Folsom players celebrate at press podium inside Golden 1 Center after they won CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 title over St. Mary’s of Stockton. Photo: Mark Tennis.
State No. 1 Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth keeps on rolling with CIF Southern Section Open Division title. We also have roundups of other games at the Honda Center in Anaheim and from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Every section champion also deserves to get a mention so that’s what this massive list of teams is all about.
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(Harold Abend contributed info from the Honda Center)
(All teams listed with win-loss record)
Southern Section Girls
Open: Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 30-0
Defeated Etiwanda 60-57. Top-seeded and state top-ranked Sierra Canyon trailed only twice (at 5-4 and 7-6) before settling down and using the performances of its three big stars, Juju Watkins, Izela Arenas and Mackenly Randolph, to win its first-ever CIF Southern Section Open Division championship with a victory over the No. 2 seed Eagles. Watkins, a 6-foot-2 USC-bound senior, had for her just another day at the office after finishing with a double-double 24 points and 11 rebounds with six blocked shots. Arenas tallied 19 points (two three-pointers) and Randolph added a double-double 17 points and 11 rebounds with four blocks.
Sierra Canyon led 49-32 midway through the third quarter, but Etiwanda clawed and scratched its way back to a 64-57 deficit with 1:12 left. That’s when the Trailblazers closed things out with a 6-0 run to claim the title, a first section open title not only for the school and head coach Alicia Komaki, but for Watkins as well.
Etiwanda (29-3) got 17 points from sophomore Aliyahna Morris, 13 points from senior Majesty Cade (four three-pointers) and 12 points from junior Kennedy Smith.
Central Section Girls
Clovis West head coach Craig Campbell gives instructions to his team during 2021 spring season. Photo: Harold Abend.
D1: Clovis West (Fresno) 30-1
Defeated Clovis 54-42. It’s now 11 straight section titles for the Golden Eagles, who broke a tie with Brea Olinda on the all-time state list for that category. Head coach Craig Campbell also won the 465th game at the school, which put him on top of the Central Section coaching wins category. He has more wins than that, of course, from years at Reno High. Clovis is the same team that handed the Golden Eagles their only loss. They’ve been No. 7 in the state behind Sierra Canyon, La Jolla Country Day, Etiwanda, Mater Dei, Archbishop Mitty and Piedmont. If they are put in the Open Division for NorCal, they have a head-to-head win over Folsom (No. 8 in state).
D2: Liberty (Bakersfield) 20-7
Defeated Tehachapi 58-51. Tehachapi was 25-1 and almost won in a division that they wouldn’t have been in without competitive equity. Liberty was led by Faith Curry with 18 points and 12 rebounds who played for a section title at her previous school (Bakersfield).
D3: Bakersfield Christian 25-7
Defeated Porterville 57-45. Sara Shein had 22 points for the Eagles. Teammate Jordan Toler added 16 points and four steals.
D4: Lompoc 18-13
Defeated Tulare 32-31. The 6th seed edged No. 12 Mustangs, who had upset top seed Immanuel of Reedley in the semifinals.
D5: Reedley 15-16
Defeated Arvin 54-44. The Pirates were a No. 10 seed and notched a win over the No. 8 seed Bears.
D6: Lindsay 21-12
Defeated Torres (Madera) 53-37. The Cardinals captured the school’s fourth section title.
Central Coast Section Girls
Open: Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 26-2
Defeated Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) 74-51. State record for team with the most section titles increased to 31. Also seventh Open Division title for head coach Sue Phillips in last eight years. Freshman McKenna Wolickzo led the way with 22 points.
D1: Evergreen Valley (San Jose) 20-7
Defeated Los Altos 67-45. This is the team that features junior Ryka Apremeyan, who averages 31 ppg. Her scoring was not reported from the final. The Cougars won their first CCS title.
D2: St. Francis (Mountain View) 13-11
Defeated Christopher (Gilroy) 66-52. If the Lancers (who were 4-6 in the WCAL) get into the D2 bracket in the CCS, they are always very tough.
D3: Mills (Millbrae) 20-7
Defeated Santa Cruz 66-52. The top seeded Vikings had an easier time with the Cardinals in the final than they did against Notre Dame of Belmont (43-39) in the semis.
D4: Menlo School (Atherton) 15-10
Defeated Half Moon Bay 49-34. It was suffocating defense with a lot of steals (7 in the first half) that pushed the Knights to their second straight CCS title.
D5: Summit Shasta (Daly City) 21-2
Defeated Priory (Portola Valley) 64-39. This result was actually a nail-biter for the Black Bears compared to their wins of 90-10 and 70-20 earlier in the CCS D5 playoffs.
L.A. City Section Girls
Open: Westchester (L.A.) 29-1
Defeated Granada Hills Charter 51-44. Marianne Boco had a big night for GHC with 29 points but it was another strong all-around outing for the Comets. Their only loss has been by one point to Bonita Vista of Chula Vista, but putting them in the SoCal Open Division wouldn’t make sense because their strength of schedule isn’t close to the top 10 or more teams from the CIF Southern Section.
