New State Girls BB Divisional Rankings

Chaminade of West Hills won the top division at the West Coast Jamboree and could play league rival Alemany for the D3 Southern Regional championship. Those two have split in two games so far this season.

By Mark Tennis
Contributing: Harold Abend, Paul Muyskens

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For those who will be curious where the Open Division teams will rank in the various CIF state divisions for girls basketball if those teams had not been moved up or if there was no Open Division, the weekly and final Cal-Hi Sports state rankings will have the answer.

There is precedence for the division rankings to include teams that are not eligible or will not be competing for CIF state titles in those divisions. It was done last fall in football – Narbonne of Harbor City and Folsom, for example, being ranked in front of Division I state champ Granite Bay – and it’s going to be done this March for both boys and girls basketball.

All teams in the divisions will continue to be ranked by the same criteria as they have been all season, which means an open division team losing to a higher-ranked team is not going to change its divisional ranking that much.

This concept isn’t meant as a form of criticism for the way in which the open division and other pairings were handled by the CIF and its selection committees. It just makes the various rankings more interesting to look at for our users. And besides, nobody loves asterisks like we do.

(After results of Saturday, March 2; previous ranking in parentheses)

DIVISION I
1. (2) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 28-1*
2. (4) Santiago (Corona) 29-2*
3. (1) Etiwanda 28-3
4. (3) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 28-2*
5. (5) Troy (Fullerton) 25-4*
6. (6) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 25-5
7. (7) Millikan (Long Beach) 26-4
8. (13) Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) 20-9
9. (14) Clovis West (Fresno) 23-5
10. (15) Narbonne (Harbor City) 23-8
11. (NR) Monte Vista (Danville) 24-6
12. (10) Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley) 25-3
13. (8) Heritage (Brentwood) 24-5
14. (12) Centennial (Corona) 23-5
15. (NR) Kennedy (Sacramento) 24-6
*Indicates CIF Open Division team (not competing for D1 state title).
Dropped Out: Previous No. 9 Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills), No. 11 Stockdale (Bakersfield).
Teams on the Bubble: A.B. Miller (Fontana) 23-5, Berkeley 18-11, Bishop Amat (La Puente) 23-9, Deer Valley (Antioch) 17-10, Granite Hills (El Cajon) 25-6, Great Oak (Temecula) 18-7, Hanford 23-5, McClymonds (Oakland) 25-3, Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 25-4, Stockdale (Bakersfield) 24-5, Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 25-6, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 23-4.
Best D1 Team Not Playing in Regionals: Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley).
Notes & Highlights: There’s some potentially tricky rankings scenarios for this division, especially if Etiwanda or Long Beach Poly wins the D1 state title and a team such as Windward or Bishop O’Dowd wins the open. It will be hard for the Eagles to get ranked higher than Santiago due to the head-to-head loss in the CIFSS Div. IAA title, but second in this division and third overall isn’t far-fetched. Despite being Division I for the first time, St. Mary’s of Stockton would have been a clear favorite to reach the state final in this division if it were not in the open division. Monte Vista may be the best bet for NorCal to make it a close game against the SoCal winner in the state final. The Mustangs come from the section that normally produces the NorCal state rep and have a former State Coach of the Year, Ron Hirschman, guiding them.

DIVISION II
1. (1) Carondelet (Concord) 25-3*
2. (2) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 24-6*
3. (3) Ridgeview (Bakersfield) 26-3
4. (4) Lynwood 24-5
5. (5) Sacramento 27-4*
6. (6) J.W. North (Riverside) 22-6
7. (8) Mark Keppel (Alhambra) 26-5
8. (7) St. Francis (Mountain View) 21-8
9. (NR) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 29-2
10. (10) Woodbridge (Irvine) 26-4
*Indicates CIF Open Division team (not competing for D2 state title).
Dropped Out: Previous No. 9 McNair (Stockton).
Teams on the Bubble: Bonita (La Verne) 25-6, Cajon (San Bernardino) 27-1, Canyon (Canyon Country) 24-5, Clayton Valley (Concord) 22-7, Culver City 25-6, Florin (Sacramento) 22-9, Garces (Bakersfield) 27-3, Granada Hills 21-8, Lynbrook (San Jose) 22-5, Montgomery (Santa Rosa) 24-7, Murrieta Valley (Murrieta) 26-5, Serra (San Diego) 24-7.
Best D2 Team Not Playing in Regionals: Woodbridge (Irvine) lost by 5 to J.W. North.
Notes & Highlights: If there’s one girls division in the state in which the NorCal teams have been gutted from the field for the open division while the top SoCal teams remained intact, it’s this one. Carondelet, Mitty and Sacramento (which were all moved to the open division) are all clearly better than St. Francis of Mountain View, the top seed in the north. If Ridgeview and Lynwood get to the SoCal final, that one could be a matchup to remember. The winner will undoubtedly be a huge favorite to win a state title the next weekend.

