Players and coaches from San Joaquin Memorial of Fresno are shown after they capped fourth straight perfect run through their league. The Panthers upset top seed Folsom on Tuesday in the CIF NorCal D1 playoffs. Photo: @gbb_sjm2024 / X.com.
There’s almost always a big upset in any first round of the CIF north or south basketball playoffs, and there was a major one on Tuesday as NorCal D1 top seed Folsom was toppled in its first round game by San Joaquin Memorial of Fresno. Just like the boys, these first divisional rankings for the girls include adjustments from the State TOP 30 rankings that we released around 12 noon on the day of the first round. Beginning No. 1 teams are Ontario Christian (Open), Fairmont Prep of Anaheim (D1), Caruthers (D2), Immanuel of Reedley (D3), Liberty Ranch of Galt (D4) and Head-Royce of Oakland (D5).
FOR THE FIRST BOYS HOOPS DIVISION RANKINGS, CLICK HERE.
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NOTE: All results from regional first-round games played on Tuesday, March 4 are included.
*Indicates season complete.
**Indicates forfeit wins/losses not included in record.
***Indicates forfeits plus season complete.
OPEN DIVISION
(All 12 teams in order)
1. Ontario Christian 29-1
2. Etiwanda 25-5
3. Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 25-3
4. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 28-3
5. Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 27-2
6. Clovis West (Fresno) 32-0
7. Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) 21-5
8. Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) 23-4
9. San Ramon Valley (Danville) 27-3
10. Acalanes (Lafayette) 28-2
11. McClatchy (Sacramento) 24-6
12. Mission Hills (San Marcos) 23-8
Comments: There will be four games on Wednesday night for the first round of the Open Division. In the north, it will be McClatchy at Acalanes and Pinewood at San Ramon Valley. In the south, it will be Mission Hills at Sierra Canyon and Bishop Montgomery at Mater Dei. Bishop Montgomery being placed in the Open Division instead of D1 (the division that the Knights won the state title last season) was the biggest move made by the CIF on Sunday. Those first four in the CIF Southern Section have just been so much better than everyone else. On the other hand, the CIF took a fifth team up from the CIFSS to the Open last year (Sage Hill) so this move matched that one. All 12 teams have been ranked according to the same order that we had them in to start the week in our own State TOP 30 overall rankings.
Deana Thompson goes for two for Harvard-Westlake during 2024 CIF D2 state final vs Colfax. She was the leading scorer in this week’s win vs Francis Parker in the D1 playoffs. Photo: Willie Eashman.
DIVISION I
(Counting Tuesday results)
1. Fairmont Prep (Anaheim) 22-10
2. Windward (Los Angeles) 19-10
3. Carondelet (Concord) 25-6
4. Sage Hill (Newport Beach) 20-11
5. Rancho Christian (Temecula) 25-8
6. Brentwood (Los Angeles) 26-8
7. Moreno Valley 26-7
8. Clovis 25-8
9. Folsom 26-5*
10. Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 26-5
11. Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) 23-6
12. St. Mary’s (Stockton) 18-13
13. Priory (Portola Valley) 23-5
14. San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno) 23-6
15. Francis Parker (San Diego) 20-10*
16. La Jolla Country Day 17-11*
17. Piedmont 24-5
18. Oakland Tech (Oakland) 16-9
19. Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 20-8
20. Westview (San Diego) 21-9
Next: Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 19-9*, Hamilton (Los Angeles) 26-2*, Oak Park 21-4*, St. Joseph (Santa Maria) 22-8*
Comments: Teams down to No. 30 Hamilton in this week’s overall State TOP 30 (which were done before Tuesday’s first round) were all placed in the same order for this division, and then adjustments were made as the results on Tuesday came in. The biggest upset, of course, was NorCal top seed Folsom losing at home to San Joaquin Memorial, 84-74, in overtime. Alexa Perryman of the Panthers made a three-pointer off a turnover in the final seconds to force overtime and then SJM went on a run in the extra time. Folsom was the top seed for the Sac-Joaquin Section and was up at No. 8 overall in the state before falling in its section final to McClatchy. And now, just a couple of days later, its season is over. We did not drop the Bulldogs all the way down below SJM for these rankings based on the overall season that they had but put them behind Clovis (runner up in the same section as SJM) but in front of Cardinal Newman. Harvard-Westlake, the D2 state champ from last season, also had a quality win on Tuesday over Francis Parker and has been moved up in front of both St. Mary’s and Priory. There was no time to go over any of those moves with primary rankings compiler Harold Abend, but that will be done before the final rankings are released and there could be changes.
DIVISION II
1. Caruthers 22-6
2. Colfax 27-6
3. Sierra Pacific (Hanford) 24-8
4. Monache (Porterville) 23-8
5. California (San Ramon) 22-11
6. Palos Verdes (PV Estates) 21-11
7. Atwater 28-5
8. Salesian (Richmond) 21-10
9. Portola (Irvine) 18-15
10. Mark Keppel (Alhambra) 25-9
Next: Arroyo Grande 17-10, Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 20-9, El Capitan (Lakeside) 24-6, Grossmont (El Cajon) 22-5*, Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) 23-7, Redwood (Larkspur) 24-9, Sacred Heart Cathedral (SF) 15-13.