D1: Poly (Sun Valley) 23-5
Defeated LACES 67-64 in OT. Junior Hannah Lising went 15 of 19 from the free throw line and had 35 points for the Parrots, who won their first-ever L.A. City crown.
D2: San Pedro 21-8
Defeated Chatsworth 52-51 in OT. It’s the first L.A. City title for the Pirates in 39 years.
D3: Vaughn (San Fernando) 20-5
Defeated Washington (Los Angeles) 69-37. The leading scorers for the Lady Generals were Yamileth Ferreira and ANdrea Cervantes, who both finished with 22 points.
D4: Valley Academy Arts & Sciences (Granada Hills) 15-7
Defeated Kennedy (Granada Hills) 32-29. It’s the first-ever L.A. City title for the Lady Vipers.
D5: Fremont (Los Angeles) 20-4
Defeated Camino Nuevo 49-17. Some schools winning a first section title are much more significant than others. For the Pathfinders, their school began 99 years ago.
North Coast Section Girls
Trinity Zamora at Piedmont will be playing next at San Diego State. Photo: Harold Abend.
Open Division: Salesian (Richmond) 25-4
Defeated San Ramon Valley (Danville) 59-55. Last year’s CIF D1 state champs won their first NCS Open title with a tense triumph over the Wolves. SRV took the lead at 54-53 with 1:28 left, but it wouldn’t last as Nyana Asiasi answered with a basket and then there was another basket and free throws. The state No. 7 Pride were led by Makiah Asidanya with 18 points.
D1: Monte Vista (Danville) 24-6
Defeated Granada (Livermore) 66-39. Three of the Mustangs’ losses have been to arch-rival San Ramon Valley. They were the top seed in this bracket.
D2: Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 19-8
Defeated Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 71-53. It’s another NCS title for head coach Malik McCord. His young club of almost all sophomores and freshmen was led by freshman Savannah Jones in this victory with 25 points.
D3: Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 26-5
Defeated San Marin (Novato) 46-22. This was the top seed in the bracket. The only loss for the Wildcats since way back on December 10 has been to Central Section D1 champ and state No. 7 Clovis West.
D4: Piedmont 27-0
Defeated Branson (Ross) 75-49. As expected, the Highlanders rolled to their section title. They couldn’t be placed in the NCS Open Division as a D4 team in their section. They can be chosen for the NorCal Open and likely will get the top seed with a head-to-head win from the very first weekend of the season over Archbishop Mitty.
D5: University (San Francisco) 24-4
Defeated Upper Lake 63-33. The Red Devils were the No. 2 seed. The top seed in the bracket, Berean Christian, lost in the quarterfinals.
Note: No result reported for NCS D6 championship between Ferndale & Cornerstone Christian of Antioch.
Northern Section Girls
D3: Pleasant Valley (Chico) 27-3
Defeated Chico 60-43. It’s been a dominant run for the Vikings in the north and it continued. Their only losses entering the NorCal playoffs have come to Vanden, Folsom and Heritage of Brentwood (all D1 type teams).
D4: Lassen (Susanville) 24-6
Defeated Pierce (Arbuckle) 57-43. The Grizzlies had an impressive victory over team led by one of the state’s leading scorers, Jocelyn Medina.
D5: Fall River (McArthur) 24-2
Defeated Portola 45-21. The Bulldogs were the No. 1 seed for the bracket and rolled to the section title.
D6: Weed 20-11
Defeated Redding Christian 43-33. The Cougars topped the Lions for the section championship.
D7: Butte Valley (Dorris) 24-3
Defeated Chester 40-27. The top-seed Bulldogs hoisted their title trophy with a win over the Volcanoes.
Oakland-San Francisco Section Girls
Oak: Oakland Tech 25-5
Defeated AIMS College Prep 92-31. When there’s a team in the OAL like the Bulldog girls or McClymonds in football that is building a program to compete at the highest levels the matchups within the OAL are just unfortunate.
SF: Washington 13-5
Defeated Lincoln (SF) 43-39. This avenged an earlier loss (52-49) that the Eagles had against the Mustangs.
Alyssa Jackson of Vanden was selected to last season’s all-state juniors team. Photo: Willie Eashman / Cal-Hi Sports.
Sac-Joaquin Section Girls
D1: Folsom 26-2
Defeated St. Mary’s (Stockton) 58-53. The Rams had won 13 straight section titles until they lost to Folsom in last year’s semifinals. The Bulldogs took it one step further this season and won their first section title after losing to league rival Oak Ridge in last year’s final. A 12-2 start for Folsom was essentially never overcome by the Rams. They did have two three-point shot attempts in the final minute that could have tied the score, but missed them both. Folsom made two free throws with 2.7 seconds left to clinch it. Sophia Mindermann and Dixie McLanahan both had 12 points for the Bulldogs. Jordan Lee shined as usual for St. Mary’s and led all scorers with 21.
D2: Whitney (Rocklin) 19-11
Defeated Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 36-33. This was an upset as CBS came in at 29-2 and was almost in the State TOP 25 last week. Harper Peterson was the only double-figure scorer for the Wildcats with 21 points. Jada Hunter had 15 for the Falcons.
