Imagine what the Crenshaw High School boys basketball team will look like once it shakes of the rust.

A 22-day layoff due to the cancellation of a post-Christmas tournament in Washington, D.C. created an unintended gap in the schedule that kept the Cougars idle for a good portion of the preleague.

What it did was pretty much limit them to the practice floor.

“And we couldn’t do much of that, either,” Crenshaw coach Ed Waters pointed out.

The Cougars were so rusty their first full week of Coliseum League play they were only able to win 91-26 over Manual Arts and 104-62 over Locke.

The victories give Crenshaw, which has tougher matchups ahead with Fremont and Dorsey, records of 10-2 overall and 3-0 at the start of the week. Crenshaw is at Fremont Friday in a showdown for the top spot.

Once again, it appears like a three-team race between Crenshaw, Fremont (13-4, 4-0) and Dorsey (7-9, 2-1).

“It’ll be the traditional teams,” Waters noted.

Waters points out, though, his team has lots of room for improvement, the early results aside.

His emphasis is on playing hard and playing tough defense.

“We want them to get in that habit no matter who they’re playing,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to create, which is, you have to work hard on defense. That’s always been a tradition here.”

Crenshaw’s losses were in the Westchester Tournament, one of which was to Southern Section power Centennial, a game in which the Cougars blew a six-point lead over the final three minutes and committed 30 turnovers in the process.

They won the Hosea Hall tournament in San Diego, but then came the layoff.

They’ve been led by senior All-City guard Raynaul Baker, who had 22 points against Manual Arts and 26 points and nine rebounds against Locke Friday.

Freshman guard Isaac Hamilton, whose brother, Jordan, plays for the University of Texas, contributed a game-high 23 points along with seven rebounds and eight assists against Locke.

Deuce Zaid had 18 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists against the Saints.

It’s Baker, though, who is the team leader.

Waters points out Baker deferred to other players during the preleague, especially Hamilton. He made it a point to take Hamilton under his wing, according to the coach, and the ninth grader responded with some outstanding efforts, one of which was a 22-point game in which hit six 3-pointers in a row during the Westchester Tournament.

Now that league is under way, Waters wants his star to assume more of the scoring load.

“Ray’s been a real leader,” the coach said. “He took Hamilton under his wing before league and became a facilitator. Now I want him to score more. One, because he can score more and still be unselfish. And two, because I want him to get recruited.

“He’s taken a (recruiting) trip to Northern Arizona. USC and UCLA looked at him during the Westchester Tournament. He’s got the SATS and the grades. It’s just a matter of people knowing about him. Whoever gets him is getting a winner.”

Four years from now Hamilton won’t have trouble attracting that sort of attention, primarily because he already has.

“He’s already being recruited by all the major powers,” Waters said.

Against Locke (7-14, 2-2), the Cougars used their quickness to force turnover after turnover off the press, leading to easy basket after easy basket. Crenshaw was up 50-32 at halftime and 76-46 through three periods. They hit the century mark on Hamilton’s offensive putback around the 3-minute mark.

Guard Chris Foster led Locke with 20 points.

Fremont 70, View Park 39
Savion Udeh had 21 points and six rebounds and Michael Sullivan added 12 points and 12 rebounds as Fremont coasted to a 70-39 Coliseum League victory over View Park Prep (8-12, 0-4) Friday.

Kaylen Ayers (nine points, eight rebounds) and Foote Daraye (nine points) also contributed to the victory for the Pathfinders.

Manual Arts 77, Jefferson 68
Manual Arts (2-6, 1-2) got its first Coliseum League win with a 77-68 decision over Jefferson (3-7, 0-3) Friday.

Colony 60, Dorsey 59
Dorsey dropped a 60-59 nonleague decision to Colony of Ontario Saturday.

Marine League
Washington Prep 69, Narbonne 58
League-leading Washington Prep (11-6, 4-0) received 13 points each from J.B. Walker, Ernist Cooper and Michaelyn Scott in a 69-58 victory over Narbonne in Marine League play. The Generals defeated Las Vegas Cheyenne, 69-66 Saturday in nonleague action.

Carson 76, San Pedro 66
Victor Robbins scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in Carson’s 76-66 win over San Pedro in the Marine League. Brandon Moore had 12 points for the Colts (5-10, 1-2).

Gardena 60, Banning 54
Matt Morris scored 22 points and Christian Frankling had 15 as Gardena (11-5, 2-1) held off Banning, 60-54.

Hoophall Classic
Westchester 55, St. Anthony’s 51
Westchester (15-2), the nation’s 15th ranked team according to ESPNRise, defeated St. Anthony’s of New Jersey, 55-51 Monday in the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass.

Kareem Jamar had 17 points and six rebounds to lead the way for the Comets.