California CIF-Southern Section Girls Basketball Top 25 Rankings - Jan. 5, 2025

Brentwood is up to No. 13 after back-to-back statement weeks; Etiwanda is closing the gap on top-ranked Ontario Christian and Sierra Canyon after beating Tualatin (OR) and St. Mary's (Stockton); No. 5 JSerra and No. 7 Sage Hill stay hot; Portola (Irvine) and Oak Hills enter from the bubble

Brentwood School shakes hands at the Cali Live girls basketball event in Ladera Ranch (Calif.) on June 14. / Photo by Lance Smith

Here are High School On SI's CIF-Southern Section girls basketball rankings for the week of Jan. 5.

The rankings will be released every Monday throughout the season.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS: Preseason | Dec. 1 | Dec. 8 | Dec. 15 | Dec. 22 | Dec. 29

1. ONTARIO CHRISTIAN (18-0 – 1st last week)

Business as usual for the No. 1 team in high school girls basketball. Ontario Christian's 76-54 win over Texas powerhouse Summer Creek was, believe it or not, its least lopsided win of the year. The Knights followed it up by beating Oak Park 94-48, Carondelet 100-49, and 89-49. On Saturday it's finally time for Ontario Christian's rematch with a full-strength Archbishop Mitty squad.

2. SIERRA CANYON (13-1 – 2nd)

Sierra Canyon's stock is the highest it's been since the Juju Watkins era. The Trailblazers held off No. 4 Corona Centennial 62-55 to move to 8-0 with three national-caliber wins since Jerzy Robinson returned from an ankle injury that kept her out of the team's first six games. Mission League play will be the same jaunt for Sierra Canyon that it's been for years now.

3. ETIWANDA (13-2 – 3rd)

@Coach_Delus on X

As expected, Etiwanda made its move as soon as the transfer sit-out period was over. The Eagles have taken down Lake Washington (WA), Oregon heavyweights Benson Tech and Tualatin, and Oakland Tech and statewide No. 7 St. Mary's (Stockton) in five games with Tess Oldenburg and Jaylee Moore in action. Etiwanda's sectional ranking is unaffected, but the team is now back to No. 4 in the state with a chance to contend for the top spot down the stretch of the season.

4. CORONA CENTENNIAL (5-1 – 4th)

Sierra Canyon is a legitimate national title contender, and Corona Centennial played the Trailblazers down to a 62-55 finish in the program's first test of this new era. Not the result Centennial wanted, but not bad. The Huskies then went on to beat red-hot No. 17 Clayton Valley Charter 62-49 and Archbishop Riordan 71-48.

5. JSERRA (14-2 – 6th)

It was yet another remarkable week for the Lions, which are now six weeks removed from their 44-40 loss to Villa Park. They beat No. 9 Oak Park 53-48, No. 11 Redondo Union 65-40, and No. 6 Fairmont Prep 51-33 to close the calendar year in style.

6. FAIRMONT PREP (8-8 – 5th)

A bizarre week, and not to the Huskies' benefit, but it only cost them two spots in the statewide rankings and one in the section rankings. After going ballistic on offense in a 109-89 win against Rancho Christian to follow up a slight upset win over Texas' stalwart Summer Creek, Fairmont Prep scored less than one third as many points in a 51-33 loss to JSerra, and that was just the beginning. The Huskies then lost in a major upset to Saint Francis (Mountain View) for the second season in a row by a score of 74-62 and got dismantled 79-54 by Clovis West.

7. SAGE HILL (14-4 – 9th)

Now on quite a nine-game winning streak, and back into our projected Open Division field. With a 67-58 win over previous statewide No. 4 St. Mary's (which fell to No. 7 in the state), the Lightning were clear to pass Oak Park in the rankings despite their 59-56 loss to Oak Park on Jan. 6, which was their last loss. And that wasn't the Lightning's only good win last week – they also won 56-50 against previously unbeaten Oregon powerhouse West Linn and 79-57 over Mission Hills, with Kamdyn Klamberg dropping 31 points in the latter win. Sage Hill's other losses have come against Etiwanda, JSerra, and Sierra Canyon, all of which are higher-ranked.

