Rachel Howard and Desire Finnie played starring roles in Berkeley’s emergence in the CIF NorCal Division I playoffs. When those two are on the floor, playing well and don’t have fouls, their team is hard to beat.
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By Mark Tennis
Contributing: Harold Abend, Paul Muyskens
It’s already obvious that perhaps just one CIF girls basketball divisional state champion being crowned this weekend in Sacramento will be No. 1 in the state in its division for next week’s final state rankings. All of the other divisional state champions will have to be ranked behind teams that were pulled up into the new open division.
The schedule for Friday at Sleep Train Arena starts at 10 a.m. with the Division V final between Pinewood of Los Altos Hills and Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth. That will be followed later in the day by the Division III final between Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco and Alemany of Mission Hills and then Division I between Berkeley and Long Beach Poly.
On Saturday, the first game at 10 a.m. is for Division IV between Salesian of Richmond and Serra of Gardena. That will be followed later in the day by the Division II final between St. Francis of Mountain View and Lynwood and then the Open Division between Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland and Windward of Los Angeles.
(After results of Saturday, March 16; previous ranking in parentheses)
DIVISION I
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 30-2*
2. (2) Santiago (Corona) 29-3*
3. (3) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 30-3*
4. (4) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 29-5
5. (5) Etiwanda 28-4
6. (6) Troy (Fullerton) 25-5*
7. (7) Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) 22-9
8. (15) Berkeley 22-11
9. (8) Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 27-7
10. (9) Millikan (Long Beach) 27-5
11. (13) Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 28-5
12. (10) Heritage (Brentwood) 26-6
13. (11) Clovis West (Fresno) 23-6
14. (12) Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley) 25-3
15. (NR) Hanford 23-5
*Indicates CIF Open Division team (not competing for D1 state title).
Dropped Out: Previous No. 14 Bishop Amat (La Puente).
Next Team In If Berkeley Upsets Long Beach Poly? Kennedy (Sacramento) 24-7.
Next Team In From The South? Stockdale (Bakersfield) 24-6.
More Teams on the Bubble: A.B. Miller (Fontana) 23-5, Bishop Amat (La Puente) 25-10, Centennial (Corona) 23-6, Deer Valley (Antioch) 17-10, Granite Hills (El Cajon) 26-7, Great Oak (Temecula) 18-7, Gunn (Palo Alto) 21-7, Monte Vista (Danville) 24-7, Narbonne (Harbor City) 24-9, Stockdale (Bakersfield) 24-6, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 23-5.
Notes & Highlights: A big win by Long Beach Poly over Berkeley in the CIF Division I final might pull the Jackrabbits in front of Stockton St. Mary’s for the final state rankings but that move also probably requires Bishop O’Dowd to lose to Windward in the open division. Two of St. Mary’s losses are to the Dragons and they don’t have a bad loss like the one Poly has to Troy of Fullerton on its resume. A Berkeley win in that game likely pushes the Yellowjackets ahead of Canyon Springs for the final rankings but with 11 losses no further.
DIVISION II
1. (1) Carondelet (Concord) 26-4*
2. (4) Lynwood 28-5
3. (2) Ridgeview (Bakersfield) 29-4
4. (4) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 24-7*
5. (5) J.W. North (Riverside) 24-7
6. (7) St. Francis (Mountain View) 24-8
7. (6) Sacramento 27-5*
8. (9) Mark Keppel (Alhambra) 27-6
9. (8) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 31-2
10. (NR) Woodbridge (Irvine) 26-4
*Indicates CIF Open Division team (not competing for D2 state title).
Dropped Out: Previous No. 10 Lynbrook (San Jose).
Next Team In If St. Francis Upsets Lynwood? Florin (Sacramento) 23-9.
Next Team In From the South? Murrieta Valley (Murrieta) 27-6.
More Teams on the Bubble: Bonita (La Verne) 25-7, Cajon (San Bernardino) 27-1, Canyon (Canyon Country) 24-5, Clayton Valley (Concord) 22-8, Garces (Bakersfield) 27-4, Granada Hills 22-9, Lutheran (Orange) 24-7, Lynbrook (San Jose) 24-6, Montgomery (Santa Rosa) 25-8, Presentation (San Jose) 14-15, Serra (San Diego) 25-8, Woodbridge (Irvine) 26-4.
Notes & Highlights: One team that could move up for the final rankings based on CIF state finals’ results is Archbishop Mitty. With four wins against no losses vs. St. Francis, a Lancers’ win over Lynbrook in the D2 state final would lift the Monarchs just behind Carondelet, which is the team they lost to in the NorCal Open Division. Mitty also would benefit if league rival Sacred Heart Cathedral wins the D3 state title. Even a close loss by St. Francis to Lynwood could push Mitty ahead of Ridgeview for the final rankings. A big Lynwood win would just cement the order as it stands this week.
