Boys’ basketball: A team to root for in Division 4AA

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If you want a public-school team to root for in Southern Section Division 4AA this season against all the top small, private schools that have been put in the division, Laguna Beach is the team.

Coach Bret Fleming returns all five starters from an 18-10 team. At lunch time on Tuesday, he still had not seen the new division. But he suspected his school would be part of 4AA. Now comes the challenge of trying to compete with La Verne Lutheran, L.A. Price, Gardena Serra and L.A. Windward, among others.

‘As a small public school, you kind of run out of options,’ Fleming said. ‘I don’t cheat and I’m not going to draw better talent than those guys.’

Yes, the new format is supposed to be fair and equitable, but there’s nothing fair and equitable about being a public school in 4AA. They’ve become sacrificial lambs. It would have been fairer to just have all private schools in 4AA.

-- Eric Sondheimer