Preseason Girls BB Ranks (16-40)

Last season’s CIF D3 and D2 state champions from Caruthers and Harvard-Westlake both have enough returning players to make them among the top 40 to watch in the state this season. Photos: @CIFState / X.com & The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle.

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16. (27) Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) 21-7

We already had McClatchy ranked ahead of Pinewood when the Panthers were awarded the top seed in the CIF Northern Regional Division I playoffs and McClatchy was the No. 16 seed, so to us it wasn’t a total shocker when they lost 66-64 in the first round. Based on that, some may wonder how head coach Doc Scheppler and his girls can move up from last season. Here’s how. First off, McClatchy should not have been a 16th seed. Both teams are returning a load of talent and with McClatchy moving up the closeness of the loss moves up Pinewood as well, but the Panthers did lose leading scorer Alex Facelo so they are still a bunch of teams between the Panthers and McClatchy. Still, based on what Scheppler has in his arsenal, they flip with Acalanes. The solid core of returners starts with three seniors, Southern Utah-bound-bound Vallory Kuelker (12.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 77 three-pointers), Bowdoin-committed Katherine Garr (11.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and Jolyn Ding (9.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg), and junior Caitlyn Kramer (7.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 5.0 apg). Other returners include seniors Christina Tanase and Gabby Yang. Scheppler is excited about three freshman, Elliott Ososki, Sloane Parenti and Abigail Yew. A transfer from San Jose Leland that was its leading scorer last season and will be eligible in January is 6-foot junior Andrianna Wilkinson. Despite losing the 118 three-pointers from Facelo, Scheppler, who will enter this season No. 7 all-time in coaching wins with 734 according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, says this will be his best shooting team ever, and that’s saying a lot. Pinewood will be at the Iolani Classic in Hawaii in mid-December.

Pinewood’s Vallory Kuelker made 10 of 12 shots from beyond the three-point line during a game last season. Photo: 49ers Cal-Hi Sports.

Most of the sources and coaches we talked to in Orange County, and including the Orange County Register, had this small Anaheim school as the No. 3 team in the county, and even so an astronomical jump from what would have been a bubble if we had one seems like a big stretch, but head coach and De La Salle (Concord) alum Josh Lozano has everyone back, including the top three-point shooter in Orange County plus an impact transfer. The top returner is junior guard Adyra Rajan. She connected on 113 three-pointers shooting 38 percent behind the arc and averaged 20.2 points and 8.1 rebounds a game. Another top returner is Sarah Aldeguer (12.3 ppg, 9.2 rpg), a 6-foot-3 junior forward in her second year at Fairmont Prep after coming to California from France. Another returner Lozano said shows improvement is junior wing Lesina Afu. The impact transfer is 6-foot junior Maria Mejia. She left Orangewood Academy (which was No. 23 in last season’s final expanded rankings) after the school dropped sports. She averaged 9.1 points and was not the leading scorer but sources told us she was the team’s best player. The Huskies open at the Troy tournament but soon thereafter they play consecutive games against Mater Dei, Stockton St. Mary’s and Bishop Montgomery. Every analyst and coach we talked to agree this is where Fairmont Prep needs to be, and Lozano is not dodging anyone.

18. (36) Rancho Christian (Temecula) 18-8

It took a while for head coach Marlon Wells to get things going last season at Rancho Christian as it took until December 27 for him to have enough players to field a team. It started out strong with a win over a Corona Santiago team that finished No. 24 in the final rankings, but having just enough players to field a team including some that Wells says were JV level took its toll on the team and it dropped after the season was ended in the CIF Southern Section playoffs with s loss to Moreno Valley. That was then and this is now. Wells has a full roster and has been blowing up teams in SoCal fall ball. The team is led by Gonzaga-bound 5-foot-10 senior wing Julia Wilson, who averaged 16.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists last season. Alyson Boyd, a junior wing that Wells feels will play D1 ball, averaged 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds a game. Utah State-bound Bella Cosme (11.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.5 apg, 2.9 spg) is the third top returner. There’s no more short-handedness either as Wells has 11 players including a freshman wing he really likes, Naomi Kemle. Wells will have the Eagles playing in the La Jolla Country Day Sweet 16 the first week of December opening with San Diego Westview. It’s a huge jump up but it looks like Wells has the pieces in place, so we’ll see if the Eagles can make some noise.

