After spending so much time this week on our projections for the upcoming CIF NorCal and SoCal regional playoffs, we were late to get out this week’s State Stat Stars. We don’t want to forget any performance that has come to our attention, however, so here’s a few from girls basketball for the previous week.
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Cal-Hi Sports Insider Blog
Quick-hitting, behind-the-scenes news and notes from the CalHiSports.com staff, including previews of upcoming content and events.
Girls BB State Stat Stars of the Week
Team IP & Cal-Hi Sports
For attendees to the late February Max Miller’s Clinic of Champions in Reno and to our many viewers, we are beginning a partnership with Team IP and hope you can help it grow by visiting their website for amazing deals on school-branded apparel.
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Super 8 Girls BB State Ranks Update
There are no new teams in this week’s Super 8, but immediately afterward there are a lot with upsets in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs. The top five in our Super 8 also are top seeded in five different top divisions of various section playoffs.
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Super 8 Boys State Rankings Update
No. 1 Sierra Canyon avoids being a stunning upset victim in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs, but previous No. 7 Alemany does not. Joining the Super 8 therefore is previous No. 9 Sheldon of Sacramento.
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Kelsey Plum nears NCAA career record
La Jolla Country Day grad and former Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year moves to within 78 points of NCAA women’s record that was set in 2001.
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Super 8 Girls BB State Ranks Update
Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa and Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco both move up into the top eight and there’s now just one CIF Southern Section team in the top eight.
NOTE: Our updated State Top 20 with expanded writeups of the first eight teams plus the next 12 and lists of many other teams on the bubble will be posted each week but will require Gold Club membership to see for the rest of the season. Our breakdowns and analysis of what’s coming up and what’s already happened can’t be matched anywhere else because we’ve been following the statewide scene years and years longer than any other media source. For sign up info, CLICK HERE.
(After games of Saturday, Feb. 11)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
1. (1) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 20-2
It was a two-win week in the always tough West Catholic Athletic League for the Monarchs but head coach Sue Phillips and her girls nearly stubbed their toes in a 71-65 win at Mountain View St. Francis in a game where they rallied from a 56-53 deficit after three quarters.
Khayla Rooks doesn’t have the huge scoring stats of others in the San Diego Section this season, but her leadership of top team still may get her Player of the Year consideration. Photo: Harold Abend.
2. (2) Clovis West (Fresno) 26-2
The Golden Eagles weren’t expected to break a sweat in Tri-Valley Athletic Conference games against Clovis Buchanan and Clovis East and they didn’t after beating the pair by a 183-42 combined score.
3. (3) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 21-3
The Jackrabbits’ two wins in Moore League games over Cabrillo of Long Beach and Compton last week were by an even greater combined score than what No. 2 Clovis West experienced in its two wins.
4. (4) Mission Hills (San Marcos) 24-2
The only thing notable last week in two Avocado–East League wins was the fact the Grizzlies scored 102 points in both victories over Oceanside El Camino and Oceanside.
5. (5) Carondelet (Concord) 21-4
The East Bay Athletic League is a little tougher than some leagues so the Cougars’ two win last week were still blowouts but not as bad as others.
6. (6) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 21-3
While teams above them other than Mitty had cakewalks in league action, the Dragons hosted a still formidable Stockton St. Mary’s that’s likely still better than many ranked teams and came away with a hard-fought but decisive 71-63 victory.
7. (9) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 23-3
The Cardinals move up with a sound resume that includes a solid 54-36 victory over a Chaminade team that has a win over a Harvard-Westlake team that just pinned a loss on previous No. 8 Alemany.
8. (10) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 14-7
The Irish also benefit from the who-beat-who syndrome in the south, moving up this week while previous No. 7 Sierra Canyon and previous No. 8 Alemany dropped a few spots.
Super 8 Boys BB State Ranks Update
No changes in this week’s Super 8, but the race for top seeds in section playoffs has begun with Sierra Canyon getting it in the insanely loaded CIF Southern Section Open Division and Birmingham of Lake Balboa getting it in the L.A. City Section. We think it should be Woodcreek in the Sac-Joaquin, but it may go to Sacramento Sheldon instead.
NOTE: Our updated State Top 20 with lists of many other teams on the bubble will be posted each week but will require Gold Club membership to see for the rest of the season. Our breakdowns and analysis of what’s coming up and what’s already happened can’t be matched anywhere else because we’ve been following the statewide scene years and years longer than any other media source. For sign up info, CLICK HERE.
(Through games of Saturday Feb. 11; Previous ranking in parentheses)
1. (1) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 25-1
As expected, Sierra Canyon was awarded the No. 1 seed in the rugged CIFSS Open Division playoffs and opens with 20-7 and state rank bubble club Heritage Christian of Northridge.
2. (2) Chino Hills 27-1
Lost in the hoopla of LaMelo Ball’s 92 points vs. Los Osos was that teammate Eli Scott got a triple-double with 29 points, 17 rebounds and 14 assists. Huskies start CIFSS Open Division as No. 2 seed and will play 17-9 JSerra of San Juan Capistrano.
Junior big man Bol Bol dunks in one of his first games for No. 4 Mater Dei. Photo: BallisLife.com.
3. (3) Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) 23-2
The Knights only had one game last week to close out the regular season and came away with an easy 103-45 victory over Cathedral of Los Angeles.
4. (4) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 28-1
The Monarchs closed out the regular season with coach Gary McKnight winning his 29th consecutive league title and 34th in his 35 years as head coach. They also were seeded ahead of Bishop Montgomery at No. 3 in the CIFSS Open Division playoffs.
