New State Girls BB Divisional Rankings

Miramonte’s Carly Gill and Megan Reid collected a lot of hardware at the recent West Coast Jamboree and led their team last week to a big win against arch-rival Campolindo. Photo: Harold Abend.

By Mark Tennis
Contributing: Harold Abend, Paul Muyskens
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Top-ranked girls basketball teams by division heading into the Martin Luther King Junior holiday weekend are Mater Dei (D1), Archbishop Mitty (D2), Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland (D3), Windward of Los Angeles (D4) and Brookside Christian of Stockton (D5).

All teams have been ranked according to their CIF divisions, but some will obviously be pulled up into the new CIF Open Division for the Northern California and Southern California regional playoffs. We have indicated which teams in which divisions are eligible for the Open Division so readers can then visualize which non-Open Division teams may end up battling it out for the various CIF divisional state titles.

(After results of Saturday, Jan. 12 with some scores from early this week indicated)

DIVISION I
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 17-0
2. (2) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 14-1
3. (3) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 13-2
4. (5) Santiago (Corona) 15-2
5. (4) Troy (Fullerton) 13-3
6. (6) Millikan (Long Beach) 16-1
7. (7) Etiwanda 15-2
8. (8) Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley) 15-2
9. (10) Centennial (Corona) 14-1
10. (11) Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 14-2*
11. (12) Brea Olinda (Brea) 13-3
12. (14) Hanford 13-4
13. (15) Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 13-5
14. (NR) Heritage (Brentwood) 11-4
15. (9) Bishop Amat (La Puente) 15-4
Dropped Out: Previous No. 13 Monte Vista (Danville).
Eligible for Open Division: Mater Dei, Stockton St. Mary’s, Long Beach Poly, Berkeley, Brea Olinda, Hanford, Sacramento Kennedy, Harbor City Narbonne.
Teams on the Bubble: A.B. Miller (Fontana) 15-2, Berkeley 6-7, Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) 7-7, Clovis West (Fresno) 10-4, Granite Hills (El Cajon) 13-4, Kennedy (Sacramento) 12-3, Narbonne (Harbor City) 10-8, Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 11-4, Nevada Union (Grass Valley) 13-3, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 14-1.
Notes & Highlights: The best team in the South from Division I that won’t be playing in the Open Division if it qualifies for the regional playoffs is current No. 4 Corona Santiago. In the north, it’s Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills. Although the Trojans clearly wouldn’t be an Open Division team this season, it wasn’t that long ago (2010) when they shocked heavily favored Long Beach Poly in the CIF Division I state final. One of the top players on this year’s Oak Ridge team is senior forward Haley Anderson, sister of NBA sharp-shooter Ryan Anderson.

DIVISION II
1. (1) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 11-3
2. (2) Carondelet (Concord) 11-3
3. (3) Mark Keppel (Alhambra) 15-3
4. (4) Cajon (San Bernardino) 17-0
5. (5) Sacramento 13-2
6. (6) McNair (Stockton) 17-0
7. (7) Woodbridge (Irvine) 16-2
8. (8) Ridgeview (Bakersfield) 14-3
9. (9) Lynwood 9-5
10. (10) J.W. North (Riverside) 10-4
Dropped Out: None.
Eligible for Open Division: Archbishop Mitty, Carondelet, Lynwood, Sacramento.
Teams on the Bubble: Bonita (La Verne) 13-4, Canyon (Canyon Country) 15-3, Dublin 14-3, Florin (Sacramento) 11-4, Garces (Bakersfield) 15-2, Gregori (Modesto) 15-1, Lynbrook (San Jose) 14-2, Lutheran (Orange) 16-2, Patriot (Riverside) 17-1, Serra (San Diego) 12-5, St. Francis (Mountain View) 12-4.
Notes & Highlights: Carondelet took a hit in the overall State Top 20 for its loss last week to Monte Vista of Danville, but stayed the same at No. 2 in Division II due to its overall body of work. The only other top 10 team to lose last week was J.W. North, but the Huskies didn’t drop, either, since that loss was to D1 ranked Rancho Verde and it was by just 66-63. McNair will play St. Mary’s of Stockton (fourth in the state overall) next week and it will be important to pay attention to the margin. St. Mary’s normally routs its local opponents (often by 40 to 50 points) so if McNair can keep it relatively close that would stamp the Eagles as a team to watch in D2 for the NorCal playoffs. This also is because other top NorCal D2 teams like Mitty, Carondelet and Sacramento would meet the criteria for selection to the new CIF Open Division.

