Players from Archbishop Mitty of San Jose didn’t officially win a title at CaliLive 25 last weekend, but their win in their last game vs South Medford (Oregon) was the one that had the most excitement among college coaches. Photo: MittyWBB.
There were some teams from Southern California on hand, but three-time NorCal Open Division champion Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) was the class of the field at the Girls California Live 2025 held last weekend in Roseville. Players from South Medford (Oregon), St. Mary’s of Stockton, Clovis West of Fresno, Brentwood of Los Angeles and Villa Park also gained notice among college coaches. We’ll have more player breakdowns in a post later this week.
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Even with superstar and previous Cal-Hi Sports State Freshman and State Sophomore of the Year McKenna Woliczko in street clothes and cheering her teammates on from the bench, Archbishop Mitty of San Jose was by far the top program at the Girls California Live 2025 held June 12-14 at the Roebbelen Center in Roseville.
We say the top program because like a handful of schools Mitty brought two teams to the only NCAA Certified Scholastic Viewing Event in California and the largest of 24 girls events held nationwide for girls.
The difference between Mitty and the other high school programs that brought two teams to showcase their skills in front of the 75 college coaches in attendance, however, is that the other schools entered their second team in the JV Division while Mitty entered both of its teams in varsity divisions.
Jessica Liu hit some big three-pointers for Brentwood of Los Angeles in a win we saw vs Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco. Photo: Mark Tennis.
There were four divisions and 117 teams in total at Girls Cali Live 25. The Open Division had 24 teams, the BABCA Division, or the No. 2 division, had 67 teams, No. 3 Roseville Division had 17 teams and the JV Division sported nine teams.
The Mitty 1 team went 4-0 as expected in the Open Division, but the Mitty 2 team, composed of the Monarchs’ JV team, went 4-0 as well in the event’s second division called the BABCA Division named after Girls Cali Live 25 event management team and host Bay Area Basketball Coaches Association.
“We definitely moved the needle in terms of our improvement against great competition,” said Mitty head coach Sue Phillips. “Both teams really enjoyed the experience out here.
“We entered two varsity teams and went 8-0 and it was terrific to get the wins but more importantly we improved and we had a ton of exposure for our kids,” Phillips continued. “The baselines were lined with college coaches and it’s a win-win for everyone involved and I’m really excited for the upcoming season, and thanks to Girls Cali Live for putting on this tremendous event for us to attend.”
Because this was a viewing event designed for the convenience of the college coaches and to maximize their ability to schedule which teams they want to see, it was a showcase event with a set schedule unlike a tournament type event that has brackets and an eventual champion.
Even so, there was little doubt among the assembled media, analysts and college coaches we queried that the matchup on Saturday morning between unbeaten Mitty and Oregon South Medford was essentially for the championship after Mitty won its first three games in running clocks against Mission Hills of San Marcos, Oregon West Linn and Piedmont, and South Medford was a 74-68 winner over Clovis West Black to go 4-0 heading into the Mitty matchup. Clovis West also brought a Gold team that played in the BallerTV (JV) Division.
The college coaches knew about 6-foot-2 incoming Mitty sophomore Maliya Hunter and 6-foot-2 incoming West Linn senior center Mayenabasi Akpan, but in a 71-54 Mitty victory it was Monarchs’ incoming junior guard Ze’Ni Patterson that stole the show with a spectacular effort that significantly raised her stock with the college coaches.
Patterson went for 29 points on 11-of-12 overall from the field, 4-of-5 on three pointers and 3-for-3 from the foul line. Hunter added 14 points and six rebounds.
South Medford was led by incoming senior forward and college prospect Dyllyn Howell with 18 points and Akpan added had 15 points and six rebounds.
Other than the South Medford win, which was reasonably close until Mitty pulled away in the fourth quarter, the Monarchs were winning easily and that meant Phillips was able to empty the bench and all 13 players she brought got significant playing time. Other Mitty players that made an impression on the college coaches were incoming seniors Devin Cosgriff and Emma Cook, incoming junior Tiera McCarthy, and incoming senior Abigail James.
Like Mitty, another team in the Open Division to go 4-0 was St. Mary’s of Stockton and the Rams were another school that brought a JV team.
St. Mary’s 6-foot-4 incoming senior forward Evelini Smith raised her stock with the college coaches. She had 50 points and 33 rebounds combined in the four victories. Other St. Mary’s players that played well were incoming senior guard Mia Jamias, incoming sophomore guard Amani Rafiq and incoming freshman Dylan Horton, but the player that turned heads among the college coaches and analysts with her smooth moves was incoming freshman combo guard Anaya Hardy.
San Ramon Valley of Danville only played three games but won all three behind the stellar play of incoming senior guard Alyssa Rudd, incoming junior wing Ella Gunderson, incoming sophomore guard Kaitlyn Mills and incoming junior guard Carly Stern.
Priory of Portola Valley, coached by Girls Cali Live 25 co-tournament director Buck Matthews, won all four of its games with incoming senior guards Ugreat Daniels, Adelaide Chan and Jordyn Moss, and incoming juniors Gabby Wickham and Sasha Johnson leading the way.
Ryleigh Schoonover missed a lot of games last season at Clovis West after a transfer from Porterville High. She’ll be a senior to watch for the Golden Eagles in the 2025-26 season. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Clovis West went 4-1 with the loss to South Medford. Some of the top performers for the Golden Eagles were incoming senior forward Ryleigh Schoonover and incoming senior guard Malohni Warren, and incoming sophomore guards Sydney Swillis and Ramie Chatman. Schoonover didn’t play that many games last season for the Golden Eagles after transferring the previous season from Porterville High.
Brentwood of Los Angeles and upstart Villa Park were the top two teams from Southern California. Villa Park went 3-1 and Brentwood went 3-2 with two solid wins over San Francisco Riordan and St. Ignatius and close losses to South Medford and Clovis 65-59 and 57-53, respectively. Villa Park went 3-1 including an impressive 53-40 win over Piedmont.
Brentwood graduated its top two players but head coach Charles Solomon, who was the Southern California liaison on the Girls Cali Live 25 Coaches Advisory Board, always seem to have talent coming up. Incoming juniors Reena White and Kelsy Sugar, incoming sophomore and Windward transfer Mikaella Kawahito, and incoming junior Jessica Liu were the top performers in Roseville.
Villa Park went 24-5 last season and 8-0 in the Freeway League and head coach Brad Willis wanted to test his young Spartans, who returned all their top players, by playing in the Open Division. Incoming senior and last year’s leading scorer Bailey Roczey was the top player in Roseville along with incoming sophomore Lauren Wolfe, plus incoming senior Sabina Patel.
Woliczko, who had surgery on her knee four and half months ago, said she can officially start jogging and jumping on June 29. That hasn’t stopped her from lifting and working out at the gym. “The plan is to be back by October 29th,” she said.
During Cali Live, Woliczko announced she had narrowed her college choices to Iowa, Ohio State, South Carolina and Southern California. Not surprisingly, and despite her not playing, coaches from Iowa and Ohio State were on hand to let her know they want her on their campus, including Iowa head coach Jan Jensen in her yellow and black.
A follow up feature with Girls California Live 2025 top ranked teams and top players from all 24 Open Division teams will be coming later this week
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