Comments: Since Monache was given the top seed in the south and lost to Sierra Pacific in the CIF Central Section finals, it was easy to rank Caruthers, Colfax and Sierra Pacific higher. Yes, we would have Colfax higher than Sierra Pacific despite the 2 and 3 seedings given the by CIF and despite Colfax having to perhaps travel to Hanford for the regional semifinals. The Falcons have won 34 games the past two seasons each and are looking to reach the CIF state finals for the third straight year. The biggest upset in Tuesday’s first round was South No. 2 Grossmont falling to Mark Keppel of Alhambra. Grossmont was in the D4 state final last season. Caruthers is looking to win the CIF D2 state title after winning it in D3 last season. The Blue Raiders recently lost assistant coach Larry Trigueiro at age 58 from a heart attack and we know a lot of folks in the Central Valley will be thinking about him as the team plays on.
DIVISION III
1. Immanuel (Reedley) 28-5
2. Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 22-11
3. Justin-Siena (Napa) 28-3
4. Shasta (Redding) 26-5
5. Palisades (Pacific Palisades) 16-15
6. Menlo School (Atherton) 19-8
7. El Camino Real (Woodland Hills) 14-14
8. Christian (El Cajon) 25-4
9. Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 23-8
10. Garfield (Los Angeles) 21-5
Next: Carlsbad 20-12, Chico 17-13, King-Drew (Los Angeles) 15-13, Mater Dei Catholic (Chula Vista) 18-13, Menlo-Atherton (Atherton) 20-8, Otay Ranch (Chula Vista) 26-6*, Ponderosa (Shingle Springs) 27-6*, St. Bernard’s (Eureka) 29-3*.
Comments: Just like the Palisades boys, the Palisades girls also were seeded No. 1 for the D3 SoCal playoffs. And also like the boys, it obviously would be great to see the Dolphins go far in the state playoffs. They do have a much lower computer ranking than teams like Immanuel, Marin Catholic, Justin-Siena and even Christian of El Cajon in the south. The team in the south that had the highest computer ranking prior to the first round was Otay Ranch, but the Mustangs were upset in the first round on Tuesday by King-Drew (another L.A. City Section team like Palisades). None of the top four seeded teams north or south lost in the first round. The game we were checking out the most was Menlo vs St. Bernard’s of Eureka since Menlo has won four CIF state titles in its history and St. Bernard’s was the 2024 D4 state champion. Menlo won, 54-51, and advanced to a quarterfinal matchup vs Marin Catholic. St. Bernard’s finished 29-3.
DIVISION IV
Haley Smith from Liberty Ranch of Galt celebrates after team won CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D4 title. Photo: X.com.
1. Liberty Ranch (Galt) 30-2
2. Half Moon Bay 20-7
3. Cantwell-Sacred Heart (Montebello) 23-8
4. Mills (Millbrae) 18-10
5. Whitney (Cerritos) 24-9
6. Rio Linda 28-4
7. Granada Hills Charter (GH) 17-13
8. Verdugo Hills 26-6
9. Gahr (Cerritos) 19-11
10. Marysville 24-8
Next: Castilleja (Palo Alto) 22-3, Lowell (San Francisco) 19-7, Riverbank 25-6*, Santa Ynez 18-11, Tesoro (Las Flores) 24-11, West Campus (Sacramento) 25-5.
Comments: After looking through all of the brackets on Sunday night, the team for the girls that we initially thought was the biggest favorite to win a state title was Liberty Ranch in D4. With a 30-2 record and led by D1 player Haley Smith, we just thought D3 or higher was likely. The Hawks weren’t upset in their first round game, but they only beat Colusa 41-37. They’ll have to play much better in the later rounds. The only top four seed to lose in the first round was Riverbank in the north. The Bruins fell to Castilleja of Palo Alto, 44-43, at home when Antonia Vlahos of the Gators made two free throws with 1.1 seconds left.
DIVISION V
1. Head-Royce (Oakland) 20-4
2. Rosamond 25-7
3. Summit Shasta (Daly City) 18-6
4. Woodland Christian 27-6
5. Kennedy (La Palma) 18-13
6. Trinity (Weaverville) 24-7
7. Hillcrest (Riverside) 22-6
8. Encinal (Alameda) 20-9
9. Orland 23-8
10. University Prep (Victorville) 17-8
Next: Durham 20-8, Gabrielino (San Gabriel) 19-10, Santa Ana 16-13, St. Pius X-St. Matthias (Downey) 24-8, Washington (San Francisco) 12-6.
Comments: All of the teams in the north tend to have much higher computer rankings than the teams in the south among all top seeds in all divisions. The way the CIF sections do competitive equity playoffs probably is the biggest factor for that. Because of that, we tend to rank NorCal teams higher in the lower divisions. We know that some of the SoCal teams are going to be better once they get to Sacramento for the state finals. Some of them are going to win at the end. For this division, Head-Royce (the No. 3 seed in the north) was placed ahead of Summit Shasta (the top seed) for having a computer ranking about 80 places higher. In the south, Rosamond is the only one of the group with a computer ranking in the 200s. The Roadrunners had a blowout win in their first regional game on Tuesday over Rosemead. A true war of the roses.
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