SBLive’s California Girls Basketball Top 25: No. 1 Etiwanda and No. 10 St. Mary's (Stockton) face off

No. 4 Carondelet was our biggest riser for the second straight week.

Here are SBLive California’s statewide girls basketball rankings for the week of Jan. 3. SBLive’s statewide California high school girls basketball rankings are released every Monday throughout the season.

1. Etiwanda (9-0 – 1st)

The Eagles took a bye-week after winning the Nike Tournament of Champions' top division in Arizona.

2. Sierra Canyon (11-0 – 2nd)

The other indisputable top-two team in the state, Sierra Canyon also took a bye-week following a gold medal at the Doc Larson Roundball Classic.

3. La Jolla Country Day (11-2 – 3rd)

LJCD took a week off from games too.

4. Carondelet (9-1 – 11th)

After jumping five spots to start last week, Carondelet rises a whopping seven in this week's rankings. That's what happens when you beat Bishop O'Dowd, beat Archbishop Mitty (by double-figures), and nearly knock off arguably the second-best team in the country, DeSoto (Texas).

5. Cathedral Catholic (8-2 – 4th)

After a bye-week, the Dons open league play this week against El Cajon Christian, and face Corona Centennial on Saturday as well.

6. Clovis West (13-3 – 6th)

At the Sandra Meadows Classic in Texas, Clovis West easily took care of business of three decent but overmatched teams, dropped a close one against a great Plano (Texas) squad, and lost 77-48 to nationally-elite Conway (Arkansas). Put it all together – and factor in that five games in three days is a lot – and that showing doesn't move the needle positively or negatively for us.

7. Archbishop Mitty (10-1 – 8th)

Despite picking up its first loss of the season on Wednesday, Mitty moves up for beating Oakland Tech by 25 and Salesian for the second time in three weeks – this time by double-digits. It did lose to Carondelet, but factor in the strong stock of both Carondelet and Salesian, and Archbishop Mitty is in the conversation for the top five.

8. Salesian College Prep (8-3 – 10th)

While their rematch with Mitty was a letdown and they also had a 17-point loss on the week, The Pride actually move up two spots. That's because the 17-point loss came against one of the absolute best teams in the country in DeSoto, Mitty is ranked above Salesian, and Salesian just picked up a huge 77-68 win against Corona Centennial.

9. Corona Centennial (9-5 – 5th)

The Huskies' loss against Salesian hurt their stock a lot, but they bounced back in outstanding fashion to defeat San Joaquin Memorial by 24 points.

10. Stockton St. Mary's (7-4 – 7th)

St. Mary's didn't play last week, but still drops three spots? That's result of Archbishop Mitty, Salesian, and Carondelet all picking up monumental wins, and Centennial – which defeated the Rams last time the Rams played – dropping four spots.

11. Mater Dei (7-3 – 9th)

Despite having a rough December, MD will still be the colossal favorite when it opens league play this week against 14-1 Orange Lutheran.

12. St. Ignatius (8-1 – 12th)

With only one loss coming by one point against Carondelet, SI is sitting pretty heading into WCAL play.

13. Pinewood (5-1 – 13th)

Pinewood, the other heavy favorite to make the CIFCCS finals, just had a statement week, blowing out Los Altos (Los Altos) and Marin Catholic, and defeating Saint Francis (Mountain View) by double-digits.

14. Bishop O'Dowd (6-0 – 15th)

Between a 15-point win over Oakland Tech and losing by only seven to Carondelet – which is destroying everyone in its path right now – it was a nice week for the Dragons.

15. Windward (12-4 – 14th)

The Wildcats having intriguing non-league games scheduled in the next few weeks including JSerra, La Jolla Country Day, and Viewpoint.

16. Folsom (11-0 – 16th)

Folsom opens SFL play this week against Del Oro, and that matchup is looking a lot more interesting now that Del Oro is 12-1 with an upset win over Heritage (Brentwood).

17. Rosary Academy (4-5 – 17th)

The Royals open Trinity League play on Tuesday against Orange Lutheran. While they are below .500 and OLu is 13 games above the mark, this has a great chance to be a signature win for Rosary.

18. Camarillo (17-0 – 18th)

Camarillo continues to mow down very-good-but-not-great competition, and looks to be on pace to run away with an unbeaten regular season. 5-star SF Gabriela Jaquez continues to put up unbelievable numbers: across four games in four days last week, she put up 152 points and 79 rebounds.

19. Ontario Christian (9-0 – 19th)

Speaking of numbers that are hard to wrap one's head around, 4-star G Chloe Briggs is 0.2 APG away from averaging a 25-point triple-double this season, also on an unbeaten team. The Knights just picked up by far their most impressive win of the season, a 24-point victory against Cajon.

20. Oaks Christian (10-2 – 20th)

Oaks, which is still unbeaten against California teams, defeated Pacifica (Oxnard) by 15 points in its only game last week.

21. Mission Hills (7-3 – Unranked)

The Grizzlies, which started the season ranked in our top 20, have only lost against Etiwanda, La Jolla Country Day, and arguably the top team in Nevada, Spring Valley. After last week, their wins include Orangewood Academy, Long Beach Poly, Sage Hill, and some good out-of-state competition.

22. Vanden (8-2 – Unranked)

Another team debuting as we stretch the rankings out to 25, Vanden has emerged as a full-blown contender in the Sac-Joaquin Section. The Vikings' only losses came narrowly against New York powerhouse Bishop Loughlin and Valley Christian, and they've beaten Chico and San Ramon Valley by double-digits.

23. San Ramon Valley (10-2 – Unranked)

After losing by 27 against Pinewood and 11 against Vanden in early December, it wasn't clear what the deal was with an SRV team that came into the season with sky-high expectations. Now it's clear that Vanden is excellent and Pinewood is still Pinewood, and the Wolves have already racked up a bunch of great wins this season, beating Cardinal Newman, Oakland Tech, and Nevada powerhouse Desert Oasis all by 26, beating Bonita Vista by 28, and defeating Palo Alto, Bishop Montgomery, and Santiago (Corona) by double-digits as well.

24. Valley Christian (10-2 – Unranked)

So far this season, the Warriors have played Salesian down to single-digits, beaten Alemany by 18 points, routed Cardinal Newman, and defeated Vanden. They did drop their second-to-last game by four points against Moreau Catholic, but they rebounded by defeating Nevada heavyweight Bishop Manogue decisively.

25. South Pasadena (13-1 – Unranked)

With its only loss coming against Ontario Christian, South Pas debuts at 25 with its signature win this season coming 60-57 against Alemany.

Also in consideration:

Santa Margarita, Sage Hill, Bishop Montgomery, Roosevelt (Eastvale), Orangewood Academy, Alemany, Moreau Catholic