19. (19) La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla) 26-8

At the beginning of last season, head coach Terri Bamford had national recruit Tajanna Roberts and Naomi Panganiban in her arsenal, but Roberts transferred and that left Panganiban and others to carry the load. The girls played hard and had a runner-up finish in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division, and then won two games in the CIF Southern Regional Division I playoffs before falling 74-60 to eventual state champion Bishop Montgomery. Panganiban is off to San Diego State but Bamford has a solid set of returners and some newcomers to boot. The two top returners are the junior duo of 5-foot-10 Mei-Ling Perry (13.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and 5-foot-11 Mahlia Washington (7.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg). Two other returners that are producers are junior Safiyah Sugapong (6.9 ppg) and Atlanta Bass-Sulipizio. Role players include 6-foot-1 junior Jet Walton, the niece of the late Bill Walton, 6-foot-4 center Isabelle Miller and senior guard Erin Sicari. Bamford, who comes into the season with 722 career coaching wins and needs four to pass Jay Trousdale (725 wins at Poway, 1988-2022) as the all-time leader in the CIF San Diego Section, always has newcomers that seem to develop. This year’s freshmen are Aoki Perry, Kennedy Walton and Lucia Wright. Bamford will once again be hosting the La Jolla Country Day Sweet 16 in early December.

20. (NR) Windward (Los Angeles) 20-7

First-year head coach Rachel Schrote had the Wildcats in the rankings last season but they dropped out near the end, and after looking over their competitive equity resume possibly they should have still been ranked. The last three losses were twice to Brentwood and then the season was ended in a CIF Southern Section playoff loss to a Harvard-Westlake team they had beaten earlier in the season. Skye Belker is gone and at Princeton but based on who Schrote returns and who is coming in, every analyst and coach in Southern California we talked to say this group is deserving of a top 20 ranking. The top returner is Samari Bankhead. The University of Central Florida-committed senior has been considered one of the top players in Southern California since she laced them up for Windward. Another solid contributing returner is senior Laurel Hinds. Those two are a solid core but it’s two newcomers that have everyone’s mouth watering. Amel Cook, a 5-foot-11 guard was one of only three freshmen along with Sydney “Bean” Douglas and Tatianna Griffin of Etiwanda to make the ESPNW list of the top 25 incoming freshmen in the nation. The other incoming freshman to raise some eyebrows is Shilo Johnson, the daughter of UCLA Hall of Famer and former LA Lakers star Marques Johnson. The Wildcats open on Thursday with Sage Hill.

21. (20) St. Anthony (Long Beach) 25-8

Despite winning the CIF Southern Section 2AA championship over Moreno Valley, the Saints only received the No. 10 seed in the first round of the CIF Southern Regional Division I playoff and they drew a No. 7 seed Brentwood that should have been higher, and they played well before bowing out with a 66-59 loss. Like a lot of teams at this stage of the rankings and beyond, St. Anthony had some questionable losses last season, but they also had some very solid wins to a couple teams raked ahead of them, St. Joseph (Santa Maria) and Corona Centennial. Head coach Ray Bennett lost some scoring punch but has two solid returners in senior guard Kadence Lloyd, who was second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game and first in rebounding at 7.8 per contest, and junior Laila Hughes (7.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.9 spg, 2.2 apg). Two other players to look for are senior Anaya Tunu (5.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and sophomore Ava Washington.

Cydnee Bryant had an outstanding sophomore season for Corona Centennial. Photo: Mark Tennis.

The Huskies were off the radar screen after an abysmal 0-4 start last season and although they took some additional losses they played well against some higher ranked teams like Bishop Montgomery and Carondelet, and they went 7-0 in the Big VIII League with two wins over a crosstown archrival Santiago team that had some upset wins themselves. In the end, despite having double-digit losses, Centennial was sent to the CIF Southern Section Open Division based on a who-beat-who win over an Orangewood Academy that has dropped sports. As expected, they lost all three games to Etiwanda, Ontario Christian and Bishop Montgomery, and then as the No. 6 seed in the CIF Southern Regional Division I playoffs they were upset by Moreno Valley. The Huskies lose some talent but they have some solid returners in senior Tierra Taylor and junior Cydnee Bryant, plus others. Bryant can be a real force up front and can shoot from the perimeter.