DIVISION III
1. (1) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 26-3*
2. (2) Miramonte (Orinda) 27-2*
3. (3) Chaminade (West Hills) 27-3
4. (4) Alemany (Mission Hills) 27-5
5. (5) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 22-6
6. (6) Campolindo (Moraga) 23-5
7. (7) Enterprise (Redding) 27-1
8. (8) Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 24-7
9. (10) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 19-10
10. (NR) Burlingame 28-2
*Indicates CIF Open Division team (not competing for D3 state title).
Dropped Out: Previous No. 9 Vanden (Travis AFB).
Teams on the Bubble: Agoura (Agoura Hills) 21-11, Calabasas 20-9, El Dorado (Placentia) 25-5, Gahr (Cerritos) 22-9, Jurupa Valley 27-2, Lakeside (Lake Elsinore) 24-5, Placer (Auburn) 25-6, Reseda 21-5, Santa Barbara 22-8, Selma 31-1, Vanden (Travis AFB) 27-4.
Best D3 Team Not Playing in Regionals: Jurupa Valley.
Notes & Highlights: Unless Bishop O’Dowd were to inexplicably lose to Brookside Christian on Friday, the Dragons have already basically clinched the top spot in this division. An impressive run by either Chaminade or Alemany all the way to the D3 state title, however, probably would move that team up to No. 2 for the final rankings. Given the strength of schedule for both Sacred Heart Cathedral and St. Ignatius, given that Christian Brothers wasn’t at full strength for some of its losses and given that Enterprise is led by a freshman (Kamira Sanders) who has gotten a lot better since early in the season, the eventual NorCal winner in this division could give either Chaminade or Alemany a major test and would be favored if neither one wins in the South.

DIVISION IV
1. (1) Windward (Los Angeles) 30-0*
2. (2) St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 28-4*
3. (3) Salesian (Richmond) 26-7
4. (4) Serra (Gardena) 25-6
5. (5) JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 22-7
6. (6) St. Bernard (Playa del Rey) 24-7
7. (7) La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla) 17-11*
8. (9) Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) 27-2
9. (8) Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 21-7
10. (10) Bishop’s (La Jolla) 19-12
*Indicates CIF Open Division team (not competing for D4 state title).
Dropped Out: None.
Teams on the Bubble: Argonaut (Sutter Creek) 29-1, Bear River (Lake of the Pines) 26-4, Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) 22-8, Mater Dei Catholic (Chula Vista) 20-6, Menlo School (Atherton) 20-9, Piedmont 21-9, Ripon 23-5, St. Anthony (Long Beach) 17-11, St. Monica (Santa Monica) 26-6, St. Paul (Santa Fe Springs) 19-12.
Best D4 Team Not Playing in Regionals: Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) (which probably would roll against perhaps 20 of the 26 teams that are playing)
Notes & Highlights: Although La Jolla Country Day has losses to JSerra and St. Bernard, which is why the team isn’t ranked that high in this division, it appeared as though the Torreys were going to get taken for the open division and they were. Many of their losses were in close games and the CIF didn’t have too many options outside of the four teams from the Southern Section. With Windward from the south up in the open division as well and with Salesian of Richmond not having to move up due to a four-team limit from the North Coast Section, the race for the divisional state title in D4 should be strong. Whichever team that wins isn’t going to be in front of Windward for the final rankings and Salesian isn’t going to ever be in front of Berkeley St. Mary’s, but it’s been a tightly knit bunch of teams in D4 all season. The worst case scenario for the CIF would be if Bishop’s of La Jolla (not the best team in La Jolla and loser in three of three attempts against LJCD) were to get hot and win the whole pie, especially considering that LJCD is the defending state champ.

DIVISION V
1. (1) Brookside Christian (Stockton) 26-4*
2. (2) Horizon (San Diego) 23-7
3. (3) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 21-9
4. (4) Eastside College Prep (E. Palo Alto) 21-8
5. (5) Valley Christian (Dublin) 30-2
6. (6) Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) 21-7
7. (7) Mesa Grande Academy (Calimesa) 27-3
8. (NR) View Park (Los Angeles) 20-9
9. (9) International (San Francisco) 28-4
10. (10) Durham 22-6
*Indicates CIF Open Division team (not competing for D2 state title).
Dropped Out: Previous No. 8 Capital Christian (Sacramento).
Teams on the Bubble: Central Catholic (Modesto) 17-8, Desert (Edwards) 21-2, Flintridge Prep (La Canada) 19-9, Providence (Burbank) 19-10, Ripon Christian 20-7, San Domenico (San Rafael) 24-7, St. Francis CCC (Watsonville) 16-12, Turlock Christian 24-5, Urban (San Francisco) 23-7, Village Christian (Sun Valley) 17-14.
Best D5 Team Not Playing in Regionals: Desert (Edwards).
Notes & Highlights: Strings were pulled obviously to lift up Brookside Christian into the open division for a No. 1 seed vs. No. 8 probable blowout loss to Bishop O’Dowd. Despite that move, the Knights didn’t lose last week and aren’t dropping any positions in these rankings. If either Horizon or Sierra Canyon were to win the D5 state title, we’d likely rank that team No. 1 for this division as well. If it’s anybody else or a NorCal team, though, Brookside among this bunch will have done nothing to drop and in the end could stay No. 1 for the final rankings in this division. If that were to happen, then it also would be likely that none of the CIF divisional state champions in girls basketball will be No. 1 in the final divisional state rankings (all would likely be ranked behind open division teams).

Corrections or comments? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.