Gabby Green from St. Mary’s of Berkeley and Katie Lou Samuelson of Santa Ana Mater Dei smiled for the camera at the West Coast Jamboree, but Green was the main one smiling after the Panthers toppled the Monarchs on Saturday night in Inglewood. Photo: Harold Abend.
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The who beat who is definitely in play in the first Bay Area rankings as only one top five team has made it through the major tournament portion of the season, and that team, Miramonte of Orinda, unlike others in the first five, has yet to play a state or nationally-ranked team.
St. Mary’s of Berkeley took a hit in the state rankings for its loss to Bishop O’Dowd. However, since then O’Dowd has looked good, the Panthers opened the Nike TOC with a win over New York Christ the King, and then they did take a loss at the TOC to Santa Ana Mater Dei, but followed that up with a third-place win in the Joe Smith Division over Stockton St. Mary’s, and then rested up and ran past a weary Mater Dei 55-41 this Saturday in the Paul Pierce Real Run Showcase at Inglewood High.
St. Mary’s head coach Nate Fripp was at Las Positas College scouting Mater Dei and Cal-bound Panthers star Gabby Green stopped by and paused for a picture with the Monarchs’ Katie Lou Samuelson, but all the smiles turned to business as Green took charge in the second half after St. Mary’s trailed 21-19 at halftime.
Green led the way with 18 points plus she ran the fly that wore out Mater Dei. Samuelson, who had 30 points in the win at the TOC, was held to 20 in Inglewood, plus the St. Mary’s defense didn’t allow any other Mater Dei player to reach double-figure scoring.
Watch highlights of the Bay Area’s best teams every Sunday at 7 p.m. on KOFY, Channel 20, San Francisco.
Here are this week’s Bay Area girls’ top 20 (after games of Saturday, Jan. 4):
1. St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 8-2
2. Carondelet (Concord) 7-2
3. Salesian (Richmond) 7-4
4. Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 8-3
5. Miramonte (Orinda) 12-0
6. St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 10-1
7. Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 7-4
8. Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 5-4
9. Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) 11-1 l
10. Berkeley 7-4
11. Santa Rosa 9-1
12. Monte Vista (Danville) 11-0
13. Deer Valley (Antioch) 9-4
14. Wilcox (Santa Clara) 9-1
15. Eastside College Prep (East Palo Alto) 8-4
16. Lynbrook (San Jose) 8-4
17. Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 9-2
18. Scotts Valley 9-3
19. St. Francis (Mountain View) 7-4
20. Valley Christian (Dublin) 9-2
On the Bubble
Alameda 8-3, Casa Grande (Petaluma) 6-4, Clayton Valley (Concord) 7-4, Galileo (San Francisco) 9-3, Lowell (San Francisco) 9-3, Oakland 11-1*, Northgate (Walnut Creek) 11-3, Piedmont 6-3, Pittsburg 9-4, Presentation (San Jose) 7-2, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 5-3, Skyline (Oakland) 8-4, Valley Christian (San Jose) 9-2, Westmont (Campbell) 8-3, Windsor 9-2.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