23. (26) Acalanes (Lafayette) 26-6

It’s at this stage of the rankings that it becomes a lot about returners since the teams that were ranked ahead of Acalanes don’t have what head coach Margaret Gartner returns. Gartner, who joined the 600-career win club last season and has 609 victories despite taking a six year hiatus, returns everyone including seniors Dulci Vail and Karyss Lancanlale. Another reason for the bump up is standout senior combo guard Sophie Chinn should be back from an injury. The early non-league schedule is not that terribly tough other than Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) but we’ll see what they do in tournament play and at the SI20 Sabrina Ionescu Showcase.

24. (10) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 28-3

The Taissa “Tissa” Queiroz era at Cardinal Newman was exciting but short as one of if not the top player to ever grace the Redwood Empire will be graduating early and taking her game to North Carolina. Because of that, head coach Monica Mertle and her Cardinals have to start out quite a bit lower but the team still has some solid talent, and a newcomer Mertle has high hopes for. Senior sharpshooter and Santa Clara-committed Kate Schat is the top returner after nailing 118 three-pointers last season and averaging 18.6 points and 3.2 assists per game. Sophomore three-point specialist Macie Flores is back as is junior Valor Niginyalo. Mertle will have size with two freshmen and after Christmas she’ll have 6-foot senior forward and Sebastopol transfer Destin Emmert. One of the freshmen is 6-foot-3 Olivia Bush but the frosh player she’s most excited about and feels she has the potential to be an all-state freshman is 6-foot-2 Saundra Jordan, who is already getting D1 college interest.

25. (8) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 26-6

St. Mary’s got hit with a double whammy after the end of last season. First, the Rams lost McDonald’s All-American Jordan Lee and her phenomenal play and double-double stats, who is now at Texas. Then, Kori Rogers, a promising sophomore guard who was one of the top freshmen in the state last season, suffered a knee injury that will cost her this season. The result is head coach Alle Moreno and her Rams have to take a significant drop to start this season. Moreno will still have some solid returners, but they are going to have to carve a niche to move up. They include senior guard Nyah Buntun, junior Mia Jamias, plus several others. A notable addition is 6-foot-4 junior Evelini Smith. She played eight games at Antelope (9.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) as a freshman, and then transferred and sat out her sophomore season. A newcomer Moreno likes is freshman Amani Rafiq. If this teams gels with Smith down low, the Rams could make some noise. They’ll be at the LJCD Sweet 16 and open with Mission Hills. St. Mary’s will also be at the Nike TOC and West Coast Jamboree.

26. (NR) Francis Parker (San Diego) 23-10

Every SoCal source and coach we spoke to agreed with our assessment after seeing this young team during the off season and it’s head coach and former Long Beach Millikan, Arizona and WNBA standout Courtney Clements, and what she’s building in her short time at the helm of the Lancers. Sure, Mission Hills and La Jolla Country Day are on top, bu it could be a three-team race in the CIF San Diego Section with Francis Parker as the third team. Clements lost one senior role player but everyone else is back. The top returner is 6-foot sophomore Brieana Brown. She averaged a double-double 14.9 points and 11.5 rebounds last season. Other major contributors include juniors Kaitlyn Raagas (12.0 ppg) and Kaia Desmond (8.6 ppg) and sophomore Gigi Ong (7.2 ppg) plus several other role players. With such a young team, Parker started a little slow last season but early on they did have a win over an Orangewood Academy team that had a win over CIFSS Open qualifier Corona Centennial. After a big loss to Sierra Canyon, the Lancers went 12-3 with two losses to La Jolla Country Day and a final loss in the CIF D3 SoCals on the road at Bakersfield Christian. We’ll get a good idea of what Clements has as they open with Etiwanda at the Harvard-Westlake Invitational in Studio City this week. They’re also at the La Jolla Country Day Sweet 16 and the Stockton St. Mary’s MLK Showcase.

27. (28) Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) 19-18

The Wolverines had an abysmal start last season and from there it was a checkered season all the way for head coach Melissa Hearlihy, but in the end the Harvard-Westlake girls got it together to win the CIF Division II state championship with an impressive 60-45 victory over Colfax. Hearlihy has now retired as the No. 2 all time winningest coach in state history according the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, but Hearlihy is pretty much the only factor not returning for a Wolverines team that will now have head coach Alex Nailes at the helm. Nailes inherits a team with everyone returning led by senior guard Deana Thompson. She averaged 16.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Other returning top producers include junior Valentina Guerrero (11.4 ppg, 7.9 rpg) and sophomore Angelina Habis, who averaged 10.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Harvard-Westlake opens hosting its own invitational and meets Corona Centennial.

