ESPNHS California: Brea Olinda
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There won’t be a Long Beach Poly-Mater Dei showdown in the Southern Section after Jackrabbits get upset in Tuesday semifinal by Brea Olinda. Also on the move up are Huntington Beach, Laguna Hills.
For most of the season it has seemed that defending CIF Division I state champ Mater Dei of Santa Ana would get a stern test in this year’s CIF Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs from Long Beach Poly.
The Monarchs and Jackrabbits have been No. 1 and No. 2 in the divisional state rankings just about all season. They won’t be playing in that section final this weekend, however. The Jackrabbits were knocked off in a 49-43 upset in Tuesday’s semifinals by Brea Olinda.
While this Brea team isn’t as talented as teams that took on Mater Dei in recent years, the Ladycats played inspiring defense in shutting down Long Beach Poly and got a strong outing from senior guard Taylor Spears, who scored 14 points.
The Jackrabbits had cut the Brea lead down to two points with just under one minute play, but couldn’t get a key basket and then had to foul.
Mater Dei, meanwhile, had no trouble in its semifinal game against previously unbeaten Santiago of Corona. The Monarchs won 71-32 and will now face Brea in the finals.
All other section championships around the state will be determined by the end of this weekend. On Sunday, March 4, CIF section commissioners will gather in two locations to seed the Northern California and Southern California regional tournaments. We will have our recommendations for the top seeds posted here as soon as possible throughout the weekend so check back frequently to see if your school’s division is done.
With help from Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens, here is the fifth listing of girls teams this season with analysis and bubble teams for each division (records listed after section playoff games played on Tuesday, Feb. 28 but rankings do not include any results from later in the week; previous ranking in parentheses):
CIF Division I
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 29-3
2. (7) Brea Olinda (Brea) 23-5
3. (2) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 28-3
4. (3) Santiago (Corona) 30-1
5. (4) Summit (Fontana) 25-3
6. (5) Berkeley 22-2
7. (9) Huntington Beach 24-4
8. (6) Edison (Huntington Beach) 23-4
9. (8) Etiwanda 23-4
10. (10) Narbonne (Harbor City) 26-6
11. (11) El Toro (Lake Forest) 26-3
12. (12) Troy (Fullerton) 19-8
13. (14) San Diego 25-5
14. (15) Deer Valley (Antioch) 20-7
15. (NR) Hanford 22-4
Drops: Previous No. 13 Rialto.
Bubble: Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) 20-8, Granite Hills (El Cajon) 29-3*, Heritage (Brentwood) 22-4, Kennedy (Sacramento) 22-8, Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 23-7, Rialto 25-2, Stockdale (Bakersfield) 25-3, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 21-2.
Comments: With Long Beach Poly going down and Mater Dei completely dominating previously unbeaten Santiago, it doesn’t look like the Monarchs are going to be denied a third straight CIF state title. They will now face Brea Olinda in the CIFSS Div. I-AA final on Friday, but the matchup certainly doesn’t have the impact as when the two teams played each other in 2010 and 2011. Another Orange County team advancing to the CIFSS Div. I-A final was Huntington Beach. The Oilers avenged an earlier loss by topping El Toro 51-39 and would now be back in front of the Chargers in the rankings. When we did the new overall top 20 on Tuesday, we put El Toro higher due to the previous win. Huntington Beach now gets Summit in this weekend’s title game.
There won’t be a Long Beach Poly-Mater Dei showdown in the Southern Section after Jackrabbits get upset in Tuesday semifinal by Brea Olinda. Also on the move up are Huntington Beach, Laguna Hills.
For most of the season it has seemed that defending CIF Division I state champ Mater Dei of Santa Ana would get a stern test in this year’s CIF Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs from Long Beach Poly.
The Monarchs and Jackrabbits have been No. 1 and No. 2 in the divisional state rankings just about all season. They won’t be playing in that section final this weekend, however. The Jackrabbits were knocked off in a 49-43 upset in Tuesday’s semifinals by Brea Olinda.
While this Brea team isn’t as talented as teams that took on Mater Dei in recent years, the Ladycats played inspiring defense in shutting down Long Beach Poly and got a strong outing from senior guard Taylor Spears, who scored 14 points.
The Jackrabbits had cut the Brea lead down to two points with just under one minute play, but couldn’t get a key basket and then had to foul.
Mater Dei, meanwhile, had no trouble in its semifinal game against previously unbeaten Santiago of Corona. The Monarchs won 71-32 and will now face Brea in the finals.
All other section championships around the state will be determined by the end of this weekend. On Sunday, March 4, CIF section commissioners will gather in two locations to seed the Northern California and Southern California regional tournaments. We will have our recommendations for the top seeds posted here as soon as possible throughout the weekend so check back frequently to see if your school’s division is done.
With help from Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens, here is the fifth listing of girls teams this season with analysis and bubble teams for each division (records listed after section playoff games played on Tuesday, Feb. 28 but rankings do not include any results from later in the week; previous ranking in parentheses):
CIF Division I
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 29-3
2. (7) Brea Olinda (Brea) 23-5
3. (2) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 28-3
4. (3) Santiago (Corona) 30-1
5. (4) Summit (Fontana) 25-3
6. (5) Berkeley 22-2
7. (9) Huntington Beach 24-4
8. (6) Edison (Huntington Beach) 23-4
9. (8) Etiwanda 23-4
10. (10) Narbonne (Harbor City) 26-6
11. (11) El Toro (Lake Forest) 26-3
12. (12) Troy (Fullerton) 19-8
13. (14) San Diego 25-5
14. (15) Deer Valley (Antioch) 20-7
15. (NR) Hanford 22-4
Drops: Previous No. 13 Rialto.