D3: Vanden (Fairfield) 26-7
Defeated Lincoln 62-42. As expected, Vanden in D3 was a cruise. Alyssa Jackson had 15 points and six steals while Gabby Wright had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Vikings.
D5: Valley Christian (Roseville) 25-3
Defeated Bret Harte (Altaville) 71-65. Christelle Williams and Kalista Larson both scored more than 20 points — Williams with 22 and Larson with 21 — as the Lions won their sixth section title (first in D5). Ariah Fox had a triple-double for the Bullfrogs with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
D6: Faith Christian (Yuba City) 24-5
Defeated Foresthill 50-46. Freshman Lauren Harris had 23 points for the winners with older sister Audrey Harris getting 19. Audrey is the girl who averaged more than 46 ppg last season when it was a team primarily just featuring herself before this year when the two could play at the same time.
San Diego Section Girls
Open: La Jolla Country Day 28-3
Defeated Del Norte (San Diego) 86-27. Head coach Terri Bamford’s girls jumped out to a 20-2 lead and never looked back. All-Americans Jada Williams and Breya Cunningham both scored 19 points for the Torreys, who have a win over CIFSS Open Division runner-up Etiwanda.
D1: Mater Dei Catholic (Chula Vista) 21-9
Defeated Imperial 58-43. Koko Aldridge led the Crusaders with 18 points. A girl we remember from Imperial’s run to the D5 state title game in 2019 as a freshman, Sierra Morris, had 18 for the runner-up.
D2: Torrey Pines (San Diego) 25-7
Defeated Oceanside 52-41. Neveah Mageo had 33 points for the Pirates. The victorious Falcons only have one senior on the roster so watch out for them next season.
D3: Montgomery (San Diego) 24-6
Defeated Granite Hills (El Cajon) 57-40. The Aztecs knocked out top seed San Diego High in the semifinals.
D4: Palo Verde Valley (Blythe) 21-9
Defeated Central (El Centro) 47-43. The Yellow Jackets and their title game opponent were the top two seeds in the bracket.
D5: Mar Vista (Imperial Beach) 12-12
Defeated Valhalla (El Cajon) 44-32. The Mariners took out No. 2 seed High Tech San Diego in the semifinals and then beat top seed Valhalla in the final.
The Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth girls basketball team has won many CIF state titles, but Saturday’s win in Anaheim over Etiwanda was the program’s first in the CIF Southern Section Open Division. Photo: Harold Abend / Cal-Hi Sports.
More Southern Section Girls
D1: Lutheran (Orange) 23-7
Defeated Marlborough (Los Angeles) 63-45. The Lancers used a stifling zone defense to win going away to capture their first section D1 title, although it was the program’s second consecutive after winning in 2AA last season. Junior guard Shea Jono led Orange Lutheran with 17 points, including 4-of-8 from outside the arc, while senior Princess Cassell added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
D2AA: La Salle (Pasadena) 29-3
Defeated Hart (Newhall) 63-54. Kaden Cordes had 21 points and Casey Higgins had 18 for the Lancers, who won their second straight CIFSS title (this time in D2AA after moving up from D3AA). They now will be looking to make their second straight trip to the state finals after losing in the D2 final last season to Oakland Tech.
D2A: Brentwood (Los Angeles) 27-6
Defeated Leuzinger (Lawndale) 79-66. The Eagles got hot from the three-point line and won the program’s first CIFSS title after several deep runs in different divisions in recent years. They had five players in double-figures.
D3AA: Flintridge Prep (La Canada) 29-2
Defeated Los Osos (Rancho Cucamonga) 68-52. Princeton commit Ashley Chea paved the way for the Wolves with 24 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. She did have to sit for a long time in the first half due to foul trouble, but her teammates kept the team in the game.
D3A: Rancho Christian (Temecula) 25-6
Defeated Chino 91-29. Unfortunate score aided in part by Chino not have its leading scorer due to an injury suffered during practice a few days ago. Still, it’s a first section title at RC for head coach Marlon Wells, who had some from before in the San Diego Section. Aaliyah Stanton was just about on her scoring average to lead the Lions with 30 points.
D4AA: Rialto 28-2
Defeated Buena Park 46-44. This team is close to being unbeaten but this was a nail-biter. Carrington Davis had been one of the state’s leading scorers all season and had 27 points.
D4A: Notre Dame Academy (Los Angeles) 19-7
Defeated Oakwood (North Hollywood) 47-46. Sophia Petro sank the game-winning shot for the Royal Gryphons after Oakwood had taken its first lead of the game with just 19.7 seconds left. Freshman Jamie Lac led them in scoring with 18 points.
D5AA: St. Margaret’s (SJ Capistrano) 27-6
Defeated Gahr (Cerritos) 44-33. It is the first-ever section crown for this school. Kaitlin Tam almost had a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
D5A: Oak Park 20-11
Defeated St. Monica (Santa Monica) 76-41. Routs were the norm for the Eagles in this bracket. They won by an average margin of victory of 41 points.
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.
