SBLive's L.A. City Section girls basketball rankings (Feb. 13-19): Crenshaw and King/Drew make semifinals, rep the Coliseum League
Crenshaw and King/Drew had historic wins against the last two Open Division champions on Thursday, defeating Palisades and Birmingham, respectively.
That means the Cougars and Golden Eagles are in the Open Division semifinals for the first time ever. It also means that for the first time in a good while, two of the four teams left standing atop the LACS are Coliseum League constituents.
Now pitted up against the top two seeds, both will be fairly heavy underdogs to make the finals. But either way, we all have a couple great semifinal battles to look forward to.
Here are SBLive's L.A. City Section girls basketball rankings for the week of Feb. 13-19. The rankings are released every Monday throughout the season.
1. Westchester (27-1 – 1st)
The Comets, who some felt should've been the top seed in the Open Division, opened the playoffs with an absolute statement. They defeated Taft 61-17 in a game they led 44-7 at halftime. Taft was left with very little ball-handling in the absence of one of its best players, but it was a scary win for Westchester nonetheless.
2. Granada Hills Charter (24-4 – 2nd)
In putting away San Fernando 55-45 to start the playoffs, GHC's streaks lived on. For one, Granada Hills has now won its Open Division playoff opener by double-digits every season from 2015-16 onward (COVID notwithstanding). It's also still beaten every City team its faced this season by at least 10 points. And it'll be the favorite this week against King/Drew.
3. Crenshaw (20-6 – 3rd)
Like its league rival King/Drew, Crenshaw is now one win away from the Open Division title game for the first time ever.
4. King/Drew (16-13 – 4th)
Five words: "Kaitlin Johnson at the buzzer!!"
The Golden Eagles ended Birmingham's reign to advance to the Open Division semifinals for the first time. Now they get a rematch against Granada Hills Charter, which gave them a 61-33 welcoming to the Open Division in last season's quarterfinals meeting.
5. Birmingham (17-12 – 5th)
With Natalie Lopez recently injured, Birmingham's hopes at back-to-back Open Division titles were already down. They still came about one second away from making the semifinals, but King/Drew was not to be denied.
Assuming it stays healthy and keeps the core together, Birmingham is a lock to get back into the Open Division title hunt next season.
6. Palisades (13-15 – 6th)
The Dolphins had some promising stretches against Crenshaw, but not enough to give the Cougars a run for their money. For one, their season is not over, and looking a couple years into the future, they have some strong talent in the pipeline.
7. Taft (18-10 – 7th)
With PG Aliyah Muhammad out, Taft's chances against Westchester went from bad to nonexistent. Assuming the Toreadors get her back shortly and have more games on the way, they could still keep turning heads before the season is done.
8. San Fernando (24-4 – 8th)
While the Tigers couldn't stay within striking distance against GHC, they sure proved they belonged on the big stage – and the Open Division – by playing them down to a 55-45 finish.
9. Hamilton (20-8 – 9th)
After surprising some by falling to Division 1, Hamilton came out with a bang. It looked the part of a top seed when it beat Arleta 61-28.
10. Sun Valley Poly (21-5 – 10th)
The Parrots took care of Garfield 55-31 to advance to the D1 semifinals. If you like fireworks between talented backcourts, this is not a game to miss: Hannah and Heart Lising heading to top-seeded Hamilton looking to knock off Kinidi Curl and Jade Fort.
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Los Angeles CES, Chatsworth, El Camino Real, Cleveland, Eagle Rock
