Boys BB: Divisional State Rankings

Go through this post for updated outlooks and rankings for every CIF division plus we have as many state record updates that we could find in a limited amount of time from Thursday’s incredible 128-123 win in six overtimes by Damien of La Verne over Riverside Poly in the SoCal D1 quarterfinals. No. 1 teams heading into Saturday are Sierra Canyon (Open), Ribet Academy (D1), St. Francis of La Canada (D2), Arroyo Grande (D3), Palisades of Pacific Palisades (D4) and Pierce of Arbuckle (D5).

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(All records through Thursday, March 5 games)
(These rankings won’t match the State Top 25 from earlier this week, which were done before Tuesday’s first round of the regional playoffs)

OPEN DIVISION
1. Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 28-4
2. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 25-7
3. Etiwanda 28-3
4. Sheldon (Sacramento) 27-5
5. Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) 25-6
6. Centennial (Corona) 27-5*
7. Rancho Christian (Temecula) 22-8*
8. Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 23-4
9. Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 22-7
10. Dublin 24-6
11. Bellarmine (San Jose) 23-5*
Notes/Comments: That is all 11 teams from the SoCal and NorCal Open Division brackets. In the only games of the Open Division played so far, Etiwanda topped Rancho Christian 67-61, Harvard-Westlake held off Corona Centennial (the third win by the Wolverines over the Huskies) 63-55 and Dublin got past Bellarmine 73-69. That set up Saturday’s regional semifinals that will see Sierra Canyon play Harvard-Westlake plus Mater Dei against Etiwanda in the south while in the north it will be Sheldon vs. Dublin and Mitty vs. Bishop O’Dowd.

DIVISION I
1. Ribet Academy (Los Angeles) 27-3
2. WIndward (Los Angeles) 28-7
3. St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 23-9*
4. Salesian (Richmond) 25-6
5. Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 22-5
6. Damien (La Verne) 26-8
7. Poly (Riverside) 27-7*
8. St. Anthony (Long Beach) 26-6*
9. Fairfax (Los Angeles) 26-6*
10. Renaissance Academy (Los Angeles) 26-9
11. JSerra (SJ Capistrano) 27-6*
12. Santa Clarita Christian (Canyon Country) 24-6*
13. Westchester (Los Angeles) 22-9*
14. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 24-8*
15. De La Salle (Concord) 24-7
16. Torrey Pines (San Diego) 27-6*
17. Campolindo (Moraga) 24-6
18. Capital Christian (Sacramento) 25-9*
19. Chaminade (West Hills) 26-9*
20. San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno) 24-7*
Notes/Comments: Read below for the details from the Damien-Riverside Poly contest that went to six overtimes with a final score of 128-123.
The game we went to was for SoCal D1 top seed St. John Bosco hosting Ribet Academy. Going by the seeds, Ribet (No. 11) winning 61-58 would be viewed as an upset. Going by our State Top 25, not so much. While the Braves were No. 8 overall in the state, the Fighting Frogs were No. 12 since two of their only three losses were to Sierra Canyon and Rancho Christian (see Open Division) and their other loss was to a team they also beat. Plus, Ribet was coming into the night after rolling past CIF L.A. City Section champion Westchester (No. 15 overall in our last rankings) 70-46 in the first round.
It was a grinding type of game in which neither team was able to build much of a lead. Ribet pulled ahead on a three-pointer by Barrington Hargress with just more than three minutes left at 50-48 and following a missed basket and a turnover was able to get out in front 54-48. The Fighting Frogs made their free throws down the stretch to get the win.
“We’ve been trying to set up our schedule to play this calibre of a team at the end of the season,” said Ribet head coach Reginald Howard, whose team won last year’s CIF D4 state title. “A lot of our games have been close, but yes definitely (we wanted to make a statement in the last two games). I’m not sure Westchester had a lot left after putting so much into beating Fairfax. At the end of the day, we’re going to need all of our pieces coming together and so far that’s been happening.”
Tre White, who has only been eligible at Ribet since early last month after moving from San Antonio and is a player getting interest from colleges such as USC, was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points. Bosco, which hadn’t played in 13 days after a win over St. Anthony of Long Beach to conclude its pool play in the CIFSS Open Division, had three players all with 12 points — Josh Camper, Jeremiah Nyarko (an impressive 6-foot-7 sophomore) and Lamaj Lewis.
Ribet will now face Windward of Los Angeles in the SoCal D1 semifinals. In the other semifinal, it will be Damien of La Verne playing Renaissance Academy, a team from the same Harbor League as Ribet. Renaissance started as a No. 14 seed and got past JSerra of San Juan Capistrano in its Thursday game (JSerra was the team that knocked off state No. 11 Santa Clarita Christian on Tuesday).
The NorCal bracket in D1 has been less dramatic. Top seed Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco has won twice and will play No. 4 seed De La Salle (Concord) on Saturday. No. 2 seed Capital Christian of Sacramento (coming off a close loss to NorCal Open favorite Sheldon in its section final) fell to Campolindo of Moraga (last year’s D2 state champion) on Thursday 60-58. The Cougars will now play No. 3 seed Salesian of Richmond in the regional semis.

