The season started Monday. We didn’t peak. These are out a couple days late, but promise, all were picked before any of the Southern Section squads got underway.

It’s hard to bet against the two-time defending Open Division champion Harvard-Westlake Wolverines, especially with the return of perhaps the state’s best two-way player in Nik Khamenia, a 6-8 power forward headed to Duke, and the addition of super shooter Joe Sterling.

Plus they have arguably the state’s best coach in David Rebibo. That’s a mouthful.

But St. John Bosco is simply that good, blessed with a trio of players that no one can match. Most of the rest of the state tips off next week. Until then, here’s a look at the state’s Top 25 with a lot of input from SBLive’s Tarek Fattal.

Note: Only teams that play for a CIF State California title were considered for this rankings, thus eliminating Prolific Prep of Napa Christian, which can and will play for both a mythical national title. On Tuesday, the Crew defeated the No. 1 team in the SBLive preseason national rankings.

Brandon McCoy, Elzie Harrington and Christian Collins make up arguable the best trio in California. Very talented group with an elite coach in Matt Dunn.Collins is expected to be eligible immediately after valid change of residence.

Nik Khamenia and new transfer Joe Sterling will be a savvy pair of experienced players bringing along a bevy of high-talented underclassmen under the guidance of David Rebibo. The Wolverines are the two-time defending CIF Open Division champions.

Brayden Burries, Issac Williamson, Myles Walker and Dominic Copenhagen make up a cohesive unit that reached the Open Division finals and CIF State Open regional final.

Tyran Stokes is nursing a wrist injury that could sideline him for the first few weeks of the season, but Lino Mark, Zach White and Caleb Ogbu can handle the heavy lifting until Stokes returns. With Stokes, the Knights will see themselves nationally ranked by various outlets.

The headliner of course is Baylor-bound and fourth-year starter Tounde Yessoufou, who is nearing 3,000 career points at a 29.0 per game clip to go along with 11.0, 2.8 steals and 1.7 blocks per outing in his career. But the Knights also boasts 4-star guard Julius Price, another four-year starter with offers to Minnesota and Washington. Other starters Gunner Morinini and Abdoul also return.

The defending Northern California Open champion graduated a ton but return Elias Obenah, Yale-bound Alvin Loving and two-sport standout Carlton Perrilliat among a host of others in an attempt to duplicate a nearly perfect season of sharing. Not a single Pride player averaged even 10 points per game last season.

The Crusaders were slated a few slots higher until it was learned Cal-bound guard Semetri Carr, who played with the Crusaders during an impressive June live period, decided to transfer from Branson-Ross to Redwood-Larkspur, his hometown public school. The Crusaders, the NorCal Open runner-up and two-time Central Coast Section Open champ, return loads of D1 talent, including 6-5 wing Jasir Rencher (Texas A&M commit), 6-9 post Steve Emenek, 4-star junior guard Andrew Hilman, Ryder Bush, along with transfers Kirby Seals (Santa Cruz), D.J. Armstrong (Branson). Watch out for 6-9 frontliner J.P. Phitvos.

The Lions will compete to win the Trinity League and are destined for the Open Division with returners Jarne Eyenga and Godschoice Eboigbodin, new transfers Brannon Martinsen (Mater Dei) and BJ Davis Ray (Duncanville), and rising sophomore Earl Bryson.

What a front line with Oklahoma-bound Alec Blair, a 6-6 senior who can play and defend anywhere, and 6-7 bangers David Balogun and Braddock Kjellevig. The pressure will be on the backcourt but returning starter Ibrahim Monawar, a 6-2 junior, back the Spartans sould be able to run with anyone.

The Eagles have a trio that should win them 20-plus games alone in Dallas Washington, Brayden Kyman and Drew Anderson. Newcomer Kaiden Bailey, who scored 30 points per game last year for Calvary Chapel gives SM a dynamic, superstar element in the backcourt.

Nothing new in Chatsworth. An influx of transfers (yet again) highlighted by Maximo Adams, Chris Nwuli and Gavin Hightower join returners Bryce Cofield, Bryce James and Jayden Alexander.

