ESPNHS California: ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports Top 20 rankings
Clovis West is highest-ranked team to get stunned and eliminated in early-round game of section playoffs. That helps St. Francis of Mountain View to move back up to No. 4.
Other highlights from this week’s baseball rankings include:
No. 1 Orange Lutheran and No. 2 Mater Dei in the CIF Southern Section plus No. 6 El Capitan and No. 7 Cathedral Catholic in the CIF San Diego Section staying on track for title-game showdowns.
Highest-ranked newcomer El Toro returning to the top 20 and looking like a darkhorse in CIFSS Div. I playoffs.
Click here to see the complete list within the ESPNHS rankings tool.
Other highlights from this week’s baseball rankings include:
No. 1 Orange Lutheran and No. 2 Mater Dei in the CIF Southern Section plus No. 6 El Capitan and No. 7 Cathedral Catholic in the CIF San Diego Section staying on track for title-game showdowns.
Highest-ranked newcomer El Toro returning to the top 20 and looking like a darkhorse in CIFSS Div. I playoffs.
Click here to see the complete list within the ESPNHS rankings tool.
Orange Lutheran starts the post-season as the state’s No. 1 team with Mater Dei and Clovis West right behind. Loss by Harvard-Westlake to Loyola drops the Wolverines to No. 4.
Other highlights from this week’s baseball rankings include:
Vista continuing to climb in all of the rankings and is up to No. 5 in the state and No. 16 in the nation.
Campolindo avenging one of its losses and going back up almost to the top 10.
L.A. City powerhouse Chatsworth going in as a top 20 newcomer along with Pacifica of Garden Grove and Long Beach Poly.
Click here to see the complete list within the ESPNHS rankings tool.
Other highlights from this week’s baseball rankings include:
Vista continuing to climb in all of the rankings and is up to No. 5 in the state and No. 16 in the nation.
Campolindo avenging one of its losses and going back up almost to the top 10.
L.A. City powerhouse Chatsworth going in as a top 20 newcomer along with Pacifica of Garden Grove and Long Beach Poly.
Click here to see the complete list within the ESPNHS rankings tool.
Five questions: CIF basketball open division
May, 14, 2012
May 14
12:47
PM ET
By Mark Tennis | ESPN.com
Mark Tennis/ESPNHSMario Dunn and Jabari Bird are juniors and have a chance to do this again.There’s no secret that the CIF state basketball playoffs, for both boys and girls, has needed a shot in the arm for a long time.
Two weekends ago, the CIF Federation Council may have provided that boost by voting in favor of adding an open division as a sixth division to the state playoffs.
There’s a good chance that adding an open division will result in increased attendance and TV viewership. Two years ago, for example, the Mater Dei of Santa Ana and St. Mary’s of Stockton girls possibly would have played in an open division final that also would have determined which team was going to be No. 1 in the nation.
The open division will be for teams from any division, any section and regardless of enrollment.
Harvard-Westlake takes over the No. 1 ranking as the end of the regular season draws near.
Other highlights from this week’s baseball rankings include:
J.W. North jumping back up to No. 2 thanks in part to Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran splitting a two-game series.
Clovis West winning two one-run games over 2011 State Team of the Year Buchanan.
Newcomers include De La Salle and Long Beach Poly (yes, this is baseball and not football we’re ranking).
Click here to see the complete list within the ESPNHS rankings tool.
Other highlights from this week’s baseball rankings include:
J.W. North jumping back up to No. 2 thanks in part to Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran splitting a two-game series.
Clovis West winning two one-run games over 2011 State Team of the Year Buchanan.
Newcomers include De La Salle and Long Beach Poly (yes, this is baseball and not football we’re ranking).
Click here to see the complete list within the ESPNHS rankings tool.
Taft of Woodland Hills gets rewarded with No. 9 ranking after beating Loyola of Los Angeles at the Nike Extravaganza.
Other highlights of this week’s rankings include:
La Costa Canyon, Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco re-join the mix after being ranked earlier in the season
Two CIF divisional state champs from the last two years play each other this weekend when Price of Los Angeles faces La Verne Lutheran.
Sheldon wins at the buzzer against Jesuit of Carmichael, then gives No. 3 Salesian a battle to the wire one night later
Get all the details in the ESPNHS rankings tool.
Other highlights of this week’s rankings include:
La Costa Canyon, Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco re-join the mix after being ranked earlier in the season
Two CIF divisional state champs from the last two years play each other this weekend when Price of Los Angeles faces La Verne Lutheran.
Sheldon wins at the buzzer against Jesuit of Carmichael, then gives No. 3 Salesian a battle to the wire one night later
Get all the details in the ESPNHS rankings tool.
