La Costa Canyon, which began and ended the 2013-14 campaign as the No. 1 team in the San Diego Section weekly poll (it fell to fifth during the season)  is again at the top of the UT-San Diego inaugural basketball voting.
The Mavericks returned four starters (another reportedly tranferred to a prep school in New Hampshire) from last season’s 27-5 squad.
La Costa has a game against Las Flores Tesoro on Saturday after posting a 3-1 record in the Mission Viejo Diablo Inferno Tournament.
La Costa dropped a 62-47 decision to La Mirada and topped La Habra Sonora, 70-68, Anaheim Canyon, 69-54, and Anaheim Esperanza, 73-56.
Second-ranked Football Hills Christian, already 4-0 with a game against San Ysidro tonight, features 6-foot, 9-inch T.J. Leaf, who averaged 25.6 points and 12.6 rebounds as a sophomore.
A state Division IV favorite, Foothill will find out a lot about itself against Chino Hills Dec. 17 in the Tarkanian Vegas Classic and when the Knights meet Los Angeles Westchester in the first round of the post-Christmas Torrey Pines tournament.
St. Augustine, which lost to La Costa, 62-60, in the Open Division finals after topping the Mavericks, 77-74, in the regular season last year, is without Trey Kell for the first time in four seasons, but is 3-0, with wins over Box Hill of Australia, 65-46, 61-55 over Cathedral, and 84-52 over Rancho Bernardo.
Week 1 poll with last year’s records  and final ranking:
| # | Team (1st place votes) | W-L | Points* | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Costa Canyon (10) | 27-5 | 109 | 1 |
| 2 | Foothills Christian (1) | 20-9 | 92 | NR |
| 3 | Torrey Pines | 26-5 | 64 | 6 |
| 4 | El Camino | 27-4 | 57 | 4 |
| 5 | Morse | 18-12 | 56 | 9 |
| 6 | San Marcos | 21-9 | 42 | 10 |
| 7 | Kearny | 25-2 | 36 | 5 |
| 8 | St. Augustine | 28-3 | 34 | 2 |
| 9 | Francis Parker | 26-5 | 18 | 8 |
| 10 | Escondido | 21-9 | 16 | NR |
*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. NR–Not ranked.
Others receiving votes: Â Grossmont, 15; Mater Dei, 11; Cathedral, Poway, 10 each; Army-Navy, Steele Canyon, 7 each; Mission Baay, 54; Sweetwater, 3; Eastlake, 2.
Eleven San Diego County sportswriters and broadcasters, and a CIF San Diego Section representative vote each week. The panel includes John Maffei and Kirk Kenney (UT-San Diego), Terry Monahan (UT-San Diego correspondent), Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com), Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions), John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section), Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com), Aaron Burgin (fulltimeshoops.com), Rick Willis (KUSI Chl. 51), Rick Smith (partletonsports.com), Drew Willis (sdcoastalsports.com).
