The Asante Effect: Santa Margarita gets key transfer from Lakewood in WR Jeremy McNichols …

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As I said before, the addition of former St. Paul coach Elijah Asante to Harry Welch’s staff at Santa Margarita was a strategic move to help the Eagles keep up with the joneses in The OC.

It’s already paying off as Santa Margarita got a much-needed “speed kid” in wide receiver Jeremy McNichols. And for those thinking the kid will have problems becoming eligible because of the whole “can’t follow your former coach rule” (which Asante was at Lakewood for part of last season), well the word is that McNichols is already eligible.

The question now is whether Asante will “attract” other talent to Santa Margarita. It’s probably a good bet that he will.

This is of special importance to Bishop Amat, which opens the season vs. Santa Margarita at Kiefer.

Summit beats Arroyo to win Baldwin Park Tournament …

Summit beat Arroyo in a close game to win the Baldwin Park Tournament on Saturday.

Arroyo’s only two losses of the day came against Summit, one in pool play and the other in the championship.

Aram’s take: I think it’s pretty safe to call Arroyo the early favorite in the Mission Valley League. South El Monte could be formidable, though. But the Knights have experience back at QB in Nathan Coto and should have a nice passing game.

Santa Margarita beats Bishop Amat in 2OT to win Claremont Tournament …

Pac-5 foes Bishop Amat and Santa Margarita met in the finals of the Claremont Tournament on Saturday and the Eagles needed two overtimes to beat the Lancers, 32-20 32-30, buoyed by a key interception.

FYI, the two teams play each other in the Aug. 30 opener.

Amat beat Claremont to reach the championship game in one of the semifinals while Santa Margarita beat Upland in the other semi.

Aram’s take: When Amat sucks in passing tournaments, it really means nothing because passing tourneys are not the Lancers’ thing. So when Amat has a good showing like today, then you’d better take notice. A great, but early, sign for the Lancers. But hey, when you’ve got one of the best QBs around and some legit prospects around him, what do you expect? Strong start to the circuit for Amat … they’re on dead period now until later this month when they return in the Bonita Air Assault.