By Stephen Ramirez
Since George Zedan’s arrival at Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High School four years ago, the Cardinals boys basketball program has enjoyed an upward spiral.
The success has included the school’s first CIF-Southern finals appearance in 2012 and three consecutive trips to the CIF State playoffs, including a run to the Division IV regional final.
The trend is expected to continue this season, where Cantwell could be one of the top teams in the Southern Section, led by inside players Gligorije Rakocevic and Balsa Dragovic. The duo, who averaged 22 and 20 points per game, respectively, last season, signed with Oregon State and Harvard, respectively, last week.
“Our goals are always the same, “ said Zedan, who is 70-15 in his three previous seasons at Cantwell. “We set the bar really, really high. Our objective is to try to win league, try to win CIF and try to win a state championship. We’ve come up short the last few years, but I like the way we’ve progressed. We’ve had some serious successes over the last few years.
“This year, obviously we have size and experience with the two bigs (Dragovic and Rakocevic), but the rest of our team is basically brand new. There’s going to be some ups and downs this year. Our goal is to be ready for playoffs. Hopefully we can have success in the CIF and state playoffs.”

AREA PRESEASON TOP 10
1. Cantwell
2. Sonora
3. La Mirada
4. California
5. Whittier
6. La Habra
7. Pioneer
8. Whittier Chr.
9. Montebello
10. Schurr