San Diego Section girls basketball Top 10: La Jolla Country Day No. 1 in latest rankings
Here are Scorebook Live’s Top 10 rankings for San Diego Section high school girls basketball for the week of Jan. 27. Our San Diego Section girls basketball rankings will be released weekly throughout the remainder of 2019-20 high school basketball season. The rankings are compiled by Bishop's girls basketball coach Marlon Wells.
TOP 10 SAN DIEGO SECTION GIRLS BASKETBALL RANKINGS
Week of Jan 27, 2020
BY MARLON WELLS
Things are starting to heat up in the San Diego Section as we head into the second round of league play. There have been some upsets this past week, which will make us keep an eye on some interesting games coming up as we get closer to the end of the regular season. La Jolla Country Day looks to be a lock for the No. 1 Seed in the Open Division, and Westview controls their own destiny for the No. 2 seed, but the rest of the seeds for the Open and the top seed for Division I are up for grabs. This has been a pretty good year for San Diego Section teams and don’t be surprised if you see a couple of teams come away with state titles.
1. La Jolla Country Day 22-1
The Torreys are rolling and it doesn’t seem like they will be slowing down. The Torreys didn’t have any problems in last week's games: A 71-43 win over St. Joseph of Notre Dame and a 77-53 win over Christian. The Combination of Te-hina Paopao and Breya Cunninham are proving to be too much for opposing teams to handle. Paopao is averaging 22 points, 4 assists and 7 rebounds per game and is having an impact on both ends of the floor. Paopao was just selected to the McDonald’s All-American roster. Cunningham is also making an impact on both ends of the floor. She has a knack for scoring around the basket and gobbling up offensive boards. Cunningham is averaging 17 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks per game. Overall La Jolla Country Day has an outstanding team. You add the toughness of junior PG Jazzy Anousinh and senior G Paris Atchley playing their role, you’ll see why the Torreys are the No. 1 team in San Diego County -- and oh yeah they are also the No. 1 ranked team in the country.
NEXT UP: 2/2/20 vs JSerra
2. Cathedral Catholic 12-10
We know, we know! You’re saying how can a team that is 12-10 be No. 2 in the county when there are teams with much better records? Well, here’s the answer: The Dons have played the toughest schedule in the county so far and the only loss to a San Diego team was to La Jolla Country Day in double overtime at LJCD. Cathedral won both games last week. The first was a win over Perry of Arizona 79-59, then they routed Scripps Ranch 58-28. The Dons are led by sophomore and recent University of Connecticut commit Isuneh “ICE” Brady. Brady is averaging a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds per game. Senior Mazzie Harris is also averaging a double-double at 12 points and 11 rebounds, but has been sidelined the last few games due to injury. Sophomore PG Izzy Navarro has been steady at the lead guard position all year and sophomore F Taryn Johnson will be the X-Factor if the Dons want to repeat as the San Diego Section Open Division Champions.
NEXT UP: 1/29/20 vs Bishop’s
3. Bonita Vista 12-7
After losing three straight games in the Bay Area at the Stockton St. Mary’s MLK Showcase, the Barons have come back to San Diego putting the hammer down on their opponents. Winners of three in a row, Bonita is making a push to being one of the top seeds in the Open Division San Diego playoffs. After a tough 64-63 loss to Lynwood last Monday, the Barons blasted Montgomery 92-23, then put a hurting on Eastlake 84-35 in league play. They also beat No. 4 Bishop’s in a non-league game on Saturday night. Bonita Vista has a steady and solid attack led by junior SG Julia Cosalan who leads the team in scoring averaging 14 points per game. Junior PG and last year's San Diego Section POY Sylena Peterson is now eligible to play and that is what makes the Barons a very scary team come playoff time.
NEXT UP: 1/29/20 vs Mater Dei (Chula Vista)
4. Bishop’s 11-7
The Knights come in at No. 4 even though they dropped both games last week. The first loss came Monday to Etiwanda 68-52, the No. 14 ranked team in the country. They then dropped their non-league matchup to Bonita Vista 78-62. The Knights have been up and down this season, but have put together some wins over quality opponents. Bishop’s does not have a deep roster so it’s going to be key for the Knights' young guards to hold steady for the rest of the season. Freshman G Aaliyah Stanton leads the Knights in scoring averaging 18.6 points a game. Sophomore guards Angie Robles and Renee Chong average 15 and 14 points per game respectively. The Knights have some crucial games coming up.
