REGION — It’s that time of year again — turkey’s smoked, yams are candied, and the three ball is ready to fly. With basketball season tipping off, The Coast News took a trip around North County to find out who’s who on the hardwood for the upcoming prep boys basketball season.
Carlsbad (Freelance League)
Coach: Clark Allard
Key Returning Player: Jake Hall
Key Departing Players: Tony Duckett, Jael Martin
Outlook 2025: In 2024, the Lancers took home the San Diego Section Open Division Championship. In the regional semifinal — the California high school game of the year (or decade or millennia) — Carlsbad pushed eventual state champion Harvard-Westlake to the brink before finally succumbing, 73-72. All-world scorer Tony Duckett, now at USD, missed a game-winner by inches — a moment he recently told The Coast News he still finds himself thinking about.
Losing Duckett and big man Jael Martin is an obstacle. However, senior guard Jake Hall, the team’s leading scorer, returns. Hall doesn’t blow anyone away with his athleticism or size, but he puts the ball in the bucket as well as anyone in the county, averaging over 18 points per game last year (which is actually down from his sophomore season, where he averaged an eye-popping 26 points per game). The Lancers remain in the mix for a section championship.
San Dieguito Academy (Avocado League)
Coach: Jason Stewart
Key Returning Player: Jack Melekian
Key Departing Player: Jaxen Sladavic
Outlook 2025: After winning the program’s first Avocado League title in 57 years in 2022, San Dieguito was thrown into the deep end last year after being moved to the Freelance League. The Mustangs struggled in their debut, going 0-10 in the conference and 5-22 on the season. The good news is they are back in the Avocado League. The bad news is they graduated three of their key players.
Fun Fact: SDA Alum John Fairchild is credited with being the first NBA player born in San Diego County.
El Camino (Freelance League)
Coach: Derrick Jones
Key Returning Player: Logan Ardent
Key Departing Player: Isaiah Pomare
Outlook 2025: Uncommitted senior guard Logan Ardent is the engine. He is a physical defender that can create chaos. Ardent also fills up the cup, averaging 10.9 points per game as a junior. Last season, El Camino played .500 basketball without a dominant scorer. Ardent figures to be the guy in 2025.
Fun Fact: In the 1990s, Chris Dade bounced between El Camino, Oceanside and Vista high school basketball teams before playing as a guard at Cal State Fullerton. He later became an all-star in Icelandic professional basketball.
La Costa Canyon (Freelance League)
Coach: David Cassaw
Key Returning Player: Mason Jones
Key Departing Player: Ryan Quain
Outlook 2025: La Costa Canyon head coach David Cassaw has won plenty of games with the Mavericks over the past 15 years. Last season, the team advanced to the second round of the Division II state playoffs.
At 6-foot-7, 240 pounds, junior center Mason Jones is poised for a big season. As always, LCC will likely be in the thick of things come February.
Oceanside (Avocado League)
Coach: Brad Hollingsworth
Key Returning Player: Tan Nguyen
Key Departing Players: Evan Wolf, Quavon Montgomery, Kalen Kaye
Outlook 2025: Last season, a young Pirates team went 11-16. More seasoned, the Pirates’ sharpshooting trio of Tan Nguyen, Zay Solomon and Wyatt Cann are dangerous when hot. Oceanside senior point guard Nguyen is undersized but pugnacious as a defender and can shoot opposing teams out of games from three.
Fun Fact: Pirates quarterback Joesph Vinup doubles as a guard off the bench.
Santa Fe Christian (Coastal League)
Coach: Matt Carlino
Key Returning Player: Dax Hall
Key Departing Player: Jayden Luckett, Brycen MacKenzie
Outlook 2025: The Eagles had a successful 2023-24, winning 20 games and advancing to the second round of the Division I San Diego Section playoffs. SFC graduated both the biggest player on the roster, Jayden Luckett and the team’s best scorer, Brycen MacKenzie. Tough shoes to fill. Junior guard Dax Hall returns after hitting a fortuitous growth spurt. Hall is a playmaker with the ball in his hands. As a sophomore, Hall averaged 14.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
San Marcos (Palomar League)
Coach: Dante Carrey
Key Returning Players: Jalen Williams, Richie Ramirez
Key Departing Player: Mazen El Bissat, Derek Tuason
Outlook 2025: Dante Carrey returns for his 19th season as San Marcos head coach – that’s on top of the four years he spent as the Knights’ point guard. In 2023-24, the team won 26 games, including four in the postseason, before a Division III regional semifinal loss to Bosco Tech ended the season.
