Scorebook Live’s Top 25 Southern California high school girls basketball rankings: Sierra Canyon moves to No. 1
Here are Scorebook Live’s Top 25 rankings for Southern California high school girls basketball for the week of Jan. 20. 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.
TOP 25 SOCAL GIRLS BASKETBALL RANKINGS
Week of Jan. 20, 2020
1. Sierra Canyon (18-3)
The Trailblazers put an end to Long Beach Poly's reign on Saturday with a 62-56 victory.
It's been a month since they lost by just one point to La Jolla Country Day, who fell to Poly just three weeks ago. Still, it doesn't feel quite right to put them over LJCD with whom they are essentially tied on paper, but the Torreys will get their chance to knock out every and any challengers to the throne in the playoffs not to long ago.
Sierra Canyon was the first California team to beat Poly, and they are No. 1. Wednesday will present another great opportunity against Windward.
2. La Jolla Country Day (19-1)
Beating Salesian by 20 points on Saturday was quite an impressive feat. LJCD has a relatively "easy" week by their standards, with "only" St. Joseph Notre Dame and El Cajon Christian on deck. With no other games left in the regular season against Open Division favorites, their M.O. until the playoffs should be to get their work done early in games and keep their stars fresh.
3. Long Beach Poly (17-3)
With three teams all equally in the hunt for contention as the best team in the country all in SoCal, it only takes one single-digit loss on the year to a California team for the Jackrabbits to drop to third. The next couple weeks are going to get ugly as they storm through league play. Their margins of victory will not be for the feint of heart or stomach.
Unless Sierra Canyon or LJCD lose, Poly probably won't have a chance to crack the top spot again for the rest of the regular season. But the playoffs will bring all the opportunity they need to prove that they are number one if they have what it takes.
4. Mater Dei (19-2)
Truthfully, it's not just a three-horse race for who comes out of SoCal in the state Open Division playoffs. Mater Dei is still recovering from a ten-point loss to Rosary Academy early in league play, which is not a devastating blow to their title chances but it does put them below the top three. Their other loss on the season came in overtime to Long Beach Poly.
Last week, the Monarchs handled a formidable JSerra squad without too much trouble. This week, they already get their rematch with Rosary Academy.
5. Etiwanda (17-2)
Three up, three down for Etiwanda once again. They were heavily favored against El Cajon Christian, but beating them by nearly 20 points was a great look. This week they have three shoe-in wins and then a potential trap game against Orangewood Academy on Saturday on the tail-end of a back-to-back. Getting their work done early in games and preserving the main stars for the weekend will be critical.
6. Rosary Academy (15-8)
The Royals blew out Orange Lutheran and Santa Margarita as expected last week–nothing to see here. Going into Wednesday's rematch against Mater Dei with a win against them already is so critical because the worst case scenario is a loss and a tie for the Trinity League title. That's unless they get upset by another in-league foe, which is unlikely but far from impossible.
7. Windward (16-3)
Phenomenal week for Windward, beating Brentwood School and Bishop Montgomery both by over 20 points. They have heaps of momentum right now going into their first shot at Sierra Canyon on Wednesday, but so does Sierra Canyon.
8. M.L. King (18-4)
What a week for the Wolves. First they beat Corona 69-3, and then they upset Corona Centennial 58-44 to take a stranglehold on the Big VIII League.
9. Corona Centennial (18-4)
The Huskies suffered their worst loss of the season on Friday against King. The loss itself is tough, but losing by 14 points was a surprise. Beating Aliso Niguel 24 hours later by over 60 points was quite a response though. Going from their worst game of the year to one of their best on a back-to-back makes it clear that they don't need to drop more than a couple spots.
10. Harvard-Westlake (14-7)
Pulling off the one-point victory over Chaminade was an enormous step towards a Mission League title, and surely made their insanely difficult preseason filled with close losses feel all the more worth it. They also beat Alemany handily. Still, they have two matchups with Marlborough and the rematch with Chaminade among other tough games standing in their way.
11. Troy (13-7)
The Warriors breezed past Buena Park and La Habra as expected. Later this week they face Long Beach Poly. For anyone who doesn't know Troy, they can play at a nationally elite level on any given night when it all comes together–just ask Plano. If Poly doesn't bring it, a colossal upset and shakeup to our rankings could be in order.
