Scorebook Live’s Top 20 Southern California high school girls basketball rankings: La Jolla Country Day continues dominance
Here are Scorebook Live’s Top 20 rankings for Southern California high school girls basketball for the week of Dec. 30. Our Southern California girls basketball rankings are released weekly throughout the 2019-20 high school girls basketball season. The rankings span the Southern, San Diego and L.A. City Sections.
The top nine teams are the same this week, with very little distance between three and nine. After that, there's a gap followed by chaos and a lot of hard decisions. The rankings will extend out to 20 teams instead of 15 for the rest of the season.
TOP 20 SOCAL GIRLS BASKETBALL RANKINGS
Week of Dec. 30, 2019
1. La Jolla Country Day (16-0)
The Torreys can't rise any further on our rankings, but they are still rising it seems. They cleaned up at the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic, beating Clovis West, Mission Hills, and Rosary Academy by a combined 88 points.
2. Sierra Canyon (12-2)
While the Trailblazers struggled to pull away from a strong St. Joe's (Notre Dame) squad, they ultimately got the job and whooped an excellent Cardinal Newman team. Still, they might not be able to retake the top spot with no more meetings scheduled against LJCD and the Torreys appearing to be unbeatable.
3. Long Beach Poly (9-2)
Three up, three down this week for the Jackrabbits who at this point are on a shortlist of the best teams in the country. None of their wins were dominant, but every foe was a worthy adversary in Gardena Serra, Etiwanda, and Cathedral Catholic.
4. Mater Dei (12-1)
The Monarchs finally get their crack at Sierra Canyon on Monday. A loss wouldn't really drop them in the rankings if it were a close loss, but a win could vault them near the top. For now they hold onto number four after blowing out an excellent Bishop O'Dowd squad and beating an even more formidable Archbishop Mitty team.
5. Etiwanda (9-3)
The Eagles added a couple more impressive wins to their resume last week in Gardena Serra and Cathedral Catholic. They also picked up another close loss to Long Beach Poly in another defensive battle.
6. Corona Centennial (13-2)
Now on a six game winning streak, the Huskies beat Camarillo by 20 last week and blew out Legacy (NV) before beating Granada Hills Charter by single-digits. They finally get a crack at Long Beach Poly on Saturday.
7. Windward (9-3)
After going 2-1 at the Nike TOC a couple weeks ago, the Wildcats took last week off from games.
8. Rosary Academy (11-6)
Rosary Academy also went 2-1 last week, except at the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic. They pounded Mission Hills and then Clovis West in perhaps their best game of the year before losing by 25 to La Jolla Country Day. While it would've been great to see the Royals be competitive against the top dog, that's not a loss that will drop them in the rankings.
9. Lynwood (8-3)
The Knights hang tight after a week off. Later this week they'll be at the Energy Classic in Wyoming.
10. Harvard-Westlake (7-6)
The Wolverines going 1-2 last week and jumping two spots is par for the course for their season. Their record is middling but their schedule has been maximally ambitious. Losing to one of the best teams in the country in Plano (TX) and another nationally competitive one in Conway (AR) by a combined three points after beating Bishop Lynch (TX) is not a bad week.
11. West Torrance (9-6)
The Warriors had quite a week, beating Las Vegas by 42, El Cajon Christian by 15, and Bishop Montgomery by 14. They've been up and down all season thanks to a nationally competitive schedule but they seem to be navigating it quite well and are quickly nearing our top ten. Three of their next five games are against Orangewood Academy, Windward, and North (Torrance).
12. Troy (7-7)
Troy might just be the most puzzling top-tier high school girls basketball team in Southern California. Like Harvard-Westlake, they have an uninspiring record against unrelentingly brutal competition.
Last week was huge for the Warriors playing solely Texas opponents in the Lone Star State. They edged out two excellent teams in Red Oak and Cedar Hill by single-digits, beat a solid Hardin-Jefferson squad, lost to one of the best teams in the country in Duncanville by 14, and then went on to knock off another one of the best teams in the country in Plano.
Perhaps we will get a better since of Troy in coming weeks. They face another test in St. Mary's Academy on Saturday before their schedule finally cools off considerably.
13. Chaminade (9-3)
It wasn't the best of weeks for Chaminade, who beat a struggling Elk Grove team and then lost by 15 to Salesian (Richmond). But with some other teams having rougher weeks, they rise two spots.
14. Bishop Montgomery (6-3)
The Knights took care of business against Arbor View and Canyon Springs before falling by double-digits to West last week.
15. Marlborough (7-2)
Based on how the two teams have played this season, the Mustangs' loss to Buchanan last week was puzzling. Wailing on overmatched Damonte Ranch (Reno) the next day surely made them feel better though. They have a great opportunity for a solid win on Monday against Del Oro.
16.Orangewood Academy (9-4)
With no games played in the last two weeks, the Spartans are exactly where they were last week, and the week before–16th. That said, they could be well into the top ten if some close losses had panned out differently. Don't be surprised if you see Orangewood Academy rising quite a bit in the weeks to come.
17. M.L. King (12-4)
King is in the exact same boat as Orangewood Academy, against whom they lost in overtime earlier this month. They have four generally respectable losses against elite teams and have otherwise not slipped up. But they haven't capitalized on their limited opportunities thus far to show us what they've got.
The Wolves have cleaned up against everyone else in dominant fashion and they'll probably continue to do so for the rest of the season. We might not see all what they're capable of until the playoffs, but they might be the perfect sleeper for a deep run.
18.Mater Dei Catholic (6-4)
The Crusaders beat Fairmont Prep by 11 last week, so they're verifiably legit. They've lost to Valley Vista (AZ) twice and La Jolla Country Day, with La Costa Canyon and El Cajon Christian also on their list of wins.
19. Camarillo (13-2)
The Scorpions picked up nice wins last week against Granada Hills Charter and Legacy (NV) after losing by 20 against Corona Centennial.
20. Roosevelt (12-4)
Roosevelt has lost twice to Flintridge Prep by single-digits and by double-digits against LJCD and Rosary Academy. Other than that they've cleaned up. Last week was their best yet, going 3-0 including a 17-point win over Oak Ridge.
First teams left off:
North Torrance (11-0)
While they weren't on our radar until recently, unbeaten North's wins are piling up. They've mostly just been feasting on overmatched foes, but at this point their dominant season can't go unrecognized any more. We'll keep our eyes on them.
Fairmont Prep (11-2)
Not counting their loss against a college team from Australia, Fairmont Prep just picked up their first loss of the year against Mater Dei Catholic. The Huskies have beaten a handful of great teams this year such as St. Paul and St. Anthony, but haven't faced any elite competition so they are hard to gauge.
Honorable mentions: St. Paul, Redondo Union, Saugus, Granada Hills Charter, Flintridge Prep, Mater Dei Catholic, Aliso Niguel, Woodrow Wilson, Gardena Serra, JSerra, Millikan, St. Anthony, Rolling Hills Prep, St. Mary's Academy, La Costa Canyon, Westview, Valley View, El Cajon Christian, San Clemente
