rankings january 28 lLA Times

Let it not be said that we don't publish rankings. We hate them, and in many instances believe that they're counter-productive, or just plain irrelevant, but people sure seem to like this "We're No. 1" stuff. So at the risk of violating most everything we believe in, here's today's "Rankings" from the LA Times (aka Gary Klein's picks) for the "best" teams in SoCal.. And just so no one can accuse us of being a boys' only site, we're also posting the girls rankings for this week as well. Here they are:

1. COMPTON DOMINGUEZ: 16-2 Dons play Long Beach Poly on Saturday in SoCal Classic.
2.   LAKEWOOD ARTESIA: 19-2 Jason Kapono scored school-record 52 points against Glenn.
3    GLENDORA: 20-1 Casey Jacobsen now in second place on state's all-time scoring list.
4    SANTA ANA MATER DEI: 20-3 Monarchs play Anaheim Canyon on Saturday in SoCal Classic.
5    SIMI VALLEY: 19-2 Pioneers play host to Newbury Park in Marmonte League game Friday.
6    MANUAL ARTS: 16-3 Toilers have key Coastal Conference game Wednesday against Palisades.
7    CRENSHAW: 16-3 Cougars play at Dorsey on Friday in Southern Pacific Conference game.
8    LONG BEACH JORDAN: 17-5 Panthers ready for Moore League showdown Friday against Poly.
9    PASADENA MUIR: 20-1 Mustangs took control of Pacific League with victory over Pasadena.
10 INGLEWOOD: 20-3 Sentinels eyeing Feb. 10 Bay League showdown with Redondo Union.

Others receiving consideration: Fairfax, Redondo Union, Capistrano Valley.

Girls' LA Times' Top 10 In Southern California

1 BREA OLINDA: 17-3 Ladycats still enjoying Saturday's victory over top-ranked Narbonne.
2 HARBOR CITY NARBONNE: 17-3* Gauchos figure to take Brea loss out on remaining opponents.
3 CHINO DON LUGO: 21-2 Conquistadores remain on track for a Southern Section championship.
4 VENTURA BUENA: 16-2 Center Kelly Greathouse has Bulldogs headed toward league title.
5 PALISADES: 15-4 Nicole Funn scored 42 points in victory over University.
6 PALOS VERDES PENINSULA: 14-4 Panthers play at North Torrance on Friday in Bay League game.
7 CHINO HILLS AYALA: 18-4 Bulldogs play host to Sierra League rival Diamond Bar on Friday.
8 LA PUENTE BISHOP AMAT: 15-1 Lancers play St. Bernard tonight in Del Rey League showdown.
9 RIVERSIDE J.W. NORTH: 16-2 Angella Zanini led the Huskies over highly regarded Moreno Valley.
10 HUNTINGTON BEACH MARINA: 19-2 Chanda McLeod averaging 16 points a game for Vikings.

Here's the rankings from the LA Times for the Valley Area Teams for this week:

Boys' Top 10 Valley Area Teams	Girls Top 10 Valley Area Teams
1. Simi Valley 2. Chaminade Sylmar Alemany Chatsworth Crespi Cleveland Grant Nordhoff Santa Clara	1. Buena 2. Crescenta Valley 3. Moorpark 4. Channel Islands 5. Harvard-Westlake 6. Simi Valley 7. Ventura 8. North Hollywood 9. Alemany 10 El Camino Real

We're not going to do all the stats this week, because we just don't have the time to put them together, but the stat leaders in Southern Section are Sammy Delrahim from Stoneridge Prep who is averaging 35.0 ppg. But then he's only played in 6 games so far this season, and when we tried to look for Stoneridge's schedule (they play "freelance" in Southern Section, i.e., they aren't in a league), we couldn't find anything. But we're still looking and we'll try to check out their next game to see if this young man is for real. The next leading scorer is Jeff Staniland of Ventura, and we know he's for real, averaging 26.2 points over 20 games (523 total). He's followed by Todd Tomlinson of Moorpark who is averaging 25.5 (510 points over 20 games), and Todd has to be one of the biggest success stories of this year, having worked with Robert Ichart (who's now an assistant at Moorpark) with ARC all summer long, and his shot mechanics are now excellent. The next 8 leaders are Rafael Berumen averaging 24.1, Andy Flores of Nordhoff at 22.8, Zareh Avedian of Hoover at 22.3, Nick Jones of Santa Clara (UCSB) who is averaging 22.2, Devin Mongtomery of Alemany who is averaging 21.8, Eskias McDaniels of Valencia at 21.7 ppg, BJ Ward of Santa Clara at 21.2 and Dwight Sattiewhite who is averaging 20.4 ppg.

In Southern Section assist department Shaun Michel of Simi is leading the area with 8.1; Michael Goldman of Calabassas is averaging 7.5 apg, Devin Montgomery is averaging 7.0, Shawn Corkery of Moorpark is at 6.7, Kris Rubio of Hooever is at 6.5, Delarahim of Stoneridge is at 6.3, Jeff Riddell of La Canada is at 5.7, and there are a whole slew of players in the 5+ range: Ryan Miyamoto of Camarillo at 5.6, Brian Bobik of Newbury Park at 5.5, Anthonly Maldonado at First Lutheran at 5.4 as is Amrit Nat at Hillcrest Christian, and freshmen Chris Tarne of Crescenta Valley and David Gale of Buckley are both at 5.2. Bryson Atkins of Alemany is at 5.1, and Danny Guzman of Santa Paula is at 4.9.

In City Section, the leading scorer is, guess who. . . . Gilbert Arenas with 690 points over 19 games at 36.3. The next leading scorer in the region is Abe Morabbi who in two fewer games (17) is averaging more than 10 points less per game (26.0). Other leaders are Nana Gbweonyo of Kennedy at 23.0 ppg, Kent Dennis of Cleveland at 22.0, and Justin Saad-Anthony of El Camino Real at 19.4 ppg.

The stats leaders go on and on and on. As we said, we just don't have the time (or the inclination)to post them all up this week. We'll try to do a complete recap either next week or the following week. In the meantime just rest secure in the knowledge that a lot of people are putting up lots of impressive numbers. Really.