Section champs above include Kelton Conway of El Camino Real (pictured with his father, former NFL player Curtis Conway) and the amazing freshman duo of Sierra Smith and Naje Murray of Stockton St. Mary’s. Photos: Ronnie Flores & Mark Tennis.
Check below for this week’s new list of the State Top 20 boys and girls basketball rankings.
For NorCal boys basketball pairings reaction, CLICK HERE.
For NorCal girls basketball pairings reaction, CLICK HERE.
For SoCal boys basketball pairings reaction, CLICK HERE.
For SoCal girls basketball pairings reaction, CLICK HERE.
To read our breakdowns on each Top 20 team, why some of these rankings moves were made, which teams are on the bubble and for the CIF divisional state rankings for both boys and girls basketball, you need to be a member of our Gold Club. Join our team today by CLICKING HERE.
Coach and trainer Chris Asher works with state stat stars and players from state-ranked teams of all ages, helping them to improve their speed, quickness and agility. He is based in Hollywood, also has a role with the UCLA track program and serves athletes within many miles of his location. For more about him, CLICK HERE. For a video about his Gold Medal Excellence training program, CLICK HERE.
NEW BOYS BASKETBALL
STATE TOP 20 OVERALL RANKINGS
It still sets up perhaps to be a matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the overall state rankings if Mater Dei of Santa Ana and Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland eventually get to the CIF Open Division state final on March 29 at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.
But since both Chino Hills and Monte Vista of Danville decided to not ask to be considered for the Open Division, if those two top-seeded Division I teams were to make it that far, it could shape up as a No. 3 vs. No. 4.
If those two were to win their respective regional backets, given that Chino Hills just lost in a close game to the Monarchs and given that Monte Vista has just one loss (later avenged), that would be enough for the eventual winner of the D1 state final to be ranked higher than any Open Division team (excluding the two finalists).
In this week’s State Top 20, Chino Hills has moved up to No. 3 while Monte Vista is still behind several SoCal contenders, all of which would lose if Mater Dei and Chino Hills win regional crowns.
This week’s biggest change was to elevate L.A. City Section champ El Camino Real from not ranked all the way up to No. 13. Previous No. 9 Westchester fell to a spot right behind the Conquistadors.
(Compiled by Ronnie Flores with assistance from Mark Tennis; updated through games played Saturday, March 8; previous rating in parentheses)
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 31-0
2. (2) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 26-4
3. (4) Chino Hills 26-5
4. (5) J.W. North (Riverside) 26-1*
5. (3) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) 24-5
6. (6) Etiwanda 26-4
7. (7) Centennial (Corona) 25-3
8. (8) Capital Christian (Sacramento) 27-3
9. (10) Monte Vista (Danville) 28-1
10. (11) Loyola (Los Angeles) 25-3
11. (12) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 28-3
12. (13) Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) 24-6
13. (NR) El Camino Real (Woodland Hills) 25-6
14. (9) Westchester (Los Angeles) 28-6
15. (14) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 25-7
16. (15) Folsom 29-2
17. (NR) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 26-4
18. (NR) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 27-5
19. (18) St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 18-11
20. (NR) Cathedral (Los Angeles) 22-5
*Forfeit loss or forfeit losses not included
Dropped Out: Previous No. 16 St. Augustine (San Diego); No. 17 Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove); No. 19 Compton; No. 20 St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda).
All-American candidates Jordin Canada and Kris Simon have led Windward on its late-season surge. Photo: Harold Abend.
NEW GIRLS BASKETBALL
TOP 20 OVERALL RANKINGS
There’s a new No. 1 team in the State Top 20 this week and it’s no surprise after previous No. 2 Windward knocked off previous No. 1 Mater Dei in a surprisingly easy 61-46 win in the first-ever CIF Southern Section Open Division championship.
The other change in the top 10 wasn’t as easy to make. Due its resume before the playoffs, Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland could have stayed at No. 6 but now that the CIF North Coast Section has crowned Miramonte of Orinda as its Division III champion (that was the division the Dragons would have been in), we’ll drop O’Dowd down behind Miramonte in this week’s rankings. The Dragons could still finish in the top 10, too. It will just depend on how the other ranked teams around them fare in the next two weeks.
This week’s highest newcomer is Ventura after the Cougars took down previous No. 13 Camarillo 59-51 in the CIFSS Division 1-AA final. The Hanford team that Ventura is hosting in this week’s CIF SoCal Division I first-round game also is the same team that dropped out of this week’s State Top 20.
(Compiled by Harold Abend with assistance from Mark Tennis; updated through games played Saturday, March 8; previous rating in parentheses)
1. (2) Windward (Los Angeles) 25-2
2. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 26-2
3. (3) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 23-3
4. (7) St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 26-7
5. (4) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 25-4
6. (5) Salesian (Richmond) 27-6
7. (8) Carondelet (Concord) 27-3
8. (9) Etiwanda 20-6
9. (10) Miramonte (Orinda) 28-1
10. (6) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 23-4**
11. (11) Serra (Gardena) 23-4
12. (12) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 23-4
13. (15) Clovis West (Fresno) 27-3
14. (14) Chaminade (West Hills) 24-4
15. (16) Bishop Alemany (Mission Hills) 22-8
16. (17) Bishop’s (La Jolla) 27-5
17. (18) Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) 20-6
18. (NR) Ventura 29-2
19. (13) Camarillo 27-4
20. (20) Enterprise (Redding) 24-2
Dropped Out: Previous No. 19 Hanford
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark, Ronnie Flores and Harold Abend on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