8. MATER DEI (11-4 – 7th)

Here's a secret: Mater Dei was so good before faltering at the Nike TOC that we assumed 5-star South Carolina commit and senior F Kaeli Wynn was back in action after her status for the season was unclear due to an injury that would ultimately cost her the season. Despite technically falling a spot due to Sage Hill's ongoing run, the Monarchs officially returned to that level of play last week despite opening with a 20-point loss to nationally ranked Tualatin, the top team in Oregon. They regrouped to win 57-42 over a Benson Tech (OR) team that very nearly beat Etiwanda the prior day, then crushed Desert Vista (AZ) 72-20, and then took down nationally ranked Democracy Prep Agassi Campus (NV), which was also missing a star player to injury after upsetting Etiwanda earlier in the season before it occured but is still formidable. Harmony Golightly had 28 points in the win over DPAC.

9. OAK PARK (10-5 – 8th)

It's not often that a team this high up in the rankings loses a game by 46 points and more or less holds its ground in the pecking order, but such is life when you take on Ontario Christian. Before that, the Eagles held off La Jolla Country Day 57-53.

10. RANCHO CHRISTIAN (12-3 – 10th)

Win or lose, few teams anywhere in high school basketball enforce their desired pace as well as Rancho Christian. Despite giving up a whopping 109 points, the Eagles scored 89 in their loss to Fairmont Prep before notching an 84-73 win over a No. 11 Redondo Union team that has held some outstanding offenses to roughly half as many points.

11. REDONDO UNION (8-5 – 11th)

Brutal week for the Sea Hawks, although they've done enough this season to stay at No. 11. They opened with a 65-40 loss to JSerra and an 84-73 loss to Rancho Christian, which isn't enough to move them down. But a 65-31 loss to Francis Parker – despite coming against worthy competition – is cause for concern.

12. VILLA PARK (15-3 – 13th)

Tremendous week for the Spartans, which were coming off their toughest week of the season. They put back-to-back out-of-state losses behind them by winning 56-50 against Oakland Tech, 67-62 against Valencia (Valencia), and 58-28 over Crean Lutheran in their North Hills League opener. Despite their Dec. 6 loss to Santa Margarita, Villa Park could potentially rise several spots just by holding down the fort in league play with a November win over JSerra under their belt.

13. VALENCIA-VALENCIA (13-3 – 12th)

It was a rough week for Priory, which isn't what Valencia needed for its own stock after losing 57-46 to Priory the prior week. With that said, Valencia played solid ball last week, beating a surging St. Joseph (Santa Maria) team 73-54, falling 67-62 to Villa Park, and routing Esperanza 81-54.

14. BRENTWOOD (9-4 – 17th)

Brentwood School shakes hands at the Cali Live girls basketball event in Ladera Ranch (Calif.) on June 14. / Photo by Lance Smith

One of the biggest winners of the week in California was Brentwood, which rose three spots and is on pace to rise further in coming weeks. The Eagles have won seven straight, six of which have come since Dec. 26 when sophomore Windward transfer Mikaella Kawahito became eligible. After making quick work of Flintridge Prep and Colfax the week before, Brentwood cruised past Washington powerhouse Bothell and red-hot Thousand Oaks last week in addition to edging out CIF-NCS heavyweights Piedmont and Cardinal Newman. Kawahito is averaging 11.4 PPG on 16-45 3FG (36%) and helps a bit in the size department too at 5-foot-10.

15. VENTURA (11-4 – 14th)

Ventura fell by one point in its only game to Kenwood, a very good team from Illinois. It's a down year for the Channel League aside from Ventura, so unless they play highly-ranked competition in the Ventura Shootout on Jan. 17, the Cougars are fairly unlikely to be tested until a Jan. 31 non-league game against Mater Dei.