DIVISION III
1. (1) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 10-3
2. (2) Chaminade (West Hills) 16-2
3. (3) Miramonte (Orinda) 14-1
4. (4) Alemany (Mission Hills) 15-4
5. (7) El Dorado (Placentia) 19-2
6. (6) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 12-3
7. (5) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 11-3
8. (8) Laguna Hills 15-4
9. (10) Santa Barbara 12-5
10. (9) Campolindo (Moraga) 12-3
Dropped Out: None.
Eligible for Open Division: Bishop O’Dowd, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Laguna Hills.
Teams on the Bubble: Burlingame 13-1, Enterprise (Redding) 16-1, Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 10-6, Modesto Christian 11-5, Oak Park (Agoura Hills) 10-6, Oroville 14-2, Placer (Auburn) 17-2, Red Bluff 12-4, Selma 18-1.
Notes & Highlights: El Dorado had a loss last week, but it was to D1 ranked Brea Olinda and the girls also had a big win. The result was a two-spot bump this week, which also was due to Sacred Heart Cathedral suffering a 44-40 loss to St. Francis of Mountain View. In El Dorado’s 63-52 victory over Foothill of Tustin, Jaylin Jones had 16 points and 13 rebounds.

DIVISION IV
1. (1) Windward (Los Angeles) 16-0
2. (2) St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 11-3
3. (4) Serra (Gardena) 14-2
4. (5) Salesian (Richmond) 14-4
5. (3) La Jolla Country Day 7-8
6. (6) Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) 17-3
7. (7) JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 14-4
8. (8) St. Bernard (Playa del Rey) 14-5
9. (9) Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 10-5
10. (10) Piedmont 11-3
Dropped Out: None.
Eligible for Open Division: Windward, Berkeley St. Mary’s, La Jolla Country Day, Gardena Serra, Salesian.
Teams on the Bubble: Argonaut (Sutter Creek) 16-0, Bear River (Lake of the Pines) 17-1, Bishop’s (La Jolla) 11-6, Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) 14-2, Mater Dei Catholic (Chula Vista) 7-5, Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville) 13-3, St. Anthony (Long Beach) 9-8.
Notes & Highlights: La Jolla Country Day’s divisional state ranking already was taken care of earlier in the week in the State Top 20. The defending D4 state champs lost last week to JSerra and Etiwanda but have other key wins so the team did not drop completely out of the State Top 20. JSerra also had one other big win last week with a 59-51 triumph over No. 8 St. Bernard. Standout sophomore Coco Miller led the Lions with 18 points.

DIVISION V
1. (1) Brookside Christian (Stockton) 14-2
2. (3) Horizon (San Diego) 14-5
3. (2) Eastside College Prep (E. Palo Alto) 10-5
4. (4) Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) 12-3
5. (5) Valley Christian (Dublin) 15-2
6. (6) International (San Francisco) 14-2
7. (7) Mesa Grande Academy (Calimesa) 15-3
8. (NR) Turlock Christian 15-3
9. (10) Desert (Edwards) 10-1
10. (NR) Pacific Collegiate (Santa Cruz) 9-3
Dropped Out: Previous No. 8 Ripon Christian, No. 9 Providence (Burbank).
Eligible for Open Division: Brookside Christian.
Teams on the Bubble: Animo South (Los Angeles) 14-5, Central Catholic (Modesto) 10-5, Providence (Burbank) 10-8, Ripon Christian 9-6, St. Margaret’s (SJ Capistrano) 10-5.
Notes & Highlights: We decided to change the positions of Horizon and Eastside College Prep after both lost games last week. Horizon’s loss was to Bishop’s of La Jolla while Eastside fell to Menlo School. Since Bishop’s would be higher than Menlo, the flip can be made. Turlock Christian has bounced back from a poor start (mostly due to injuries) and was put into this week’s rankings after defeating previous No. 8 Ripon Christian 59-53. The team is led by University of Pacific-bound guard Halie Bergman. While the locals should be glad to hear about the Eagles, the town is obviously going nuts in anticipation of Pitman graduate Colin Kaepernick leading the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday’s NFC championship against the Atlanta Falcons.

Comments or corrections? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.