A weekly look at some of the...

A weekly look at some of the Southland top athletes:

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

NOAH GOTTLIEB

Sr., Venice

* Then: Started at point guard as a freshman at Santa Monica, averaging close to 20 points a game and helping the Vikings go undefeated in Ocean League play. Unhappy with a coaching change the next year, Gottlieb transferred to Venice, where he sat out his sophomore season while playing travel ball. He returned to a starting role last season, averaging 14 points for the Gondoliers, who finished 5-15 overall and 3-7 in the Western League.

* Now: Asked to carry the scoring load this season under Coach Josh Herscher, who replaced Rasheed Hazzard two weeks before the start of the school year, Gottlieb has averaged 21 points and helped put Venice in position to finish among the top three in league play for the first time since 1998. He scored a career-high 43 points in an 84-78 loss to Westchester last month and had 27 Friday in an 80-73 victory over Palisades.

* Quote: “He’s a true gym rat,” Herscher said. “He doesn’t hang out in the gym, he works out in the gym.”

-- DAN ARRITT

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

ERICA INGE

Jr., Los Angeles Dorsey

* Then: Stepped into the varsity’s starting lineup as a freshman and became a solid contributor as an off-guard. Inge made a huge leap forward as a point guard during her sophomore season, when she shot 48% from the field and averaged 19.6 points. But Dorsey, the top-seeded team in the City Section’s Invitational division of the playoffs a season earlier, failed to make the playoffs after going 11-9.

* Now: Having lost only one of its top seven players from last season, Dorsey (21-2) appears headed to the Championship division for the first time since 2000 and seems the primary challenger to Harbor City Narbonne for the title. Inge, a 53% shooter from the field, has averaged 24.1 points, 3.3 steals, 3.0 assists and 4.1 rebounds, though she is only 5 feet 2. She has a 3.5 grade-point average and is being recruited by Vanderbilt.

* Quote: “Every tournament, even if our team wasn’t the champion, she’s been the MVP,” Coach Sherlett Hendy said. “She sets the tone in all she does.”

-- MARTIN HENDERSON

GIRLS’ SOCCER

JESSICA MURPHY

Sr., West Torrance

* Then: Coming off the bench in her first varsity game as a freshman, she scored two goals against Santa Monica. Murphy finished with 10 goals that season and had 18 as a sophomore. Last season, she had team highs of 23 goals and 11 assists and earned Bay League offensive player of the year honors. She was also an All-Southern Section third-team pick last year.

* Now: With 33 goals and 14 assists, Murphy has set a school record for goals this season. Despite her talent for scoring, Murphy has proved willing to pass when the need or opportunity arises. In West Torrance’s league opener against Redondo, Murphy had all three assists in a 3-0 victory. When West Torrance (17-4-2, 6-2-0), the second-place team in the Bay League, defeated first-place Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, 3-2, last week, Murphy had a goal and two assists.

* Quote: “I love soccer because it’s a constant game,” Murphy said. “You can play however you want, and I love trying to read the field and then creating a new game.”

-- LAUREN PETERSON