Spencer Rust (left) is a senior center for Monte Vista of Danville. Arica Carter is a senior point guard for Long Beach Poly. Rust has a GPA well over 4.0 and will attend MIT. Carter will play next at NCAA powerhouse Louisville. Photos: Willie Eashman & Harold Abend.
J.W. North boys didn’t play last week but jump up from No. 13 to No. 10 due to owning wins over three teams playing for CIF state titles this week. For the girls, we couldn’t quite get either Archbishop Mitty or Modesto Christian into the State Top 20, so one or both may have to win CIF state crowns this week for that to happen.
Check below for this week’s new list of the State Top 20 boys and girls basketball rankings.
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
On the eve of the CIF state championship games coming up on Friday and Saturday at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, there are two newcomers to this week’s Cal-Hi Sports’ State Top 20, including Chaminade of West Hills, which advanced to the CIF Division III state final on a dramatic buzzer-beating half-court shot.
There are actually some teams that lost last week in regional playoff games that actually move up in the rankings because in some cases it took overtime for a higher ranked team to beat them or because they competed in the NorCal or SoCal Open Division bracket.
All teams that have reached the CIF state finals deserve immense credit and respect, but some of them just don’t deserve to be ranked ahead of others from higher-ranked divisions (especially the Open Division) – at least not yet.
(Compiled by Ronnie Flores with assistance from Mark Tennis; updated through games played Saturday, March 15; previous rating in parentheses)
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 34-0
2. (2) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 28-4
3. (5) Etiwanda 27-5
4. (6) Centennial (Corona) 29-3
5. (3) Chino Hills 29-6
6. (8) Monte Vista (Danville) 31-1
7. (7) Capital Christian (Sacramento) 28-4
8. (12) Westchester (Los Angeles) 30-7
9. (4) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) 25-6
10. (13) J.W. North (Riverside) 26-2*
11. (11) Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) 27-6
12. (9) Loyola (Los Angeles) 27-4
13. (14) Folsom 32-2
14. (16) St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 22-11
15. (NR) Chaminade (West Hills) 26-6
16. (20) Cantwell-Sacred Heart (Montebello) 23-9
17. (10) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 29-4
18. (15) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 27-5
19. (NR) El Camino Real (Woodland Hills) 25-7
20. (18) Modesto Christian (Modesto) 24-9
*Forfeit loss or forfeit losses not included
Dropped Out: Previous No. 17 Cathedral (Los Angeles); No. 19 Serra (Gardena).
Alli Brown of Mater Dei executes a pump fake to get Kat Tudor of St. Mary’s to jump almost on top of her during West Coast Jamboree Platinum Division final. Photo: Willie Eashman.
NEW GIRLS BASKETBALL
TOP 20 OVERALL RANKINGS
Going into the CIF Open Division regional semifinals last Tuesday, all remaining teams were from either the CIF Southern Section or CIF North Coast Section. That also represented the top eight ranked teams in the state – and the way it shakes out that’s exactly who the top eight will probably stay for the final rankings.
Stockton St. Mary’s and Bishop O’Dowd will also likely stay put, but after that the final rankings for next could be wide open for change, not so much if Salesian were to upset Long Beach Poly in the Open Division state final but most definitely if either Canyon Springs, Chaminade or Sierra Canyon were to get shocked in their games.
If Pleasant Grove, Archbishop Mitty and Modesto Christian all lost in CIF state finals, one NorCal team that could move up into the State Top 20 next week is Pinewood of Los Altos Hills. The Panthers would have to win the D5 state final, but they’d get to 30-3 and then would have a case to be in front of CIF Central Coast Section Open Division champ St. Ignatius despite a head-to-head loss.
(Compiled by Harold Abend with assistance from Mark Tennis; updated through games played Saturday, March 22; previous rating in parentheses)
1. (3) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 26-3
2. (1) Windward (Los Angeles) 25-3
3. (2) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 27-3
4. (5) Salesian (Richmond) 30-6
5. (7) Etiwanda 22-7
6. (4) St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 27-8
7. (8) Miramonte (Orinda) 30-2
8. (6) Carondelet (Concord) 28-4
9. (9) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 25-5*
10. (10) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 23-4
11. (12) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 28-4
12. (11) Serra (Gardena) 25-6
13. (13) Chaminade (West Hills) 28-4
14. (16) Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) 24-6
15. (14) Bishop Alemany (Mission Hills) 24-8*
16. (15) Bishop’s (La Jolla) 27-6
17. (17) Clovis West (Fresno) 27-4
18. (18) Troy (Fullerton) 24-8
19. (19) Hanford 26-4
20. (NR) Camarillo 28-5
*Forfeit loss or forfeit losses not included
Dropped Out: Previous No. 20 Enterprise (Redding).
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
