Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer
The Harvard-Westlake of Studio City boys' basketball team has gone national - as in nationally ranked.
The Wolverines have cracked a national top-20 preseason poll for the first time, earning a No. 16 ranking in Street and Smith magazine.
``Even when we had (6-foot-10 twin bothers Jason and Jarron Collins) we were never ranked nationally before the season,'' Harvard-Westlake coach Greg Hilliard said. ``Of course, the (1997) team with the twins finished the year ranked fourth in the country, but we weren't ranked in the preseason.
``I guess I'd rather take the end result than the early ranking, but it's still quite an honor.''
The Wolverines will take their ranking on the road this year at several tournaments, including a prestigious tournament Dec. 29-31 in Fort Worth, Texas. They could face powerful Dunbar of Texas, which goes into the season as the nation's top-ranked team.
``They'll get to the finals, so it's up to us to make sure we make it there and play them,'' Hilliard said.
Harvard-Westlake has a shot. The Wolverines start the tallest team in school history with 6-9 Evan Harris, 6-8 Alex Stepheson and 6-7 Zach Woolridge in the frontcourt, and 6-7 Bryce Taylor (committed to Oregon) and 6-6 Ed White in the backcourt.
``From top to bottom, it's our biggest starting five,'' Hilliard said.
With Taylor already set on playing at Oregon in 2004, Harris, Woolridge and White soon will make their decisions. Stepheson is a sophomore.
``We had a parade of Pac-10 coaches come through here the other day at practice,'' Hilliard said. ``I'm sure (the players) will be making their decisions fairly soon.'' ...
Taft High of Woodland Hills and Cleveland of Reseda will take their West Valley basketball rivalry out of the San Fernando Valley next season when they meet Jan. 3 at the Dream Classic at Pauley Pavilion.
Jordan Farmar of Taft (committed to UCLA) and Nick Young of Cleveland (USC) figure to see each other quite a bit the next few years at Pauley.
In addition, Harvard-Westlake will play Lincoln of New York, which features the top point-guard prospect in the nation in Sebastian Telfair.
There are several terrific matchups that day, including Dominguez of Compton against Southwest Christian of Atlanta, which has the top player in the country in 6-10 Dwight Howard.
There is also a top Southern California matchup when Price of Los Angeles plays Centennial of Compton. UCLA-bound Arron Afflalo, who transferred from Centennial to Price in the summer, will play against his former team. ...
The Chinese Junior National basketball team, which is touring the United States, will play a team of local players at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at Cleveland High. The Chinese team has five players at least 7-foot. ...
Oli Keohohou, the former Newbury Park softball standout and a three-time first-team All-America at Brigham Young, has left BYU and returned home to Newbury Park. She is expected to transfer to another school. ...
Desert Christian of Lancaster softball standout Makenzie Smith orally committed to Illinois. Alexis Garcia from Faith Baptist of Canoga Park orally committed to Wisconsin.
Staff Writer Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.
Vincent Bonsignore, (818) 713-3612
vincent.bonsignore(at)dailynews.com