12. Orangewood Academy (17-4)
Orangewood Academy smoked Avalon and handled a dangerous Fairmont Prep team with room to spare. This week is huge, with Chaminade and Etiwanda lined up among others.
13. Lynwood (14-5)
While the Knights blew out Gahr and Downey last week, they did take a tough loss to Heritage (Brentwood), a great NorCal team but one they were favored against. However, it was the tail-end of a back-to-back and their third game in four days. It would be hard to really hold that against them, especially against legit competition.
14. Chaminade (14-6)
While the Eagles would've loved to pull out the narrow victory over Harvard-Westlake, a one-point loss to them plus a blowout win against Notre Dame Academy doesn't count as a bad week.
They have three games this week that will all be dangerous if they take their opposition lightly, with Orangewood Academy, Alemany, and Palisades.
15. Marlborough (11-4)
The Mustangs crushed Notre Dame Academy and South Pasadena in response to back-to-back losses against Chaminade and Etiwanda the week before. Their matchup this week against Harvard-Westlake could very well dictate who ends up winning the Mission League.
16. West Torrance (13-9)
For weeks, West's showdown with unbeaten North seemed like a guaranteed instant classic. And with the Warriors pulling out a double-overtime victory, it was. They also made short work of a very good South squad too. This week they should clean up against Legacy and Morningside.
17. Roosevelt (16-5)
It was business as usual for Roosevelt last week, beating Santiago by 18 and Norco by 32. King stunned Corona Centennial last week in a game that wasn't even that close, so Roosevelt should carry a small bit of hope coming into their first look at the Huskies on Wednesday.
18. Cathedral Catholic (10-10)
The Dons crushed Mira Mesa and beat El Cajon Christian by double-digits last week before falling 52-40 against a nationally elite New Hope Academy (Maryland) squad. Factor in that it was the second leg of a back-to-back, and you really can't hold it against them.
19. Bishop Montgomery (14-6)
One would really want to see the Knights at least make a game out of Windward, but there's really not much shame in losing to them by 21. Bishop Montgomery did beat a strong St. Anthony squad by double-digits as well last week. It's enough for them to hang tight. This week's tests are Bishop Amat and Gardena Serra.
20. Esperanza (18-2)
In addition to beating Orangewood Academy in December, this could be the week that really puts Esperanza over the edge. They start the week against Troy, and also have Villa Park, Yorba Linda, and Santa Margarita. If they can move to 22-2 and add a win over Troy to their resume, that would be huge.
21. Saugus (17-4)
The Centurions held it down this week, blowing out Golden Valley and beating a very strong Canyon (Canyon Country) squad by ten. It rings true from last week that they'll likely win every game for the rest of the regular season, and with room to spare, although not if they don't bring their A-game every night.
22. Camarillo (18-3)
Copy/paste the last slide onto this one if you like. Camarillo cleaned up against some overmatched league foes and will likely do so unwaveringly until the playoffs.
23. Flintridge Prep (16-4)
Make that three slides in a row. Flintridge Prep steamrolled Chadwick, Westridge, and Pasadena Poly. It doesn't seem that anybody in their league has a chance at knocking them off.
24. North Torrance (14-1)
Taking West to overtime before finally losing a game this year basically confirmed what appeared to be true. North is an elite team and major threat going forward who has at the same time benefitted from an easier schedule than pretty much anyone else in the top 25. They bounced back to smoke Inglewood 64-35. The Saxons' remaining regular season games against South, West, and Rolling Hills Prep will all be informative and intriguing.
25. Rolling Hills Prep (17-3)
The Huskies beat what appears to be a strong Gill St. Bernard (NJ) squad by 25 in New York last week. They have one more major test on Saturday at home against North. Bring popcorn.
Honorable mentions:
Westview, Millikan, Bishop's, Fairmont Prep, Redondo Union, Granada Hills Charter, Palisades, St. Mary's Academy, JSerra, Mission Hills, Bonita Vista, La Costa Canyon, St. Anthony, St. Paul, Gardena Serra, El Cajon Christian, Valley View, Woodrow Wilson, Aliso Niguel, San Clemente
