City Section basketball favorites: It’s down to these 3 teams

It wasn’t until the 19th game of the high school basketball season that Cleveland unveiled a new strategy — the lob. It coincided with the arrival of 6-foot-8 junior Serigne Deme, who transferred from Blair after being displaced because of the Eaton fire.

He was given an expedited transfer waiver from the CIF, made his debut Jan. 24 against Chatsworth and helped the Cavaliers secure an overtime victory.

That signaled a change in City Section hierarchy. Suddenly, the favorites, Chatsworth and Westchester, must deal with Cleveland, which is 18-4 and holding down first place in the West Valley League before a Feb. 10 rematch against Chatsworth.

“He’s a big help and the missing piece we’ve needed for a long time,” Cleveland 6-6 junior Cayden Kelly said. “We’ve always had great guards but needed a big to help us secure rebounds and block shots.”

It’s pretty clear that Cleveland, Westchester and Chatsworth are capable of winning the City Section Open Division championship when playoffs begin this month. They’ve separated themselves and it will come down to execution and getting role players around their stars to contribute when needed.

In the case of Westchester, which is 14-9 and 7-0 in the Western League, 6-9 junior Tajh Ariza is the player who must be ready to assume a leadership role. The son of former NBA, UCLA and Westchester star Trevor Ariza still is adjusting to City Section basketball after playing his last two years at St. Bernard. Opponents have been getting physical with him, and he’s going to have to learn to stay under control. He was ejected from a game last week.

Coach Dewitt Cotton understands his team’s inconsistency. In a game against Palisades, the Comets gave up 19 consecutive points in the first quarter before rallying for victory.

Trevor Ariza and his son, Tajh, when he was attending St. Bernard.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

“We get complacent,” Ariza said.

Westchester has what is arguably the best depth, with Jordan Ballard, Gary Ferguson, Ty Ingram and Taj Ingram capable of contributing to Ariza’s scoring and rebounding.

Chatsworth has the City Section’s best player in McDonald’s All-American Alijah Arenas, who committed to USC last week. The Chancellors have worked hard on getting more players involved in the offense, but it still comes down to Arenas playing 32 minutes and coming close to his scoring average of 31.8 points.

Are there any teams who could challenge the big three?

Palisades might be able to make it to the semifinals, but when the big three are clicking, there’s nobody left to stop them.

Cleveland has become the most intriguing team. The Cavaliers’ starting five looks solid with the addition of Deme, but foul trouble against Chatsworth or Westchester would be tough to overcome.

The Cavaliers’ win over Chatsworth has done wonders for the team’s confidence.

“It was really big because everyone was saying we were going to lose,” Kelly said. “I knew we were going to win, but we really needed that.”

Kelly has benefited most from Deme’s arrival. Kelly has versatility to go inside or outside and can avoid foul trouble by turning to Deme to handle big men.

“He’s made my job easier,” Kelly said.

Last season it was a major surprise to see two schools that never had won the Open Division title, King/Drew and LACES, reach the final. LACES was the No. 8 seed and upset Cleveland, the No. 1 seed, in the first round.

The ending to this season should align more with the seedings.