NEXT UP: 1/29/20 vs Cathedral Catholic
5. Mater Dei (Chula Vista) 12-6
Mater Dei is a very interesting team as they have some solid wins on the season. If they put together a nice little run here in league play they have a chance at a high seed in the Open Division playoffs, but if they drop a couple of games then they’re looking at a high seed in Division I. The Crusaders had an early season win over No. 6 Christian, which is why we have them ranked higher. Mater Dei had two huge league wins last week: A 66-40 win over Olympian and an 81-36 win over Montgomery. Kayanna Spriggs leads the Crusaders averaging a double-double, 15 points and 14 rebounds.
NEXT UP: 1/29/20 vs Bonita Vista
6. Christian 14-8
The Patriots have hit a rough stretch in their schedule. Christian has lost four straight games, taking two tough losses last week. They were upset 61-57 by Serra (San Diego) and had a tough outing against No. 1 La Jolla Country Day on Saturday, losing 77-53. Christian has one of the most talented rosters in the county and we look for them to be there in the end when it is all said and done. Senior Simone James leads the Patriots in scoring and rebounding with 22 points and 9 rebounds per game. UC Davis Commit Allie Careon is averaging 16 points per game.
NEXT UP:1/28/20 vs Otay Ranch
7. Mission Hills 13-8
Mission Hills had their 77-game league winning streak snapped when they were upset by crosstown rival San Marcos 40-26 on Friday. The Grizzlies still stay in our Top 10 as they have a strong strength of schedule and some quality wins -- including a head to head win over No. 8 La Costa Canyon. Mission Hills went 1-2 last week, dropping a 59-41 contest to Folsom at the Stockton St. Mary’s MLK Showcase. Their lone win came the next day in a 84-12 league win over Canyon Crest. Whatever you do, do not sleep on the Grizzlies. They do not have a senior on the roster and sophomore SG Jessica Grant is shooting lights out and sophomore F Amber Schmidt is controlling the boards on both ends.
NEXT UP: 1/28/20 vs Carlsbad
8. La Costa Canyon 16-5
LCC is a very tough team this year. They are coming off a season that saw them win the Division I championship and are playing with extreme confidence. They have four losses to teams that are ranked ahead of them (64-59 to Mater Dei, 60-58 to Bonita Vista, 76-39 to Bonita Vista and 51-50 to Mission Hills) and a close loss to Clovis from Fresno. On any given night the Mavericks can beat just about anyone in the county. Senior Kaitlin Quain is the vocal leader of this team, but they have a lot of experience, especially in the post with senior F Haley Dumiak. Last week the Mavericks won both league games easily, 74-48 over Carlsbad and 79-43 over Torrey Pines.
NEXT UP: 1/28/20 vs San Marcos
9. Westview 21-1
Yes! 21-1 and ranked No. 9 in the county. This isn’t a knock on Westview at all, this just goes to show how good San Diego County girls basketball is this season. The young Wolverines' lone loss came at the hands of No. 8 La Costa Canyon 69-56 back on December 20. Right now Westview is rolling and it doesn’t look like anyone in their league can stop them. The Poway game on January 29 will be huge. Westview is led by tough defense and great three-point shooting. Senior SG Sarina Dacio leads the team in scoring, averaging 17 points per game. Senior F Naomi Gipson is averaging 14 points per game. In their lone game last week they handled Mt. Carmel soundly 67-33.
NEXT UP: 1/29/20 vs Poway
10. Serra
The Lady Q’s have two wins against teams ranked higher than them in the Top 10: A 67-63 win over Mater Dei (Chula Vista) and just last week a 61-57 win over Christian. The young Serra team has been playing some great ball the last few weeks and are looking to make a push for the Western league Championship. Junior SG Angelica McBride is averaging 15 points and 8 rebounds per game. Sophomore G Salma Youngblood is averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds for the Lady Q’s.
NEXT UP: 1/31/20 vs Cathedral Catholic
OTHERS CONSIDERED:
Rancho Bernardo (18-5), Mt. Miguel (13-6), Carlsbad (17-5), San Marcos (13-7), El Camino (16-6), Scripps Ranch (13-7), Poway (15-8).