Bubble: Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) 20-8, Granite Hills (El Cajon) 29-3*, Heritage (Brentwood) 22-4, Kennedy (Sacramento) 22-8, Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 23-7, Rialto 25-2, Stockdale (Bakersfield) 25-3, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 21-2.
Comments: With Long Beach Poly going down and Mater Dei completely dominating previously unbeaten Santiago, it doesn’t look like the Monarchs are going to be denied a third straight CIF state title. They will now face Brea Olinda in the CIFSS Div. I-AA final on Friday, but the matchup certainly doesn’t have the impact as when the two teams played each other in 2010 and 2011. Another Orange County team advancing to the CIFSS Div. I-A final was Huntington Beach. The Oilers avenged an earlier loss by topping El Toro 51-39 and would now be back in front of the Chargers in the rankings. When we did the new overall top 20 on Tuesday, we put El Toro higher due to the previous win. Huntington Beach now gets Summit in this weekend’s title game.
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Alemany knocks off Chaminade and makes a move into this week’s rankings. The only other change sees St. Mary’s of Stockton and Bishop O’Dowd switching positions with the Rams going up after last Saturday’s win.
This is the time of the season when the cream rises to the top, as the best teams are either in their respective section playoffs, finishing up league play, or in league playoffs in preparation of section playoffs.
The bottom line is at this time of the year there are very few surprises.
Certainly the 76-67 win by St. Mary's of Stockton over Bishop O'Dowd of Oakland last Saturday wasn't really a surprise, considering the last time the three-time defending state champions lost at home was to the Danielle Robinson-led Archbishop Mitty of San Jose team six years ago.
The bottom line was St. Mary's was the better prepared team and executed its game plan of all-out pressing and excellent 3-point shooting perfectly, especially early on.
Courtney Range was dominant in the paint, Charise Holloway converted scoring opportunities, Regina Camera hit from outside and played good defense, and Onome Jemerigbe was a significant contributor on both ends of the court.
The strategy of Coach Tom Gonsalves also successfully got O'Dowd's two big girls, K.C. Waters and Oderah Chidom, in foul trouble early.
Was this the same team that lost 71-52 in early January to La Jolla Country Day?
"We're a much better team than we were then. We're at a different level now," Gonsalves told Cal-Hi Sports after the O'Dowd win.
"We needed this game," said Range, who finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. "In Arizona and against Country Day we didn't play that well. As a team, we needed to prove we could play against good teams."
The only other rumble in the rankings this week occurred toward the bottom where Alemany of Mission Hills won the grudge match of the three games with West Hills Chaminade to reclaim that spot.
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(After games of Saturday, Feb. 11)
1. (1) Windward (Los Angeles) 23-3
After the big win over Mater Dei two weeks ago, the Wildcats finished Alpha League play with running-clock victories over Campbell Hall of North Hollywood and crosstown Pacific Hills. No one gets a bye in the 32-team CIF Southern Section Division 4AA playoffs, so the top seed will open at home on Thursday against Nipomo.
Alemany knocks off Chaminade and makes a move into this week’s rankings. The only other change sees St. Mary’s of Stockton and Bishop O’Dowd switching positions with the Rams going up after last Saturday’s win.
This is the time of the season when the cream rises to the top, as the best teams are either in their respective section playoffs, finishing up league play, or in league playoffs in preparation of section playoffs.
The bottom line is at this time of the year there are very few surprises.
Certainly the 76-67 win by St. Mary's of Stockton over Bishop O'Dowd of Oakland last Saturday wasn't really a surprise, considering the last time the three-time defending state champions lost at home was to the Danielle Robinson-led Archbishop Mitty of San Jose team six years ago.
The bottom line was St. Mary's was the better prepared team and executed its game plan of all-out pressing and excellent 3-point shooting perfectly, especially early on.
Courtney Range was dominant in the paint, Charise Holloway converted scoring opportunities, Regina Camera hit from outside and played good defense, and Onome Jemerigbe was a significant contributor on both ends of the court.
The strategy of Coach Tom Gonsalves also successfully got O'Dowd's two big girls, K.C. Waters and Oderah Chidom, in foul trouble early.
Was this the same team that lost 71-52 in early January to La Jolla Country Day?
"We're a much better team than we were then. We're at a different level now," Gonsalves told Cal-Hi Sports after the O'Dowd win.
"We needed this game," said Range, who finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. "In Arizona and against Country Day we didn't play that well. As a team, we needed to prove we could play against good teams."
The only other rumble in the rankings this week occurred toward the bottom where Alemany of Mission Hills won the grudge match of the three games with West Hills Chaminade to reclaim that spot.
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(After games of Saturday, Feb. 11)
1. (1) Windward (Los Angeles) 23-3
After the big win over Mater Dei two weeks ago, the Wildcats finished Alpha League play with running-clock victories over Campbell Hall of North Hollywood and crosstown Pacific Hills. No one gets a bye in the 32-team CIF Southern Section Division 4AA playoffs, so the top seed will open at home on Thursday against Nipomo.
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