Sharpshooting guard Liv Yergensen from Oak Ridge has signed with the University of Pacific. Cal. Photo: @OakRidgeWBB / Twitter.com.

The No. 3 team from the Sacramento metro area was young last season and it showed as they had some questionable losses, but even so they drew the No. 3 seed in the CIF Northern Regionals and they defeated Portola Valley Priory and Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) before bowing out 58-50 in the semifinals to eventual NorCal D1 champion Bishop O’Dowd. Head coach Stephen White has consistently had competitive teams, and this year’s senior laden team has eight seniors on the 14-player roster led by standout Liv Yergensen. An early test will be when Oak Ridge plays Brentwood at the Nike Central Valley Showdown at Clovis West, and Etiwanda is on the schedule as well. Those are the types of games Oak Ridge needs to toughen up for the Sierra Foothill League and the playoffs.

29. (17) St. Joseph (Santa Maria) 24-7

The Avery Cain era at St. Joseph came to an end and she’s at UCLA, but in her time in Santa Maria she got the Knights girls up the stepladder of the rankings all four years with last year the team’s highest finish ever. Cain will be impossible to replace, and second-leading scorer Kai Oani also graduated, but head coach Kristina Santiago has some solid returners and a couple of transfers that should make the team competitive this season. The top returner is junior 6-foot center Maava Sat. She will be asked to pick it up after averaging 9.9 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds last season. Another solid returner is junior Annalyssa Cota (8.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg. 3.5 apg, 3.2 spg). Senior Mia Matautia (6.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg) is the third top returner. Santiago has five other returners that could be contributors. Two sisters transferring from Arroyo Grande, senior guard Brooklyn Waldram and sophomore guard Ashlyn Waldram, will be eligible in January. Two other transfers may or may not play. St. Joseph opens on Thursday at the Harvard-Westlake tourney with a huge task right out of the box against Ontario Christian. In early December, the Knights face Windward in another huge test.

30. (12) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 27-3*

We realize it’s a huge drop for San Ramon Valley but that’s because the Wolves only have four returners and graduated eight seniors. This has been the case before, and head coach John Cristiano has always seemed to have players ready to step up. The top returners will be primary scorers Ella Gunderson and Carly Stern, who was injured for a majority of last season. Another contributing returner will be Hania Bowes, the younger of graduated leading scorer Sofia Bowes. An incoming freshman Cristiano feels will be a contributor is talented point guard Kaitlyn Mills. One of the big reasons we’re holding the Wolves around this spot is in January standout junior guard Alyssa Rudd will be eligible. She was one of the higher rated incoming juniors in the Girls of Summer Rankings, and last season at Danville Monte Vista she averaged 22.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Two of the four major events the Wolves will be in are the SoCal Holiday Classic in San Diego and the Stockton St. Mary’s MLK Showcase.

31. (30) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 18-11

Like a lot of teams at this stage of the rankings the Wildcats were fairly inconsistent last season. They did play a pretty tough schedule and they were able to avenge two losses in league to crosstown arch rival Sacred Heart Cathedral in the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs and even though they won the third meeting they still finished behind their rivals. Still, based on who they return and that 61-46 win over the Fightin Irish, we’re going to start them ahead of Sacred Heart Cathedral. The top returners include junior Sophia Sanchez (14 ppg), junior Hayley McGee (9 ppg, 10 rpg), junior forward Julia Alcantara, who was injured last year but looked good during the summer, and senior Meagan Manning. Two returning role players are junior Mary Ennis and 6-foot-2 senior Anna O’Shaughnessy. A newcomer head coach Maya Fok likes and caught our eye during the Girls of Summer Rankings is flashy freshman guard Lucca “Lulu” Giometti. St. Ignatius is in the Marin Catholic tournament and then in late December it will go to the San Diego Sun ‘N Slam tourney.

