ability and can score at will along with great defense.” – sophomore wing Daxton Hyde on teammate Jake VanDerVorste
San Marcos (Palomar League)
Last season: 25-5, 10-0
Head coach: Dante Carey
Quotable Notable: “Jalen Williams, he’s the most calm under pressure player I know. He took the whole summer off due to an injury but I’m sure he’s going to be back and better than before.” – Tevaris Green on San Marcos guard Jalen Williams
Around the Region
La Costa Canyon (Coastal League) – 13-16, 3-7 | Head coach: David Cassaw
El Camino (Coastal League) – 14-15, 5-5 | Head coach: Derick Jones
Vista (Coastal League) – 10-18, 0-10 | Head coach: Anthony Bolton
Santa Fe Christian (Coastal League) – 23-8, 7-1 | Head coach: Johnny Dee
Oceanside (Avocado League) – 12-15, 3-5 | Head coach: Mike Franciscu
Cathedral Catholic (Western League) – 20-11, 6-2 | Head coach: Graham Bousley