Important announcement from Cal-Hi Sports | Archived Cal-Hi Sports content
No. 1 Windward doesn’t think of itself as being state’s best heading into Saturday matchup with No. 2 Mater Dei. “They’re No. 1,” says Windward coach Steve Smith. This week’s only newcomers, by the way, are St. Ignatius of San Francisco and Lynwood.
Last Saturday’s marquee game of the eight-team Real Run Classic at Long Beach City College featured state No. 1 Windward of Los Angeles against No. 3 Long Beach Poly and as one would expect it went down to the wire with Windward holding on for a 54-53 win.
After opening a 51-42 lead with 3:45 left, Windward saw it evaporate after an 11-1 Jackrabbit run gave Poly a 53-52 advantage with 1:28 remaining.
Three lead changes later, Macchiati Smith hit a left-handed running layup with 11.5 seconds remaining for the game-winner.
Even after the sophomore’s basket, the game was far from over. The Wildcats used a foul at the seven-second mark. Courtney Jaco then forced a jump ball with 1.4 seconds remaining. With the 6-foot-7 Imani Stafford defending the inbounds and forcing a pass out beyond the arc, a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer by Poly’s Justyce Dawson clanked off the rim.
Jordin Canada dazzled the Long Beach City College crowd with a game-high 22 points and four assists.
Sophomore Arica Carter paced the Jackrabbits with 18 points while Destiny King scored 16 and added five steals and four rebounds.
The reward for coach Steve Smith and his girls is a road game at No. 2 Mater Dei where the state’s top spot will be at stake in a much-anticipated game Friday at the Nike Extravaganza in Santa Ana.
“It’s just like boxing. You have to knock out the champion,” Smith told Cal-Hi Sports.
“Hey, I saw them destroy Poly by 42 points in a game during fall when they were healthy,” Smith continued. “We may be the top-ranked team right now, but until someone in-state beats Mater Dei they’re number one in the state.”
Smith has a point. The Monarchs also have been State Team of the Year for 2010 and 2011.
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(After games of Saturday, Jan. 28)
1. (1) Windward (Los Angeles) 18-3
Prior to the win against Long Beach Poly, the Wildcats had a running clock win over crosstown Pacific Hills. Sophomore 6-foot Kristen Simon had a double-double 21 points and 10 rebounds. This week, before taking on Mater Dei, the girls have two Alpha League games at nearby Brentwood and at home against Chatsworth Sierra Canyon.
No. 1 Windward doesn’t think of itself as being state’s best heading into Saturday matchup with No. 2 Mater Dei. “They’re No. 1,” says Windward coach Steve Smith. This week’s only newcomers, by the way, are St. Ignatius of San Francisco and Lynwood.
Last Saturday’s marquee game of the eight-team Real Run Classic at Long Beach City College featured state No. 1 Windward of Los Angeles against No. 3 Long Beach Poly and as one would expect it went down to the wire with Windward holding on for a 54-53 win.
After opening a 51-42 lead with 3:45 left, Windward saw it evaporate after an 11-1 Jackrabbit run gave Poly a 53-52 advantage with 1:28 remaining.
Three lead changes later, Macchiati Smith hit a left-handed running layup with 11.5 seconds remaining for the game-winner.
Even after the sophomore’s basket, the game was far from over. The Wildcats used a foul at the seven-second mark. Courtney Jaco then forced a jump ball with 1.4 seconds remaining. With the 6-foot-7 Imani Stafford defending the inbounds and forcing a pass out beyond the arc, a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer by Poly’s Justyce Dawson clanked off the rim.
Jordin Canada dazzled the Long Beach City College crowd with a game-high 22 points and four assists.
Sophomore Arica Carter paced the Jackrabbits with 18 points while Destiny King scored 16 and added five steals and four rebounds.
The reward for coach Steve Smith and his girls is a road game at No. 2 Mater Dei where the state’s top spot will be at stake in a much-anticipated game Friday at the Nike Extravaganza in Santa Ana.
“It’s just like boxing. You have to knock out the champion,” Smith told Cal-Hi Sports.
“Hey, I saw them destroy Poly by 42 points in a game during fall when they were healthy,” Smith continued. “We may be the top-ranked team right now, but until someone in-state beats Mater Dei they’re number one in the state.”
Smith has a point. The Monarchs also have been State Team of the Year for 2010 and 2011.