STATE RECORD UPDATES FROM 128-123 SIX-OVERTIME GAME:

At least one longtime prep writer we know, Landon Negri of the Riverside Press-Enterprise, called Thursday night’s 128-123 win in six overtimes by Damien of La Verne over Poly of Riverside in the CIF SoCal D1 quarterfinals called it the craziest prep contest he’d ever seen. The back-and-forth affair also featured big-time individual outings from Riverside Poly’s D.J. Davis (58 points) and Damien’s Malik Thomas (41 points). Damien’s Austin Cook also scored 34 and picked up the slack after Thomas fouled out in the second overtime.
The two teams were tied 72-72 at the end of regulation, 82-82 after one overtime, 93-93 after two overtimes, 105-105 after three overtimes, 112-112 after four overtimes and 120-120 after five.
Most questions after the game centered on the Cal-Hi Sports state record for longest games ever played. Six overtimes does not set a new record. That one remains an eight-overtime game from January of 1964 when Dixon defeated Rio Vista 74-69.
It is a record for the longest game in a CIF playoff game and ties the record for any postseason game. The only other postseason game with six overtimes took place in 1969 in the Northern Section between Happy Camp and Biggs.
There also have been two games in CIFSS history that have gone to six overtimes but both were regular season games (Palos Verdes vs. South of Torrance 1987 and Centennial of Compton vs. Mary Star of San Pedro 1984).
We also checked the record book for most combined points by two teams in one game (including OTs). Damien & Riverside Poly’s total of 251 will now go in at No. 2 on that all-time state list. The record for two teams is actually involving two teams from the same Baseline League as Damien — Chino Hills 146, Los Osos (Rancho Cucamonga) 123 — in 2017. That was the same game in which Chino Hill’s La’Melo Ball went nuts for 92 points.
We also will be checking the record book files in the coming days for most three-pointers in one game by one team (Riverside Poly had 20) and most combined three-pointers made by two teams in one game (Damien had 18 for a two-team total of 38).

DIVISION II
1. St. Francis (La Canada) 28-8
2. Oxnard 32-2
3. St. Patrick-St. Vincent (Vallejo) 24-10
4. King/Drew (Los Angeles) 25-8
5. Roosevelt (Eastvale) 26-8
6. Hesperia 25-9*
7. Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 23-5
8. Bonita (La Verne) 28-4*
9. Christian (El Cajon) 21-7*
10. Branson (Ross) 30-3*
11. Weston Ranch (Stockton) 22-12
12. St. Mary’s (Stockton) 25-9
13. Birmingham (Lake Balboa) 20-10*
14. Francis Parker (San Diego) 22-6*
15. Clovis East (Clovis) 21-11*
Notes/Comments: Oxnard is a team we had in our State Top 25 rankings for several weeks and is now back on the rise heading into its SoCal D2 semifinal Saturday vs top seed St. Francis. The Yellowjackets got to play Hesperia again in Thursday’s game and reversed an earlier loss in the CIFSS playoffs with a 61-54 win. King/Drew and Roosevelt of Eastvale will meet in the other SoCal D2 semi. Roosevelt is from the same Big VIII League as SoCal Open team Corona Centennial and in 2017 won the CIF D1 state title.
Top seed Granada of Livermore went out right away in the NorCal side of the bracket with a loss to Whitney of Rocklin. We thought St. Patrick-St. Vincent probably should have been at the top, though, and the Bruins have gotten through in their two games with wins over San Ramon Valley of Danville and De Anza of Richmond. They will play Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton in their regional semi, which is a team that handed Branson of Ross (30-3 overall) a 55-53 defeat on Thursday. The St. Pat-St. Vincent vs. SHP winner will play either St. Mary’s of Stockton or Weston Ranch for the regional crown next Tuesday.

