League-by-league boys basketball breakdown

League play begins Friday in many leagues.

Keep in mind that teams have to finish in the top half of their standings to get into the playoffs, with the old "12 wins and you're in" rule eliminated, although there could be some at-large berths available in some divisions for non-automatic qualifiers.

A league-by-league look:

• Academy: League favorite Brethren Christian has beaten the teams it should and lost to a couple of big-school teams like Tesoro and La Costa Canyon. Capistrano Valley Christian and St. Margaret's should challenge for the league title.

• Century: Brea Olinda, Canyon, Tustin and Villa Park all are league-championship candidates. Canyon has been inconsistent, beating Huntington Beach but losing to University and Woodbridge. Brea has 7-foot sophomore K.C. Caudill, and Tustin (11-4) is young but talented. Villa Park has played well at times but could be distracted by issues involving Coach Kevin Reynolds and potential CIF-Southern Section sanctions.

• Empire: This is a difficult league to figure out. Loara has an 11-4 record, but has not played the most rugged of schedules, and the same could be applied to Katella (10-3), Pacifica (9-5) and Valencia (6-8). There could be a lot of teams with league records right around .500 when league play ends next month.

• Freeway: The league has several good teams and players. Sonora (14-1) beat Tesoro last month, and has two of the league's better players in Chris Bearden and Marcus Farrand. The league's top player might be Jordan Sachs of La Habra (10-5). Fullerton and Sunny Hills, both 10-3, could be in the mix.

• Garden Grove: Garden Grove (11-3) is living up to its league-favorite status. The Argonauts' chief competition the past couple of years has been Bolsa Grande, but Bolsa is 2-12. No other league team is near .500.

• Golden West: As usual, Ocean View (9-6) is the clear favorite. The rest of the league appears to be balanced in the quest for the second- and third-place slots.

• Orange League: It is difficult to identify one obvious favorite, although Western (9-5) looks like the best team. Century (6-6) might be the best of the rest.

• Orange Coast: Laguna Beach (11-4) had the best December of the five teams in this league. Calvary Chapel (6-6) could be the Breakers' toughest challenge.

• San Joaquin: Fairmont Prep (10-5) has beaten big-school teams like Magnolia, Kennedy and Savanna, and was the preseason favorite. But Tarbut V'Torah (13-0) is flying high and could make a run at the league title.

• Sea View: This will be an interesting league. El Toro (11-4) and Huntington Beach (12-1) are in the county top 10, but the rest of the league, including Woodbridge (8-7) and Foothill (7-7) help make this a balanced group.

• South Coast: The front-runner status of Tesoro (13-2) took a hit when point guard Matt Bailey broke a foot last week in a tournament in Torrey Pines. The Titans still should be a factor in a strong league that includes Capistrano Valley (11-4), Dana Hills (15-2), Mission Viejo (11-4) and much-improved Aliso Niguel (11-5).

• Sunset: Los Alamitos (14-1) is the clear favorite. Hot-shooting Marina (13-3) might be the next best, with Edison (9-6) also a threat if guard Kyle Boswell gets healthy.

• Trinity: Mater Dei (14-0) is on top of the league, the county, the state and the nation. Santa Margarita (12-3) and Orange Lutheran (14-3) won tournament championships last week, JSerra (8-6) still has some talent and Servite (4-9) beat Capistrano Valley on Saturday.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com