DIVISION III
1. (1) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 29-3*
2. (2) Miramonte (Orinda) 27-3*
3. (4) Alemany (Mission Hills) 31-5
4. (3) Chaminade (West Hills) 30-4
5. (5) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 26-6
6. (8) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 21-11
7. (6) Campolindo (Moraga) 25-6
8. (7) Enterprise (Redding) 29-2
9. (9) Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 25-8
10. (10) Agoura (Agoura Hills) 23-12
*Indicates CIF Open Division team (not competing for D3 state title).
Dropped Out: None.
Next Team In If Sacred Heart Cathedral upsets Alemany? Vanden (Travis AFB) 28-5.
Next Team in From The South? Calabasas 21-10.
More Teams on the Bubble: Burlingame 28-3, El Dorado (Placentia) 26-6, Jurupa Valley 27-2, Lakeside (Lake Elsinore) 24-5, Modesto Chriatian 22-10, Placer (Auburn) 25-7, Reseda 23-5, Santa Barbara 23-9, Selma 31-2.
Notes & Highlights: Unlike the other divisions, there are quite a few NorCal teams in the top 10 for this one so an upset by Sacred Heart Cathedral in the state final might not create too many changes. The SoCal teams after Alemany and Chaminade are hurt by having too many losses (such as Agoura) or because Alemany and Chaminade were so dominant in that regional bracket. If Alemany wins in the state final, there’s no chance the team would be lifted ahead of either Bishop O’Dowd or Miramonte due to many of the wins those two open division teams had during the course of the season.
DIVISION IV
1. (1) Windward (Los Angeles) 32-0*
2. (2) St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 29-5*
3. (3) Salesian (Richmond) 29-7
4. (4) Serra (Gardena) 28-6
5. (5) La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla) 18-12*
6. (6) JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 24-7
7. (7) St. Bernard (Playa del Rey) 26-7
8. (9) Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 21-7
9. (10) Bishop’s (La Jolla) 20-13
10. (NR) Piedmont 24-10
*Indicates CIF Open Division team (not competing for D4 state title).
Dropped Out: Previous No. 8 Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento).
Next Team In If Salesian Wins D4 State Title? Menlo School (Atherton) 22-10.
Next Team In If Serra Wins D4 State Title? Mater Dei Catholic (Chula Vista) 24-10.
More Teams on the Bubble: Argonaut (Sutter Creek) 30-2, Bear River (Lake of the Pines) 26-5, Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) 22-9, Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) 28-3, Ripon 23-5, St. Anthony (Long Beach) 17-11, St. Monica (Santa Monica) 28-6, St. Paul (Santa Fe Springs) 20-13.
Notes & Highlights: Because the Southern California teams, including La Jolla Country Day, JSerra and St. Bernard, are so closely bunched together in the overall state rankings, a loss by Salesian to Gardena Serra in the D4 state final could drop the Pride quite a few slots for next week’s final rankings. If Salesian wins, the next NorCal team, Piedmont, is quite a bit lower so it’s doubtful that there would be as many changes.
DIVISION V
1. (2) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 25-9
2. (3) Brookside Christian (Stockton) 26-5*
3. (1) Horizon (San Diego) 25-8
4. (6) Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) 24-7
5. (4) Eastside College Prep (E. Palo Alto) 23-9
6. (5) Valley Christian (Dublin) 31-3
7. (8) International (San Francisco) 30-5
8. (7) Mesa Grande Academy (Calimesa) 29-4
9. (9) Immanuel (Reedley) 22-7
10. (NR) Pacfic Collegiate (Santa Cruz) 25-6
*Indicates CIF Open Division team (not competing for D2 state title).
Dropped Out: Previous No. 10 Capital Christian (Sacramento).
Next Team In If Pinewood Wins D5 State Title? Capital Christian (Sacramento) 21-11.
Next Team In From the South? View Park (Los Angeles) 21-10.
More Teams on the Bubble: Central Catholic (Modesto) 17-8, Desert (Edwards) 21-2, Flintridge Prep (La Canada) 19-10, Providence (Burbank) 20-11, San Domenico (San Rafael) 25-8, St. Francis CCC (Watsonville) 16-13, Turlock Christian 25-6, Urban (San Francisco) 23-8, Village Christian (Sun Valley) 18-15.
Notes & Highlights: If Sierra Canyon wins the D5 state title (the Trailblazers are favored), it would also finish No. 1 in the final divisional state rankings. If Pinewood gets the upset, then Brookside Christian would be moved up to No. 1. Brookside’s overall season resume, including its open division loss to Bishop O’Dowd, will be stronger than Pinewood’s no matter what happens on Friday morning.
Comments or corrections? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.
