To say that Los Angeles area basketball isn’t having a banner year would be a gross understatement.

The once-beloved Lakers are a mess, Kobe or no Kobe. The Clippers are getting better, but can’t win the close ones.

And the region’s Div. I universities (UCLA, USC, LMU and Pepperdine) have about as many wins in the last month as Rudy Tomjonavich has new job offers.

Clearly, all is not good in the land of hoops, but thankfully in the prep ranks the action is just heating up.

With just one game left to play in the Marmonte League, the Golden Boys of Mulholland Highway, the Calabasas Coyotes, are assured of their first league title in school history––or at least a piece of it. I should be able to tell you they won it outright last night against Newbury Park, but The Acorn’s early Wednesday deadline makes that impossible—guess everybody’s got to get home in time for "CSI: New York." My apologies.

The Coyotes (21-4, 11-1 in league) got it done with shooting, defense and just enough of a chip on their shoulders not to allow for a letdown—not to mention the league’s best bench. Sure, it didn’t always come easy, and there was that 20-point loss to Simi, but for the most part, Calabasas accomplished its two regular season goals: win Marmonte and make a statement.

They believed from day one they were the league’s best and they went out and proved it. Yes, it’s one thing to triumph as an underdog, but to win with that target on your back can be equally challenging—just ask Thousand Oaks.

As for the Lancers, the league’s defending champs, this season is far from over and stillhanging in the balance. Without two wins in their final two games against Royal and Newbury, the playoffs might be out of a reach—a long, hard drop for a team that began the season by winning 11 of their first 12 games.

Led by scoring threat Shane Poppen and an athletic group of post players, the Lancers clearly have the talent to win, but have fallen short all season long against the league’s best, going 0-4 against Calabasas and Simi Valley. They still have a chance, but they’ll need more scoring from their backcourt, players like Alex Cohen, Chapman Way and up-and-comer Eric Macias, if they hope to advance to the postseason and beyond.

The Simi Valley Pioneers might possibly be the league’s most intriguing team—not only because of their up-tempo style of play—but because they can be so up and down and so unpredictable.

The Pioneers have shown flashes of greatness and stretches of ineptitude, all the while lurking just behind Calabasas as Marmonte’s best hope for a CIF title. Like the Coyotes, Simi has the ball players (guys like three-point sharp shooter Caise Burris and big man Michael Rodgers), but can coach Christian Aurand get them to play team basketball?

The X-factors for Simi, which hasn’t lost since defeating Calabasas on Jan. 28, is clearly on the offensive side of the ball and off the bench. Super-quick guards Lorne Bell and Tony Washington can get to the basket, but what they do when they get there will be key.

Unlike Calabasas’ always dependable point guard Drew Housman, the Simi duo has struggled with its decision making at times and will need to correct that glitch if the Pioneers want to make a run on the championship.

Underdogs Agoura and Royal round out the group of playoff contenders, with the Chargers holding a one game lead with two to play. My feeling is that the advantage lies with Agoura, which played last-place Moorpark yesterday with a chance to take solid possession of third place.

The Highlanders have a tougher route, having to defeat Thousand Oaks and an angry Simi Valley team looking for revenge after Royal beat them in their gym earlier in the season.

So that’s the picture, and it will be much clearer on Thursday morning when many of you are first reading the paper.

Indeed, there is some good basketball being played on the local hardcourts and I encourage fans to get out their while there’s still time, both for the boys and the girls.

That’s right, keep an eye on those ladies from Oak Park—man, they’re getting good. Add to the equation the fact that they’re as hungry as ever to make an impact in the posteason. I wouldn’t want to see the girls exit early in the playoffs, or later for that matter. This year they were the best team in the league.