California CIF-Southern Section Girls Basketball Top 25 Rankings - Feb. 23, 2026

The top four seeds advance to the Open Division semifinals; top-ranked Ontario Christian is a heavy favorite against Sage Hill while Etiwanda and Sierra Canyon enter an evenly matched duel in the playoffs once again

Arynn Finley of Etiwanda finished with game-high 21 points in the California (CIF) State Open Division title game at the Golden 1 Center. / Photo by Ralph Thompson

Here are High School On SI's CIF-Southern Section girls basketball rankings for the week of Feb. 23.

The rankings will be released every Monday throughout the season.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS: Preseason | Dec. 1 | Dec. 8 | Dec. 15 | Dec. 22 | Dec. 29 | Jan. 5 | Jan. 12 | Jan. 19 | Jan. 26 | Feb. 2 | Feb. 9 | Feb. 16

1. ONTARIO CHRISTIAN (30-1 – 1st last week)

Tati Griffin erupted for 44 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and three steals on 17-24 FG as Ontario Christian blew out Fairmont Prep 114-50 to advance to the CIF-SS Open Division semifinals. It'll be the heavy favorite against Sage Hill, which enters on a 21-game winning streak.

2. SIERRA CANYON (28-2 – 2nd)

Held off a close test from Corona Centennial for the second time this season before walloping Mater Dei 79-38 to advance to the Southern Section Open Division semifinals. It's time for yet another battle between Sierra Canyon and Etiwanda, and this one has a chance to be as good as any of them.

3. ETIWANDA (30-2 – 3rd)

The Eagles haven't lost since the transfer sit-out period ended and made a statement in the CIF-SS Open Division quarterfinals with an 87-36 rout of red-hot Rancho Christian. It seems to be the perfect time for another heavyweight playoff battle with Sierra Canyon, this time in the section semifinals.

4. SAGE HILL (27-4 – 4th)

Sage Hill's 22-game winning streak will be put to the test in the Southern Section semifinals against No. 1 Ontario Christian. It's tough to know what to expect, but if Sage Hill brings its A-game, it's hard to rule out the Lightning from giving Ontario Christian a competitive game.

5. MATER DEI (24-7 – 5th)

Mater Dei didn't bring its A-game to the Southern Section playoffs on offense, winning narrowly over Redondo Union before falling 56-45 to Sage Hill and 79-38 to Sierra Canyon. Additionally, the Ventura team it recently lost to was just upset by Windward, and that also doesn't help the Monarchs' stock.

6. OAK PARK (20-9 – 6th)

Oak Park seriously came to play in its inauguration to the CIF-SS Open Division. It followed up its surprising 23-point rout of Corona Centennial by nearly taking down Sage Hill, which it beat earlier in the season before the Lightning found their groove, falling 59-58.

7. CORONA CENTENNIAL (19-5 – 7th)

The Huskies did manage to give Sierra Canyon a run for its money again, but to no avail, losing 59-54. Southern Section Open Division play wasn't totally fruitless for them, however, as they finished with a 66-55 win over Saint Joseph (Lakewood).

8. FAIRMONT PREP (17-14 – 8th)

Health permitting, Fairmont Prep could be in line for a big playoff run if it ends up in the Division I state bracket. Ontario Christian dismantled the Huskies 114-50 in their only game last week.

9. RANCHO CHRISTIAN (23-8 – 9th)

Rancho Christian is another Southern Section Open Division team that could plausibly earn a top seed in Division I for state and make some serious noise. It fell 87-36 to Etiwanda in the quarterfinals after its massive win over JSerra.

10. JSERRA (20-8 – 10th)

Suffice to say that JSerra lost whatever it had rolling for most of the regular season in the last few weeks. But just about nobody will want to play the Lions in the state playoffs if they simply get their offense clicking again. They handled Redondo Union 50-43 to close their first CIF-SS Open Division appearance.

11. REDONDO UNION (17-12 – 13th)

Aside from a close loss at less than full strength to Bishop Montgomery, Redondo has consistently beaten any lower-ranked challengers. Despite their mediocre record, we aren't ready to drop the Sea Hawks for playing an elite schedule and making the CIF-SS Open Division where they managed to push Mater Dei and JSerra until the end.

12. VALENCIA-VALENCIA (28-4 – 14th)

Up to its highest ranking of the year, and one win away from a Southern Section Division 1 title. After the Vikings took down Troy and Windward last week, only La Salle stands in the way.

13. SAINT JOSEPH-LAKEWOOD (21-8 – 15th)

Like Redondo, Saint Joseph actually moves up two spots despite going 0-3 in CIF-SS Open Division play with some D1 teams dropping.

14. LA SALLE (28-4 – 16th)

La Salle is still yet to lose this season to any California team that isn't in the Southern Section Open Division. If that remains true for one more game, the Lancers will be Division 1 champions. They stifled Villa Park 50-45 and Moreno Valley 48-40 to earn their spot in the finals against Valencia.

15. VENTURA (26-5 – 11th)

Lower-ranked Windward has been an anomaly with player availability causing major fluctuations in level of play from week to week. Ventura's fantastic season appears to be over with a 48-45 CIF-SS D1 quarterfinals loss, but with its full 2025-26 season to be considered, Ventura would still be a top-25 team in California in our book if it had more games to play.

16. MORENO VALLEY (19-12 – 12th)

MoVal ran out of gas with a semifinals loss to La Salle, but it did enough to qualify for state playoffs.

17. BRENTWOOD (23-7 – 17th)

The top-ranked team amongst the contingent of D1 squads that have already been out of the postseason for a week now.

18. WINDWARD (18-13 – 21st)

Like we said last week, Windward's ranking will continue to take some tough losses from earlier in the season into account, but this team could just keep winning and rising as long as it's relatively healthy. Windward kept its roll going with a 48-45 upset of state-ranked Ventura, which had been nearly untouchable for months on end going in.

19. VILLA PARK (23-87 – 18th)

One of a few legitimate D1 contenders who were sent home by the staunch defense of La Salle. This might be the end of an era for Villa Park as it says goodbye to its elite senior class, which is headlined by guards Olivia Sturdivant and Bailey Roczey.

20. SANTA MARGARITA (18-11 – 19th)

All remaining teams in the rankings have been eliminated from the Southern Section D1 playoffs.

21. ESPERANZA (19-10 – 20th)

Season complete.

22. FLINTRIDGE PREP (23-4 – 22nd)

Season complete.

23. TROY (22-9 – 23rd)

After upsetting Los Osos and Brentwood, Troy even put a serious scare into rock-solid Valencia before coming just a couple buckets short of a semifinals berth and spot in the state playoffs.

24. RIALTO (23-4 – 24th)

Season complete.

25. ORANGE LUTHERAN (19-9 – 25th)

The Lancers' run ended with a quarterfinals loss to Moreno Valley.