32. (27) Sacred Heart Cathedral (SF) 23-5

The Fightin Irish were like a bit of a roller coaster last season. They started out in a similar spot at No. 30 in the preseason rankings last year but early on got all the way up to No. 14 and were holding tight until a loss to a crosstown arch-rival St. Ignatius team they had beaten twice in league in the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs. That dropped them a bunch, but head coach Demetrius Jackson finished strong with a win over Richmond Salesian as the No. 5 seed in the CIF D1 NorCals before bowing out, 62-58, in a game they gave eventual runner-up Carondelet all it could handle. Senior point guard Reza Po is off to New Mexico but head coach Demetrius Jackson has some solid returners including seniors Maddie Eade and Monet Oliver, plus others. Sacred Heart Cathedral opens with Carondelet in late November and that should give us an indication of what they have this season.

Rosie Santos sparked JSerra to a deep postseason run in 2024 and returns as one of state’s top Class of 2028 players. Photo: @JSerraAthletics / X.com.

With so many transfers, a couple of teams we had from Orange County in the final expanded rankings last season lost top players and dropped down in the initial rankings of the Orange County Register to start this season. One of the risers is JSerra. We wanted to get one more team from Orange County into the mix, and although the Lions were No. 5 in the Register’s pecking order we like them a little better as the No. 4 team from OC for a few reasons. Granted, they didn’t win a game in the Trinity League last season, but third-year head coach Chyanne Butler, a Playa del Rey St. Bernard star a decade ago who went on to the University of Houston, has been building a program and returns everyone from last year’s squad. They’re still young with only one senior, 6-foot-3 center Lindsay Tambwe, but they now have twin towers with the addition of 6-foot-2 sophomore forward Vivian Grenald. She averaged 13.2 points for Orangewood Academy last season but when that school dropped sports, she came over to JSerra. Another sophomore transfer that will have to sit out until after Christmas is 5-foot-10 Kayla Rice. She was the leading scorer and rebounder last year at Dana Hills of Dana Point. Of those returning, all-state freshman Rosie Santos had some huge outings in the playoffs last season and should be even better. The Lions have already opened with a win over Yorba Linda and now face Mark Keppel of Alhambra at the Irvine Portola Tourney.

34. (38) Colfax 34-3

The girls from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains won 30-plus games for the second straight year and had the same 34-3 record as from 2022 when they were the CIF Division III runner-up. Last year, the Falcons won the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 4 championship and were seeded No. 4 in Division II for the Northern Regional playoffs. They won two close games and then faced No. 3 seed Pleasant Valley (Chico) in the NorCal D2 title game and came away with a 52-48 victory. In the CIF Division II state championship, Colfax gave Harvard-Westlake all it could handle, trailing only 42-40 entering the fourth quarter before running out of gas and falling, 60-45. The good news for Colfax fans is all four double-digit scorers return led by senior Juliette James (13.6 ppg, 9.6 rpg) plus junior Madalyn Sigrist (13.4 ppg) and seniors Kaia Diederichs (12.5 ppg) and Laurlyn Massick (10.5 ppg). Will this be a third-straight 30-win season and will Colfax shed the bridesmaid’s title?

35. (NR) Pleasant Valley (Chico) 26-8

When the Vikings lost to Colfax in the CIF Northern Regional Division II championship at the time they were the top D2 team in the Cal-Hi Sports divisional rankings, and while we are starting them directly behind Colfax for the preseason rankings, with the talent they return look for them to be at or near the top of D2 rankings once again. Over the summer, playing as the Chico Tarheels with all but two players from Pleasant Valley, they were the top team and turned some heads at the EOT Summer Finale in Roseville. The top returner is Cal-Hi Sports Division II State Player of the Year and CSU Northridge-bound senior guard Aiiyana “AJ” Gambol. She averaged 19.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game last season. Other returners that were impressive in Roseville were senior 5-foot-10 forward Ava Dunn, senior three-point shooters Nyah Fortune, who didn’t play last year, and Shannon Fong. Another player that looked and to watch for that missed almost all of last season is junior forward Paige Kennedy.

36. (40) Caruthers 25-8

Based on the fact that State Coach of the Year Anna Almeida returns every major contributor and only lost two seniors to graduation, the Blue Raiders get to come in a little higher then the final spot they secured in last season’s final rankings. Some may argue how a D3 can be ranked with teams with higher competitive equity resumes, but remember not only did Caruthers win the CIF Division III state championship with a 54-48 victory, the team did that coming from a No. 14 seed in the CIF D3 NorCals, meaning every game was on the road and they were road weary once they got to Sacramento. Along the way, Caruthers defeated No. 2 seed and at the time defending CIF D2 state champion Fresno Central, and in the NorCal D2 title game against a top-seeded University (San Francisco) that had wins over a state-ranked Riordan that had a win over state-ranked Acalanes and a split with state-ranked St. Ignatius, Caruthers came into historic Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco and left with a stunning 58-55 upset. The top returners are junior Emmi Almeida and sophomore post Jaylee Moore, but Coach Almeida has a lot more as well.