The Monarchs return guards Owen Verna and Luke Barnett. Forward Blake Davidson and junior Malloy Smith will be expected to play bigger roles this upcoming season. Evan Willis is a 6-foot-7 freshman wing to keep an eye out for.

Gavin Sykes, a 6-4 senior, and Stanford-bound Myles Jones came in late last season, beat De La Salle at NorCals and was edged barely by Salesian. Sykes and Jones return as does super sophomore Elijah Payne, Ryan Atkins (6-7) and Mason Brown. Coach Bruce Fantazia, one of the best in NorCal, will also coach Modesto Junior College this season.

The best from the San Diego Section, the Aztecs return their four leading scorers in J.J. Sanchez (19.8 points per game), Devin Hamilton (13.2), Xair Mendez (12.4) and Alek Sanchez (8.8). They don’t just score in bunches, they play so well together, and last year were in super synch. A year more in tune, there’s no reason to think they can’t get to 30 wins.

The NorCal Division 1 champion last season returns UC Irvine commit Luke Isaak to go along with Mason Thomas, Elliot Conley and Thomas Coney. Big teams might give the Wolves trouble, but with such strong guard play, helped by newcomer Tyler Smith, the Wolves could put together a 30-win season.

Redondo has a big three in Hudson Mayes, SJ Madison and Chris Sanders. Coach Reggie Morris will also have newcomer Chace Holly, a junior transfer from Lynwood, at his disposal.

Julien ‘Manu’ Gomez will be the senior leader, but the star is sophomore Gene Roebuck, who’s carrying offers to Kansas, UCLA and Cal. MJ Smith and King Riley will fill roles nicely. La Mirada has added some size, too, with Santiago Lopez (6-7) and Mayfair transfer Daquan Idemudia (6-5).

Nate Garcia is finally a senior. The 7-foot, All-CIF big man will be accompanied by Eli Gardner, Elijah Smith, Jacob Allen and sophomore Ziaire Rasshan. Spartans return nine of their top 10 players from last season. That’s a recipe for success under Mike LeDuc, who’s in his 45th season coaching.

Jason Crowe and his son Jason Crowe Jr. are now at Inglewood, along with three more impact transfers in Parker Jefferson (from Texas), David Conerly (Westchester) and Dwayne Boston Jr.

With more than 2,100 career points, Jake Hall has led the Lancers to 78 victories including last year’s sparkling 30-3 record when he gave up his scoring (18.9 per game) for the good of the team. Three junior guards — Briggs Young, Trenton Mehl and Jayden Garner — should help the Lancers to another 25- to 30-win season.

Forward Douglas Langford will be the leading force for St. Pius as he enters his senior season. Returner Omari Cuffe, Kayleb Kearse (Serra), Dayvion Gates and Jaden Erami (Bosco Tech) make for a good Donte Archie-led squad.

The Warriors return a dynamic duo that rivals anyone in SoCal when it comes to athleticism and length: Tae Simmons and Dillan Shaw. Sophomores Max Hackney and Dominc Loehle are primed for breakout seasons.

The Griffins are a savvy, veteran bunch led by returnrs Trent Minter, Wesley Trevino, Liam Gray, Tyler Lopez and Samori Guyness. All seniors and a junior (Lopez). Los Alamitos likes to play fast.

Coming off a 26-5 season, Pasadena possesses one of the biggest stock risers in SoCal in 6-foot-10 junior forward Josh Irving. Bulldogs return 11 players from last season.

The defending state Division 2 champions return the San Francisco Chronicle’s 2023-24 Player of the Year Ardarius Grayson, a 6-foot do-everything guard who did everything in the state finals: 20 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, five steals. Some transfers should help with those who graduated. Xan Meyer-Plettner (8.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Saddiq Alarbesh (9.1 ppg) should have even a bigger role.

An Alameda County child with mild upper respiratory symptoms tested positive for bird flu, state public health officials announced today. The potential infection is the first known case in California that does not appear to have originated from contact with infected cattle.

State health officials are waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm the test result.

Public health investigators suspect the infection may have originated from wild birds, which are the main carriers of bird flu, according to a statement from the California Department of Public Health. The agency did not disclose information describing the child’s interactions with wildlife.