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(After games of Saturday, Jan. 28)
1. (1) Windward (Los Angeles) 18-3
Prior to the win against Long Beach Poly, the Wildcats had a running clock win over crosstown Pacific Hills. Sophomore 6-foot Kristen Simon had a double-double 21 points and 10 rebounds. This week, before taking on Mater Dei, the girls have two Alpha League games at nearby Brentwood and at home against Chatsworth Sierra Canyon.
Mark Tennis/ESPNHSKatin Reinhardt and Xavier Johnson have Mater Dei fans thinking about another CIF state title.Three new teams make big jumps with Bishop Montgomery, Taft of Woodland Hills and Pacific Hills all going in higher than No. 17.
Other highlights of this week’s rankings include:
No. 1 Mater Dei and No. 2 Long Beach Poly both have games at this Saturday’s Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei.
Max Guercy shines with 27 points and six assists as Alemany beats Loyola and joins top five.
Northern California’s No. 1 team remains Salesian of Richmond.
Get all the details in the ESPNHS rankings tool.
Mark Tennis/ESPNHSImani Stafford and her teammates from top-ranked Windward face tough task Saturday with game in Long Beach against No. 3 Long Beach Poly.Karlie Samuelson returns for No. 7 Edison of Huntington Beach. This week’s newcomers are Carondelet and Chaminade with huge matchup coming Saturday between No. 1 Windward and No. 3 Long Beach Poly.
Junior guard Karlie Samuelson from Edison of Huntington Beach, a who gets a 90 scout’s grade from ESPNHS Girls Basketball, returned from injury last week with a 15-point performance in a 59-37 win over Los Alamitos. Two nights later, she had a season-high 28 points (five 3-pointers) in a 75-59 victory over Bishop’s of La Jolla.
The 6-foot-1 Samuelson had been hobbled for a month by a bad ankle.
“She’s taped up and wearing a brace but the swelling is down and she came back really strong against Bishop’s – and that’s good because we’re going to need her,” Chargers’ coach Dan Wiley told Cal-Hi Sports.
This week, St. Mary’s of Berkeley will welcome back sophomore phenom Gabby Green, which could help that team make a push for a spot in the top 20. The No. 5 player and No. 2 guard from the Class of 2014 according to ESPNHS Girls Basketball is scheduled to make her return in a game against Richmond Kennedy.
The 6-foot-1 Green has been out since July when she broke her ankle early on in her first game with California Storm’s Team Taurasi.
The Berkeley girls were the only top 10 team to take a loss last week, and while it looks bad on the surface coming to a St. Mary’s (Berkeley) team with six losses, the loss actually shows how good St. Mary’s is even severely short-handed.
Despite playing without Green, and another promising sophomore, 5-foot-11 forward Taylor Berry, the Panthers have played very well, learning how to play without Green in a super tough early schedule, and improving all along.
Now, with Green back, together with fellow sophomore standout Mikayla Cowling and senior Shannon Mauldin, they’ll be gearing up for the Division IV playoffs and a return trip to Power Balance Arena in Sacramento in March.
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(After games of Saturday, Jan. 21)
(Contributing: Mark Tennis, Paul Muyskens)
1. (1) Windward (Los Angeles) 16-3
The Wildcats had a week to rest up after the long stretch of travel that concluded last Monday with the loss to FAB 50 No. 1 St. Mary’s of Phoenix. After playing Pacific Hills (Los Angeles) on Tuesday, Windward then gets a matchup Saturday against No. 3 Long Beach Poly at Long Beach City College. In that one, coach Steve Smith and the girls will certainly have their top state ranking challenged.
St. Mary's wins NorCal girls hoop showdown
January, 16, 2012
Jan 16
5:46
PM ET
By Mark Tennis | ESPN.com
For most of the last 10 years, two of the top girls basketball programs in the state have been St. Mary’s of Stockton and Carondelet of Concord and it’s not often the two have met.
We remember the last time quite clearly in 2006 when a Carondelet team led by former Stanford star Jayne Appel came to Stockton and battled a St. Mary’s squad led by All-American Jacki Gemelos. St. Mary’s won as Gemelos scored 43 points and had nine rebounds and nine assists while Appel had a great game as well. It ended up being the difference between Gemelos being the 2006 Cal-Hi Sports Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year instead of Appel.
During Monday’s 15th annual Martin Luther King Holiday Classic at UC Berkeley’s Haas Pavilion, the two Northern California powers met again. There wasn’t an individual battle like the last time, but it was a statement game for the St. Mary’s team as the Rams defeated Carondelet 73-58.
St. Mary’s, which has won three straight CIF state titles (last year in Division II), improved to 11-3. The Rams should stay at No. 6 in this week’s Cal-Hi Sports state top 20 rankings.