Unselfish big man Mazen El Bissat and guard Derek Tuason graduated. Those absences would be felt more acutely if not for the ascent of sophomore point guard Richie Ramirez. “(Ramirez) has that dog mentality like I had defensively, so we related that way,” Carrey said.
Williams and Ramirez are a two-headed monster in the backcourt and both are capable of scoring at will on any given night. Last year, Ramirez averaged 13.4 points, three rebounds and three assists per game, while Williams averaged 17.2 points, four rebounds and three assists per game. Come playoff time, San Marcos will be a tough out.
Vista (Avocado League)
Coach: Anthony Bolton
Key Returning Player: Gavin Guinn
Key Departing Player: Ramses Cathles
Outlook 2025: The Panthers won 20 games a season ago and returned most of their core contributors. Seniors Gavin Guinn, Ashaun Mitchell, CJ Coleman and Cody Myers bring experience to the floor. Consistency is the word of the day for Vista.
Rancho Buena Vista (Avocado League)
Coach: Aaron Abrams
Key Returning Player: CJ Aldrich
Key Departing Player: Trent Lotito
Outlook 2025: The Longhorns came tantalizingly close to the San Diego Section Championship last season, losing by 15 to University City in the Division II Championship game. RBV’s high-scoring, 6-foot-1 junior guard and captain CJ Aldrich returns. Last season as a sophomore, Aldrich averaged 22.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
Mission Hills (Palomar League)
Coach: Curtis Hofmeister
Key Returning Player: Austin Seeman
Key Departing Player: Jack Jillson
Outlook 2025: The team’s 21 wins for a first-place finish in the Palomar League didn’t translate to postseason success in 2023-24. A pair of transfers from San Marcos add depth, and the team is known for defense. Is there enough scoring to win games in February in a crowded field?
Fun Fact: Freshman Daxton Hyde is the younger brother of former Vista big-man Cyprian Hyde. The younger Hyde is currently in the low six-foot range, but with his brother standing 6 feet, 11 inches, a future growth spurt seems possible (or likely).
Torrey Pines (Freelance League)
Coach: John Olive
Key Returning Player: Cody Shen
Key Departing Player: Matin Madadkar
Outlook 2025: Torrey Pines graduated its leading scorer, rebounder, and assist man, but coming off a 20-win season, there is much to be optimistic about. Falcons senior Cody Shen is a big guard, primed for a breakout season after averaging 10.3 points and three rebounds per game last year as a junior. Six-foot-four junior Tevaris Green scored 25 points per game on 40% from deep at an October showcase. Center Zain Mehio also returns.
Cathedral Catholic (Western League)
Coach: Graham Bousley
Key Returning Player:
Key Departing Players: Ryan Enos, Ty Ingram
Outlook 2025: As the old adage goes, “You can’t teach height.” The Dons have an overwhelming amount of size with freshman Boone Thompson (6-foot-7), junior Tyler Vosburgh (6-foot-7) and a frontcourt rotation featuring multiple 6-foot-5 players.
However, it will be very difficult to overcome the loss of center Ryan Enos to graduation and leading scorer Ty Ingram to the transfer portal.
Escondido (Valley League)
Coach: Cameron Lee
Key Returning Player: Maddox Mendoza
Key Departing Players: Mitchell Lomeli, Ricky Saldana, Jack Hughes
Outlook 2025: The Cougars struggled in 2023-24, winning 10 and dropping 18. While 6-foot-5 center Maddox Mendoza is a bright spot, more than likely, 2025 is a developmental year for Escondido High.
Sage Creek (Valley League)
Coach: Brandon Dowdy
Key Returning Player: Elijah Stephens
Key Departing Player: Zac Peterson
Outlook 2025: Sage Creek, perhaps more than any other team in North County, is a true dark horse to make a deep run in the state playoffs. The combination of seniors Elias Samady and Elijah Stephens is overwhelming. Stephens is a walking double-double, averaging 24.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game last year. Plus, the team added size, with Jayden Bringas making his varsity debut.
