SBLive’s California Girls Basketball Top 25: No. 1 Etiwanda survives No. 6 Cathedral Catholic

The Eagles came back from down 20 at Cathedral.

Here are SBLive California’s statewide girls basketball rankings for the week of Jan. 25. SBLive’s statewide California high school girls basketball rankings are released every week throughout the season.

1. Etiwanda (18-0 – 1st)

Despite missing one of their top players, St. Mary's commit Daisia Mitchell, Etiwanda came back from a 20-point deficit on the road to defeat Cathedral Catholic in a non-league blockbuster. There are nearly two months left in the season, but they are one of a select few teams starting to separate themselves as legitimate national championship contenders. Etiwanda has quite a weekend ahead with Chino Hills, Bishop Montgomery, and Bonita Vista on the schedule.

2. La Jolla Country Day (16-2)

The Torreys have mown down everyone in sight for nearly six weeks now with victims ranging from Sierra Canyon to St. Mary's (Stockton) to Fremont (Utah) and many more elites. They will continue their roll, now against exclusively local teams, through the end of the regular season.

3. Sierra Canyon (20-1)

The Trailblazers have bounced back from losing the heartbreaker against LJCD by blowing out Orange Lutheran, Campbell Hall, Alaska powerhouse Anchorage Christian, and most recently, red-hot Sage Hill.

4. Carondelet (14-1)

The report on Carondelet is the same for the third straight week or so – its only loss came by six against DeSoto (Texas), which is one of the best teams in the country, and they've beaten nearly all the other Bay Area elites in their other 14 games. Carondelet's last game was a solid 19-point win against Heritage (Brentwood), and bouts with San Ramon Valley and Pinewood will be here before long. Until then, the Cougars stand alone atop the NorCal pecking order.

5. Archbishop Mitty (15-1)

As Carondelet is the clear No. 1 in NorCal right now, Archbishop Mitty is the irrefutable choice for No. 2. The Monarchs have beaten Salesian twice, Valley Christian by 15 points, Saint Francis by 35 points, Oakland Tech by 25 points, and now, Folsom by 29 points. And today is their long-awaited clash against St. Ignatius.

6. Cathedral Catholic (13-3)

Blowing a 20-point lead at home to Etiwanda, in what would've been the biggest win of the year for just about anyone, could not be more crushing. But it's still just a non-league regular season game, and the fact that the Dons played the largely-untouchable Eagles that well means their stock doesn't fall from it whatsoever. Before that, they rattled off an outstanding 11-game winning streak.

7. Clovis West (19-3)

The Golden Eagles are unbeaten in the new calendar year, with Oakland Tech as their latest victim.

8. Salesian College Prep (10-3)

After picking up back-to-back losses against DeSoto (Texas) and Mitty, the Pride responded by routing St. Patrick-St. Vincent and edging out Antelope. Non-league matchups with Folsom and St. Mary's will be huge barometers for Salesian.

9. Corona Centennial (17-5)

Since the close loss against Salesian on Dec. 28, the Huskies have reeled off nine straight wins and counting, with all but one of them being major blowouts.

10. Stockton St. Mary's (11-5)

The Rams' 71-52 win against St. Ignatius on Saturday was one of their best yet.

11. Mater Dei (16-3)

Mater Dei has started 2022 on an excellent nine-game winning streak. Monday's 16-point win against Orange Lutheran left no doubt after they struggled to pull away from them earlier in league play.

12. Pinewood (10-1)

Outside of one class loss against St. Ignatius on Dec. 11, Pinewood has been unbeaten, and firmly in the discussion for best team in NorCal. The Wildcats have two huge non-league games scheduled before the playoffs, versus Carondelet and Bishop O'Dowd.

13. Folsom (18-1)

While the loss to Archbishop Mitty was by 29 points, it's hard to take that away from what the Bulldogs had achieved in their 18-0 start leading up to it – including recent wins against Ontario Christian, Mission Hills, and Oak Ridge (twice).

14. Bishop O'Dowd (9-1)

Bishop O'Dowd struggled to pull away from a couple teams they were expected to beat soundly last week, which isn't a great sign. However, they pulled out the W both times, and get a partial pass for having not played in over three weeks up to that point.

15. Windward (14-6)

Windward responded to getting blown out by the top two teams in the state consecutively by defeating Viewpoint in a close win.

16. Mission Hills (12-6)

The Grizzlies' continued their strong play of late by defeating Rosary Academy 56-49, avenging a loss at the Hope Scholastic Showcase in October.

17. Rosary Academy (11-7)

Despite suffering a close loss against Mission Hills, the Royals have been playing good ball as of late, recently defeating Orange Lutheran and Santa Margarita by double-digits while also beating Chaminade.

18. Camarillo (21-0)

It's the same story every week with the Scorpions. They haven't played any dominant teams yet, but they've done a tremendous job taking care of business against whoever is in front of them.

19. Antelope (11-4)

Debuting at 19 for its major upset win over St. Ignatius, Antelope wasn't playing at an elite level in the first half of the season, but is now firing on all cylinders. While their nine-game winning streak almost got snapped, the Titans nearly knocked off Salesian on Friday.

20. St. Ignatius (12-3)

The Wildcats took a major dive since our last rankings for the loss against Antelope and struggling to keep it close in the loss against St. Mary's. That said, they're still in great position down the stretch if they can get back to bringing their A-game against top opponents.

21. San Ramon Valley (14-2)

With the 11-point loss against Vanden now long behind them, the Wolves are likely to rise if anything from here on out. Their recent 25-point win against Monte Vista was a major statement victory.

22. Oaks Christian (14-2)

The Lions are on a roll now, winning seven straight dating back over a month.

23. Ontario Christian (20-3)

The last few weeks haven't treated the Knights well. A week after the lopsided loss against Cathedral Catholic, they picked up back-to-back losses against St. Mary's and Folsom, with the latter one being a blowout. That said, it was their sixth game of a grueling nine-game stretch, so it's hard to read much into those losses against such good teams.

24. Saint Francis Mountain View (13-3)

The Lancers are another team debuting this week, and they had long been around the bubble. Despite picking up tough double-digit losses against Pinewood, St. Ignatius, and Mitty, they've been lights-out against everyone else, and recently knocked off Valley Christian.

25. Vanden (13-3)

With SI's stock taking a hit, Jan. 15 wasn't a good time for Vanden to lose to the Wildcats by 18 points, but the Vikings have done enough this season to hold onto the last spot with a couple new teams entering the rankings.

Also in consideration:

Oak Ridge, Alemany, Valley Christian (San Jose), Bishop Montgomery, Sage Hill, South Pasadena