37. (NR) Oak Park 22-8

We don’t do a bubble for the final rankings but in going down the others considered list we have from last season, and looking for the last few spots, and then discussing it with several coaches, more than one told us not to sleep on Oak Park and that the Eagles’ team that went 8-0 in the very solid Coastal Canyon League and would be the top team in Ventura County under the guidance of head coach Will Burr. Early on, Burr tested the young Eagles against top teams like Ontario Christian, Sage Hill and Bishop Montgomery, and they lost seven of their first eight games in tournament play with a couple of questionable losses, but they did have a win over Harvard-Westlake. After a loss to Mira Costa, they won 21 straight games and earned the top seed before Harvard-Westlake won the rubber match in the CIF Southern Regional D2 semifinals. All but two seniors return so Burr will have some solid talent.

Tylie Kitchen from Whitney of Rocklin had a strong all-around game in the SJS D2 final. She’s even better in softball and has signed with San Diego State. Photo: Mark Tennis.

After the best season in school history, the Wildcats stay in the mix but they have to drop a few spots from their final ranking from last season. The big reason for that is the departure of Harper Peterson who is now at Stanford. Peterson (14.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg) will be almost impossible to replace but Whitney only loses one other senior and all the other top scorers are back, as well as the leading rebounder and third leading scorer senior Tylie Kitchen (10.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg). Second leading scorer and senior combo guard Kendall Dykstra (11.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg) returns as does junior Natalia Benavidez, who averaged 10 points but only saw limited action. Others are going to have to step up to fill the void, but Whitney should be solid and still garners a spot in the preseason rankings. The Wildcats open with Roseville Woodcreek.

39. (31) Archbishop Riordan
(San Francisco) 17-11

Despite splitting in league with St. Ignatius and having a win over Acalanes in the CIF D1 NorCals, the Crusaders have to fall in behind their cross-town West Catholic Athletic League rivals due to the fact they had three losses to a Sacred Heart Cathedral team St. Ignatius beat in the playoffs. Flashy point guard Ashanti Dias has graduated along with just one other senior, so look for head coach Will Watkins to continue to build a fairly new program that is only going to be into its fifth season. We still like what Watkins has done in developing talent, so we are going to stick with the Crusaders and see what develops

40. (32) Lynwood 18-12

It’s not like the old days of glory when Lynwood was on top of the California girls basketball world having won four state championships including two straight in 2002-03 in Division I, but head coach Ellis Barfield always has solid talent and there is no question he can coach them up because he’s proven it since 1992 with 678 career victories to start the season. All the Knights’ losses last season other than Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) were to teams ranked ahead of them or out of state ranked teams, and they had a win over state-ranked Corona Centennial. Barfield loses some top scorers but players to look for are junior Shanilah Ewing and seniors Skyy Simmons and Zaliyah Castillo. There were a few other teams considered for the final spot but we decided to go with wily veteran Barfield and his Knights’ girls.

25 More Teams To Watch

Bakersfield Christian 28-8
Birmingham (Lake Balboa) 25-7
Buena (Ventura) 22-6
Buena Park 22-11
Clovis 18-4
Esperanza (Anaheim) 25-5
Hart (Newhall) 22-6
Lakewood 27-7
Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 20-10
Lutheran (Orange) 21-9
Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 21-11
Monache (Porterville) 31-3
Oakland Tech (Oakland) 18-12*
Portola (Irvine) 23-6
Rialto 26-4
Rosary (Fullerton) 19-9
Salesian (Richmond) 21-11
San Clemente 22-8
San Juan Hills (SJ Capistrano) 19-11
San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno) 19-8
Santiago (Corona) 22-13
Vanden (Fairfield) 23-9
Ventura 26-5
Westlake (Westlake Village) 18-7
Westview (San Diego) 19-12

To check out the teams we ranked from No. 1 to No. 15, CLICK HERE.

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