The child displayed mild respiratory symptoms and tested positive for multiple viruses, according to Austin Wingate, a spokesperson for the Alameda County health department. 

Doctors did not initially suspect bird flu. Officials detected it through routine influenza subtyping, Wingate said. Family members tested negative for bird flu, but they had other viruses. 

Officials are working to notify and test close contacts of the child, which include individuals at a daycare the child attended.

“We want to reinforce for parents, caregivers and families that based on the information and data we have, we don’t think the child was infectious – and no human-to-human spread of bird flu has been documented in any country for more than 15 years,” said state Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón said in a statement.

Aragón emphasized the risk to the general public remains low. People can become infected through close contact with infected animals, according to the CDC. Dairy and poultry workers and people who work with wildlife face the greatest risk of contracting the virus.

Some infectious disease experts are concerned about what this case could signal about the wider bird flu outbreak sweeping the country, which started in 2022.

“We’re seeing the numbers go up, the number of infected farms, the number of farm workers, we now have this child. All of these signs to me suggest that things are going in the wrong direction, not the right direction,” said Sam Scarpino, an epidemiologist with Northeastern University in Boston who is not involved in the California disease investigation.

Cases spreading in Central Valley dairies

The case comes as California grapples with the country’s largest bird flu outbreak among cattle and farmworkers. There are 26 confirmed human cases of bird flu primarily in the Central Valley where the virus has swept through 335 herds, according to state health and agriculture officials. Workers in the dairy industry have contracted the virus through close contact with infected cows.

The state health department has distributed more than 3 million pieces of personal protective equipment to farmworkers. It has also secured 5,000 doses of the seasonal flu vaccine for farmworkers from the CDC.

The federal government has a small stockpile of bird flu vaccines, but they have not been distributed. Instead, health officials encourage people to get vaccinated for influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus to help prevent co-infections like the child had.

“We want to make sure in general that we promote people getting up to date on vaccines and protecting themselves from seasonal illness, from seasonal flu,” said Dr. Erica Pan, the state’s top epidemiologist, in a previous interview with CalMatters.

Scarpino said California has done a good job of testing farmworkers compared to other states where sick cattle have infected humans, contributing to its relatively high number of confirmed cases, but surveillance efforts across the board need to be increased. 

As seasonal flu rates increase, it will become harder for public health laboratories to detect rare viruses, such as H5N1, the bird flu, Scarpino said.

Bird flu present in California sewage

The bird flu virus has appeared in 17 wastewater systems in California, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Positive detections appear primarily in Northern California including in Alameda, San Francisco, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Sacramento. Wastewater surveillance cannot determine the source of the virus, but infections among wild waterfowl can contribute to its presence.

Maurice Pitesky, a researcher at UC Davis who studies bird flu in waterfowl, said it’s rare for the virus to jump from birds to humans, but it has happened before. The virus is endemic among wild birds, Pitesky said, and has also been detected in other mammals in California, including bobcats, skunks and mountain lions.

“As the virus further evolves within a mammalian host — whether it’s dairy cows, or felines, or all the species that it has affected — it will continue to adapt,” Pitesky said. “As it adapts more and more it has more potential to cause even more problems.”

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

Bookstores, there are never enough.

But Southern California has a rich array of independent bookstores. Whether in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside or San Bernardino counties, you can often find a shop — though it helps to have a map. And when you factor in Santa Barbara to the north and San Diego to the south, there are 70+ bookstores and counting — new and used, adult and children’s, general interest and spooky scary — to visit.

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And that’s not even counting the Barnes & Noble establishments around the Southland. (Literally, we didn’t count them. But they are there if you need one.)

So it seemed like a good idea to create a treasure map to share the bounty spread across the Southern California landscape, including book shops like Bel Canto Books, Black Cat Fables, Chevalier’s Books, Cellar Door Bookstore, Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore, Octavia’s Bookshelf, Once Upon a Time, and more.

Plus, because we’re always hopping onto the freeway somewhere, we included stores like Chaucer’s Books in Santa Barbara, Bart’s Books in Ojai and Godmothers in Summerland to the north. And to the south, there’s Mysterious Galaxy and Warwick’s in San Diego.

Originally Published: November 19, 2024 at 7:30 AM PST