5. (5) Woodcreek (Roseville) 23-2
Yes, the Timberwolves had trouble at Granite Bay last week in a 69-60 win, but the team they are battling for the top seed in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs, Sheldon of Sacramento, also had trouble in a four-point win vs. Grant.
6. (6) Birmingham (Lake Balboa) 24-3
After an easy win over El Camino Real, the Patriots earned the top seed in the L.A. City Section Open Division and will open the eight-team bracket against 15-16 Dorsey of Los Angeles.
7. (7) Alemany (Mission Hills) 24-3
In the CIFSS Open Division seedings, the Warriors were only No. 7 behind No. 5 Santa Margarita (our No. 10 team overall in the state) and No. 6 Roosevelt (see below). We’re still sticking with our order until proven otherwise on the court.
8. (8) Roosevelt (Corona) 18-6
Head coach Steve Singleton’s club finished unbeaten in a league that contains another CIFSS Open team (No. 14 Centennial of Corona) and did not lose to another unranked California opponent.
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All coaches and athletic directors who are fans of our content on CalHiSports.com should check out the safer fences for your school facilities that are available from our partners at SPECTO through their Grand Slam Safety fences campaign.
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Sonora’s Mike Murphy: 600th win
California’s exclusive club of boys basketball coaches to achieve 600 varsity wins improved by one last Thursday when Mike Murphy from Sonora of La Habra guided his team to a 77-48 triumph over Fullerton in the Raiders’ Freeway League finale.
For a look at the all-time state coaching leader list with every coach at 600 wins before the start of this season (Gold Club post), CLICK HERE.
The team had already wrapped up its fifth straight league title and improved to 25-3 heading into the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
It’s easy to get caught up in the Open Division teams in Southern California and lose sight of longtime coaches like Murphy, who are more than happy not to be dealing with the bigger spotlight at other schools but have just as big of an impact on their players’ lives as anyone.
Murphy, who began his career at now-closed Southern California Christian of Anaheim, is in his 27th season of coaching. He was the Orange County Register’s Coach of the Year after the 2014-15 season when Sonora went 29-5 and won the CIF Southern Section 3AA title.
In the win against Fullerton, Kevin Marlow led the way with 24 points and four assists. Making the 600th win more memorable for Murphy also was the fact that his son, Sean, is on this year’s team and posed for photos with his dad after the game with a banner that had been created to celebrate the milestone.
According to our own Cal-Hi Sports record book, Murphy is the 34th coach in state history to reach 600 wins. The last one to get there was Torrance Bishop Montgomery’s Doug Mitchell very early on last season. Mitchell just won his 650th game two weeks ago.
Next coming up to the 600 mark may be Craig Ashmore of Newark-Memorial. Based on results through Saturday, he has 578 career wins. Dave Kleckner of Etiwanda also is on the horizon. He has 559 wins, based on counting up wins after he won his 500th in his fifth game of the 2014-15 season.
Super 8 Girls BB State Ranks Update
There are no changes at the top of this week’s overall pecking order and some of the teams are winning by almost 100-point margins. That will change once the section playoffs get going, which are coming up fast.
NOTE: Our updated State Top 20 with expanded writeups of the first eight teams plus the next 12 and lists of many other teams on the bubble will be posted each week but will require Gold Club membership to see for the rest of the season. Our breakdowns and analysis of what’s coming up and what’s already happened can’t be matched anywhere else because we’ve been following the statewide scene years and years longer than any other media source. For sign up info, CLICK HERE.
(After games of Saturday, Feb. 4)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
1. (1) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 18-2
It was just another week at the office for head coach Sue Phillips and her girls in West Catholic Athletic League play after a rocking-chair 70-35 win at crosstown Presentation and another impressive win over Sacred Heart Cathedral, 82-62 in San Francisco, and remember, the Irish and Mitty are the only teams to beat Mission Hills.
Bishop O’Dowd guard Myah Pace is one of the top players in Northern California. Photo: Prep2Prep.com.
2. (2) Clovis West (Fresno) 24-2
Head coach Craig Campbell and his girls won by 25 points at Fresno Clovis North, by 21 points at Fresno Central and then went out of Tri-Rivers Athletic Conference play and put a running clock win on visiting Bakersfield Stockdale.
3. (3) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 18-3
The Jackrabbits blitzed cross-town Millikan in Moore League play and then posted a surprisingly easy 82-56 win over visiting Windward, although it was reported that that team wasn’t at full strength.
4. (4) Mission Hills (San Marcos) 22-2
After moving up one spot last week, there’s nowhere to go and likely won’t be for a while. Head coach Christopher Kroesch and his girls improved to 6-0 in Avocado – East League action after running-clock road wins at Vista Rancho Buena Vista and Vista.
5. (5) Carondelet (Concord) 18-4
The Cougars’ 62-54 win over Salesian probably is a better statement for that team, although it’s just very apparent that although teams like Carondelet and Mission Hills are very good, everyone after the top three teams has a lot of holes.
6. (6) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 18-3
The Dragons came up three spots last week but they can’t pass Carondelet since that team just beat a Salesian team that pinned a one-point loss on them. O’Dowd cruised to wins last week over Berkeley and Piedmont
7. (7) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 19-3
Not much to write home about this week with the only action a 92-point Gold Coast League win over Lancaster Paraclete.
8. (8) Alemany (Mission Hills) 20-5
There are few gimmes in the Mission League and a down West Hills Chaminade proved it by only allowing head coach Bryan Camacho and his girls a seven-point win on the road after Alemany won by 22 points at home.