DIVISION III
1. Arroyo Grande 26-6
2. Providence (Burbank) 27-7
3. St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 24-10
4. El Camino Real (Woodland Hills) 15-16
5. Fountain Valley 21-9
6. Carmel 25-4
7. Wood (Vacaville) 25-7
8. Shadow Hills 29-4*
9. Palo Alto 23-5*
10. Gardena 27-5*
11. Taft (Woodland Hills) 22-11*
12. Foothill (Palo Cedro) 27-5
13. El Camino (Oceanside) 25-7*
14. St. Joseph (Santa Maria) 25-8*
15. Sacred Heart Cathedral (S.F.) 12-17*
Notes/Comments: The fun thing to root for in this bracket — both north and south — is for it to wind up as a matchup of No. 16 seeds deciding the state title. Sure, the seedings for both El Camino Real in the south and Wood of Vacaville in the north may have been miscalculated, but it could happen. ECR beat top seed Shadow Hills in its No. 16 vs. No. 1 upset 102-96 in two overtimes while Wood suffocated top seed Palo Alto 40-33. The Conquistadors are now playing Arroyo Grande in the regional semis while the Wildcats are taking on St. Mary’s of Berkeley.
In the other two regional semifinals, it will be Providence of Burbank vs. Fountain Valley and Carmel vs. Foothill of Palo Cedro. Going by computer rankings, Providence would be the favorite not only against Fountain Valley but to win the state title.

DIVISION IV
1. Palisades (Pacific Palisades) 17-11
2. Bakersfield Christian 25-6
3. Lincoln (San Francisco) 28-4
4. University (San Francisco) 24-8
5. Narbonne (Harbor City) 22-12
6. St. Pius X-St. Matthias (Downey) 29-6
7. Aquinas (San Bernardino) 27-7*
8. San Ysidro 25-9*
9. Hoover (Fresno) 24-9
10. Brookside Christian (Stockton) 25-8
Notes/Comments: The presence of national recruit Mikey Williams of San Ysidro generated a lot of attention in L.A. for his team’s game at Palisades. That’s the freshman who has been averaging well over 30 ppg and set the San Diego Section record with 77 points in a December game. One video showed LeBron James looking in from the front door. It was the Dolphins who had all the answers, though, and advanced with a 56-49. They will now play No. 3 seed St. Pius X-St. Matthias as a No. 2 seed in the regional semis. The top seed in the south, Aquinas of San Bernardino, was eliminated by Narbonne of Harbor City, setting up the possibility of an All-L.A. City Section final in this division. The Gauchos will have a tough task in their game on Saturday at Bakersfield Christian, a school that is looking to add a state boys basketball title to the D3-A football crown it won in December.
You may notice in the north that two San Francisco teams are playing in the semifinals on Saturday and it will be a rematch of Lincoln playing University. The Mustangs won in December 56-49 in their own tourney, but the two schools are actually from different sections. Lincoln is in the public school San Francisco Section while Uni, a private school, is in the North Coast Section. This division is a good spot for the SF public school champion to go a long way. The other NorCal semi will be between Hoover of Fresno and Brookside Christian of Stockton. Brookside is closing at the end of the school so those players and coaches would like to do nothing less than winning a state title in their final game ever.

DIVISION V
1. Pierce (Arbuckle) 27-4
2. Roosevelt (Los Angeles) 22-10
3. Eastside (Lancaster) 17-13
4. Eastside College Prep (E. Palo Alto) 21-7
5. San Domenico (San Rafael) 19-12
6. Banning 22-13*
7. Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) 20-13
8. Trinity Classical Academy (Valencia) 22-7
9. Delano 23-11
10. Christopher (Gilroy) 19-11*
Notes/Comments: We remember the days (continuing into the early 2000s) when Roosevelt was one of the largest high schools in the nation with an enrollment of over 5,000 students. But if the state final in D5 this year is between Pierce (enrollment a little over 400) and Roosevelt it’s not going to be that ridiculous of a difference. With all of the new schools built in L.A. Unified and the rise of magnet schools, Roosevelt’s enrollment is now down to below 1,300.
The other matchup at the end to perhaps look for would be Eastside of Lancaster from the south playing Eastside of East Palo Alto from the north. In Saturday’s games, it will be Pierce vs. Eastside (E. Palo Alto), San Domenico vs. Bradshaw Christian, Eastside (Lancaster) vs. Trinity Classical and Roosevelt vs. Delano.

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 on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports