NEW Bay Area Basketball Rankings

Trevor Dunbar leads St. Ignatius boys to big win over Archbishop Mitty on Saturday night while Mariya Moore does same for Salesian girls against St. Mary’s of Berkeley. Check this post for the new Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20 rankings in both boys and girls basketball. We produce these rankings in support of the Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area TV show, which airs live on KUSI Channel 20 in San Francisco on Sunday nights.

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Boys: SI beats Mitty a second time

After Saturday night’s results in the West Catholic Athletic League, there is a tie at the top of the regular season standings with both St. Ignatius of San Francisco and Archbishop Mitty of San Jose at 10-2 in league games.

But with the Wildcats posting a second win over the Monarchs, the two teams can’t be tied in the rankings. It is St. Ignatius that now has to be the higher-ranked squad with the team moving up from No. 8 to No. 6 in this week’s Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20.

SI’s 54-47 triumph was fueled by point guard Trevor Dunbar with 26 points. He also had 29 last week in a win over Archbishop Riordan, which followed a 40-point outing from two weeks ago.

Two new teams in the week’s Bay Area Top 20 are Castro Valley and Berkeley. At 19-2, the Yellowjackets have had a strong showing so far this season, but lost to the Trojans the last time the two teams met.

Here are this week’s Bay Area boys’ top 20 (Compiled by Mark Tennis; previous ranking in parentheses; after games of Saturday, Feb. 8):

1. (1) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 18-4

2. (2) Monte Vista (Danville) 21-1

3. (3) El Cerrito 24-2

4. (5) De La Salle (Concord) 17-5

5. (6) St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) 21-5

6. (8) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 18-4

7. (4) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 18-4

8. (9) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 19-3

9. (7) Serra (San Mateo) 16-6

10. (10) Newark Memorial (Newark) 16-7

11. (13) Campolindo (Moraga) 17-6

12. (11) Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 14-8

13. (14) Leigh (San Jose) 21-1

14. (12) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 14-8

15. (17) Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 17-5

16. (19) Half Moon Bay 20-2

17. (16) Burlingame 19-3

18. (20) Salesian (Richmond) 14-11

19. (NR) Castro Valley 16-6

20. (NR) Berkeley 19-2

Dropped Out: Previous No. 15 Freedom (Oakley); No. 18 St. Patrick-St. Vincent (Vallejo).

Teams On The Bubble: Albany 22-4; Branson (Ross) 20-4; College Park (Pleasant Hill) 17-4; Drake (San Anselmo) 18-5; Freedom (Oakley) 17-5; Miramonte (Orinda) 15-7; Montgomery (Santa Rosa) 18-5; Piedmont Hills (San Jose) 19-3; Pinole Valley (Pinole) 14-12; Pittsburg 17-5; San Leandro 11-10; Santa Cruz 16-7; St. Francis (Mountain View) 13-10; St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 17-9; St. Patrick-St. Vincent (Vallejo) 19-7.

Girls: Salesian moves to No. 1

The rain has finally arrived and with the torrents has come a lot of mud, making the Bay Area girls basketball landscape almost as muddy as who should be on top of the girls rankings.

In fact, with so many teams beating each other, and with two coming last week, you almost need a Ouija board to figure out the Bay Area and hence the state pecking order.

Previous No. 1 Bishop O’Dowd went out to Stockton and fell in an exciting game, 81-77, to a host St. Mary’s team that has an eight-point loss to a St. Mary’s of Berkeley team that has two losses to a Salesian team that has a loss to O’Dowd and Carondelet, and Carondelet has a loss to the St. Mary’s team Salesian swept to win its first outright league title in school history.

Are you confused? This is exactly why the Cal-Hi Sports Caravan gets out to see the games and how the teams are progressing and playing as we enter the playoffs.

After sorting everything out, the decision is to go with Salesian. First off, since the loss to O’Dowd, the Pride have won 10 straight, including three games in four days over the MLK weekend in which they beat Oregon’s top team and nationally ranked South Medford, Miramonte, and Berkeley St. Mary’s. An argument can be made for Carondelet and its 11-point win over Salesian at the West Coast Jamboree, but that was then and this is now, and Carondelet’s 78-71 loss to the St. Mary’s team Salesian swept was not as close as the score indicates.

The other rationale and the exact reason why Salesian has come on so strong is Louisville-bound Mariya Moore. She had 28 points, 17 rebounds, four steals and three assists in Saturday’s win over the Panthers.

Here are this week’s Bay Area girls’ top 20 (Compiled by Harold Abend; previous ranking in parentheses; after games of Saturday, Feb. 8):
(*Forfeits not included)

1. (4) Salesian (Richmond) 20-5

2. (1) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 19-4

3. (2) St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 20-6

4. (3) Carondelet (Concord) 19-3

5. (5) Miramonte (Orinda) 21-1

6. (7) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 19-3

7. (6) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 13-6

8. (8) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 13-9

9. (9) Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) 21-1

10. (10) Berkeley 16-6

11. (11) Santa Rosa 23-1

12. (12) Monte Vista (Danville) 20-2

13. (13) Deer Valley (Antioch) 17-5

14. (14) Wilcox (Santa Clara) 18-2

15. (16) Scotts Valley 20-3

16. (18) Presentation (San Jose) 15-8

17. (15) St. Francis (Mountain View) 14-8

18. (NR) Piedmont 14-6

19. (NR) Eastside College Prep (East Palo Alto) 15-8

20. (20) Valley Christian (Dublin) 22-3

Dropped Out: Previous No. 17 Castro Valley, No. 19 Moreau Catholic (Hayward).

Teams On The Bubble: Alameda 13-8; Campolindo (Moraga) 15-8; Carlmont (Belmont) 20-2; Castro Valley 16-6; Clayton Valley (Concord) 17-6; Heritage (Brentwood) 13-9; Justin-Siena (Napa) 19-5; Lowell (San Francisco) 18-5; Lynbrook (San Jose) 13-7; Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 18-4; North Salinas (Salinas) 18-2; Saratoga 17-4; Pittsburg 15-7; Windsor 19-5.

Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @CalHiSports

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