16. SAINT JOSEPH-LAKEWOOD (13-3 – 15th)

While it ended with a 10-point loss to NorCal heavyweight Carondelet, last week wasn't a bad one for the Jesters. Before that loss, they beat Nelson (OR), Jesuit (OR), and Alameda in lopsided fashion, with the Jesuit win being a clear stock-riser. January will be a make-or-break month for the Jesters with Ontario Christian coming up and Del Rey League play being daunting as always.

17. LA SALLE (16-2 – 18th)

How hot are the Lancers? During their current 15-game winning streak, their 46-41 win over Crescenta Valley a month ago was the only one that came by fewer than 12 points. Last week's 55-43 win over Marlborough was the next closest. Given that La Salle's only losses were against excellent Hawaii competition in November, La Salle is clear for takeoff in the rankings if stays unbeaten against in-state competition with Del Rey League play coming up.

18. MORENO VALLEY (7-7 – 16th)

For no fault of its own, MoVal drops two spots during a bye week due to the torrid play of Brentwood and La Salle. The Vikings might have a tough time moving up before the playoffs without many teams nearby in the rankings to beat. Unless they are to upset Etiwanda or Sage Hill in non-league play, their Ivy League matches with No. 10 Rancho Christian are their only real chances to make noise before the postseason.

19. FLINTRIDGE PREP (11-1 – 20th)

The Wolves put up 75 points on both Hamilton (Los Angeles) and Pilibos in blowout wins last week before holding off Saugus 52-45. They're the overwhelming favorite in Prep League play as usual, but Jan. 17 could bring a test against dangerous Troy.

20. SANTA MARGARITA (9-6 – 23rd)

Continuing to move up as teams near them in the rankings slide, the Eagles defeated La Costa Canyon, Spanish Springs (NV), and Rancho Cucamonga last week. Spanish Springs marked arguable their top win of the season besides No. 12 Villa Park.

21. RIALTO (15-3 – 22nd)

The only game Rialto has lost since November was against 13-time defending Central Section champion Clovis West, and we don't expect them to lose until the playoffs. Top wins include Esperanza and Rosary Academy.

22. ESPERANZA (9-9 – 24th)

Esperanza joins Fairmont Prep and Moreno Valley as one of California's best teams without a winning record. The Aztecs haven't provided a ton of resistance to the litany of higher-ranked teams they've lost to this season, but they've taken care of business against pretty much everyone else, including a few top-40 teams in the CIF-SS.

23. PORTOLA-IRVINE (12-5 – Bubble)

Currently on a six-game tear since losing to Esperanza, and the streak started with wins over San Juan Hills and Oak Hills. Portola's only loss to lower-ranked competition came on Dec. 1 by a score of 52-40 to Orange Lutheran, who isn't far behind.

24. OAK HILLS (11-4 – Bubble)

The Bulldogs' last loss was on Dec. 13 to Portola, and fortunately for these Bulldogs, the Portola Bulldogs have stayed hot since then as well. Oak Hills made noise last week with wins over Los Osos and Beckman, the latter of which was fresh off an upset of St. Anthony.

25. ST. ANTHONY (12-2 – 19th)

With previous No. 21 Beckman picking up a win over previous No. 19 St. Anthony – which it lost to by 20 points earlier in the season – sandwiched in between losses to Troy and Oak Hills, the last two spots in the top 25 (and the bubble) were absolute chaos. Especially given that Beckman's upset loss to Troy came by 23 points.

We went with Oak Hills followed by St. Anthony, which entered that game red-hot and is still 1-1 against Beckman this season. There are plenty of equally valid ways that this pie could've been sliced. Had Beckman not sustained those other two losses, St. Anthony's stock wouldn't have fallen too far. St. Anthony's general resume and consistency this season earned the Saints a bit of leeway, and Del Rey League play will arguably give them more opportunity to rise than to fall.

ON THE BUBBLE:

BECKMAN, LOS OSOS, NORTH (TORRANCE), ORANGE LUTHERAN, WINDWARD, TROY, WEST (TORRANCE), MIRA COSTA, THOUSAND OAKS, HARVARD-WESTLAKE, SAN CLEMENTE