Carondelet fell to 11-3 and needed the win to get back into the top 20. The Cougars are still trying to overcome a loss to Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, which just went into the top 20 last week.
“We scrimmage every year, but we don’t play that often,” said St. Mary’s coach Tom Gonsalves. “We wanted to play them last year and it didn’t work out. We jumped to it this year.”
The individuals that did battle in this game were St. Mary’s junior Courtney Range and Carondelet senior Hannah Huffman. Range led the Rams with 18 points and 13 rebounds while Huffman led all scorers with 21 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
In the first quarter, Carondelet came out strong and took an 8-3 lead. St. Mary’s, as is its custom, answered with made 3-point baskets and creating turnovers.
The Rams were balanced in their 3-point shooting, too. Non-starter Jessie Viss joined starting guard Lexi Campbell by both making a pair while non-starter Maria Lauron-Ramos and Range each hit for one.
Combined with Range’s strong overall play, St. Mary’s ended up leading 38-32 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Rams put the game away by scoring the first eight points of the half and going on a 16-2 run.
“The pressure eventually got to them and this was a good win,” Gonsalves said. “It was really good that our bench came alive (in the second quarter). It also was good because we won without (starting guard) Onome (Jemerigbe), who has been out since the first quarter of the La Jolla Country Day game.”
Range said the presence of a standout player like Huffman on the floor helped bring out the best in her game.
“You can’t take plays off because you know she can hurt you,” Range said. “I think it was one of my best games. I was finishing a lot better and was playing with more confidence,”
Sophomore forward Charise Holloway added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Rams while senior Regina Camera had 10 points and five steals.
Carondelet sophomore guard Natalie Romeo also helped keep her team in the game and ended with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The two teams may meet again much quicker than six years from now. Carondelet, which lost to Berkeley in last year’s CIF Division I Northern Regional final, has been re-classified for Division II this year, which is the same division as the Rams.
We remember the last time quite clearly in 2006 when a Carondelet team led by former Stanford star Jayne Appel came to Stockton and battled a St. Mary’s squad led by All-American Jacki Gemelos. St. Mary’s won as Gemelos scored 43 points and had nine rebounds and nine assists while Appel had a great game as well. It ended up being the difference between Gemelos being the 2006 Cal-Hi Sports Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year instead of Appel.
During Monday’s 15th annual Martin Luther King Holiday Classic at UC Berkeley’s Haas Pavilion, the two Northern California powers met again. There wasn’t an individual battle like the last time, but it was a statement game for the St. Mary’s team as the Rams defeated Carondelet 73-58.
St. Mary’s, which has won three straight CIF state titles (last year in Division II), improved to 11-3. The Rams should stay at No. 6 in this week’s Cal-Hi Sports state top 20 rankings.
Carondelet fell to 11-3 and needed the win to get back into the top 20. The Cougars are still trying to overcome a loss to Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, which just went into the top 20 last week.
“We scrimmage every year, but we don’t play that often,” said St. Mary’s coach Tom Gonsalves. “We wanted to play them last year and it didn’t work out. We jumped to it this year.”
The individuals that did battle in this game were St. Mary’s junior Courtney Range and Carondelet senior Hannah Huffman. Range led the Rams with 18 points and 13 rebounds while Huffman led all scorers with 21 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
In the first quarter, Carondelet came out strong and took an 8-3 lead. St. Mary’s, as is its custom, answered with made 3-point baskets and creating turnovers.
The Rams were balanced in their 3-point shooting, too. Non-starter Jessie Viss joined starting guard Lexi Campbell by both making a pair while non-starter Maria Lauron-Ramos and Range each hit for one.
Combined with Range’s strong overall play, St. Mary’s ended up leading 38-32 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Rams put the game away by scoring the first eight points of the half and going on a 16-2 run.
“The pressure eventually got to them and this was a good win,” Gonsalves said. “It was really good that our bench came alive (in the second quarter). It also was good because we won without (starting guard) Onome (Jemerigbe), who has been out since the first quarter of the La Jolla Country Day game.”
Range said the presence of a standout player like Huffman on the floor helped bring out the best in her game.
“You can’t take plays off because you know she can hurt you,” Range said. “I think it was one of my best games. I was finishing a lot better and was playing with more confidence,”
Sophomore forward Charise Holloway added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Rams while senior Regina Camera had 10 points and five steals.
Carondelet sophomore guard Natalie Romeo also helped keep her team in the game and ended with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The two teams may meet again much quicker than six years from now. Carondelet, which lost to Berkeley in last year’s CIF Division I Northern Regional final, has been re-classified for Division II this year, which is the same division as the Rams.
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