New State Top 20 Girls BB Rankings

Mater Dei girls basketball coach Kevin Kiernan has another powerhouse team for the 2012-13 season.

By Harold Abend
Contributing: Mark Tennis

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(These are the first rankings of the 2012-13 regular season; updated through games played Tuesday, Dec. 18; preseason rating in parentheses)

1. (1) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 2-0
The Dragons have played only two games prior to leaving for the top division of the Nike TOC in Arizona, which saw them blow out Oakland Tech, and take a 51-40 victory from preseason No. 4 Archbishop Mitty.

2. (2) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 6-0
Coach Carl Buggs’ young club hasn’t really been tested yet, winning by an average of more then 41 points per game, including a 64-35 win over St. Bernard of Playa del Rey. They now move on to the Nike TOC.

3. (3) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 9-0
The three-time defending Division I state champions move into the Nike TOC after winning the Clovis West Nike Central California Showdown, and their own Matt Denning Hoop Classic. At home, the Monarchs swamped Troy of Fullerton 61-25 in the final.

4. (7) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 7-0
The Rams enter the Nike TOC after running roughshod over their first seven opponents, including a 79-46 win over previous No. 20 Sacramento Kennedy.

5. (8) Windward (Los Angeles) 7-0
First-year coach Vanessa Nygaard has the Wildcats perfect entering the Nike TOC, including a 63-30 drubbing of host Brea Olinda and a 56-53 win over a very solid Chaminade of West Hills.

6. (9) La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla) 4-0
Included in the Torreys’ resume entering the Nike TOC is a 56-48 win over previous No. 13 Bishop Alemany. They also won their own Sweet 16 tournament over a solid field.

7. (NR) Carondelet (Concord) 3-0
Entering the Nike TOC, the Cougars have a 70-64 win over a St. Mary’s of Berkeley team that owns a win over preseason No. 4 Mitty. They will probably be dropping next week, however, since they already took an opening round loss on Thursday in the Nike TOC.

8. (5) St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 5-1
With wins over Mitty and San Francisco St. Ignatius, the Panthers have been good, but a 70-64 home loss to Carondelet drops them a few spots in these rankings.

9. (NR) Etiwanda 4-0
The Eagles enter the Nike TOC with wins over preseason No. 6 Santiago and previous No. 10 J.W. North of Riverside.

10. (4) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 4-2
A 51-40 loss to Bishop O’Dowd coupled with an identical 51-40 loss to preseason No. 5 St. Mary’s of Berkeley pushes the Monarchs down to this spot.

11. (12) Troy (Fullerton) 7-1
The Warriors won the Brea-Olinda LadyCat Classic but have the blowout loss to Mater Dei. All combined, that still moves them up slightly since other teams have much worse losses.

12. (6) Santiago (Corona) 4-1
The Sharks enter the Nike TOC with a 93-69 victory over previous No. 10 J.W. North but also have a 75-65 loss to Etiwanda.

13. (19) Millikan (Long Beach) 8-1
This team’s lone loss is to Troy of Fullerton, but the girls also have wins over Serra (Gardena) and several other solid teams.

14. (11) Serra (Gardena) 8-1
The jury is still out a bit on the Lady Cavaliers since the wins are over somewhat mediocre teams with a 62-57 loss to Long Beach Millikan.

15. (21) Ridgeview (Bakersfield) 8-1
Wins over preseason ranked Hanford and Lynwood have Stanford-bound Erica McCall and company feeling good, but with an 80-45 loss to Mater Dei they fall in behind Troy, Millikan, Serra and Santiago with a weaker schedule than those teams ahead.

16. (NR) Chaminade (West Hills) 10-1
This team’s lone loss is by three points to Windward of Los Angeles and there’s been no problem in all 10 wins heading into the Platinum Division of next week’s West Coast Jamboree.

17. (17) Salesian (Richmond) 6-0
There’s also been no problems so far for the Pride, who are unbeaten heading into one of the lower divisions of the Nike TOC.

18. (14) Lynwood 3-1
The lone loss by the Knights is to Ridgeview of Bakersfield.

19. (13) Bishop Alemany (Mission Hills) 7-2
It could fire up the Warriors to see themselves ranked behind arch-rival Chaminade. This week’s drop could be premature since the losses are to La Jolla Country Day and Colorado’s Highlands Ranch. We’ll find out soon.

20. (10) JW North (Riverside) 4-2
Last year’s CIF Division II Southern California champs hang on to a top 20 ranking since the two losses have come to higher-ranked Santiago and Etiwanda.

Preseason ranked teams that dropped out to the bubble
No. 15 Hanford 6-2; No. 16 Berkeley 1-2; No. 18 Bishop’s (La Jolla) 7-2.

Teams On the Bubble
Bishop Amat (La Puente) 9-1, Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) 8-1, Bonita (La Verne) 4-1, Brea-Olinda (Brea) 3-3, Brookside Christian (Stockton) 7-2, Canyon (Canyon Country) 8-1, Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) 3-3, Centennial (Corona) 5-0, Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 6-2, Clovis West (Fresno) 3-2, Eastside College Prep (East Palo Alto) 6-3, Enterprise (Redding) 9-0, Foothill (Santa Ana) 7-4, Horizon (San Diego) 6-3, JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 8-2, Kennedy (Sacramento) 6-2, Keppel (Alhambra) 5-2, La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 5-1, Laguna Hills 8-2, Lynbrook (San Jose) 8-0, Mater Dei (Chula Vista) 2-2, McNair (Stockton) 7-0, Miller (Fontana) 11-1, Miramonte (Orinda) 6-0, Modesto Christian (Modesto) 3-1, Monroe (North Hills) 6-1, Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 9-1, Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 3-2, Orange Lutheran (Orange) 8-0, Our Lady of Peace (San Diego) 8-3, Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) 6-0, Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 6-1, Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley) 10-1, Sacramento 4-0, St. Anthony (Long Beach) 5-4, St. Bernard (Playa del Rey) 7-3, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 5-1, Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 9-2, West (Torrance) 7-3, West (Tracy) 8-4, Woodbridge (Irvine) 9-0.

Comments or corrections? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.