CIF State 2025 girls basketball championships: Game by game previews, top players

What you need to know for each California girls basketball state championship game on Friday and Saturday in Sacramento.

Etiwanda’s Grace Knox helped to guide the Eagles to a fourth straight CIF Southern Section Open Division final with a win over Mater Dei Saturday night. / Tarek Fattal

The stage is set. One last game for all the marbles.

The CIF State high school basketball championships will be held on Friday and Saturday in the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, home of the NBA's Sacramento Kings.

Some teams are familiar with the big stage. Etiwanda and Mitty, for instance, are facing off in the Open Division final for the third straight year. Etiwanda has won the previous two. This will be Mitty's fifth Open final appearance in seven seasons. The Monarchs are seeking their first Open crown but have won six other championships at other levels.

Here's an official study guide for this weekend's two days of championships, looking at each girls team and matchup ahead of the CIF State title games — highlighting tidbits of info and top players to watch.

FRIDAY, MARCH 14

10AM - Division V: Rosamond (29-7) vs. Woodland Christian (30-6)
WATCH: NFHS

ROADRUNNERS: Rosamond is on a 14-game winning streak heading into the state championship game. The Roadrunners are the CIF Central Section Division 5 champions led by six players that average more than eight points per game. Abigail Cardoza leads the team in scoring (12.3ppg).

CARDINALS: Woodland Christian started the season 2-5 but has since won 28 of 29 behind a balanced scoring attck led by senior Teagan Hayes (14.4 ppg). Sophomore post Siena Sorbello (11.9 ppg) and senior PG Keziah Maldonado-Lemus (11.2 ppg, 7.0 assists) per game are a big reason why the Cardinals average nearly 60 points per game.

Woodland Christian has rebounded from some down years with some major upswings, starting with seasons of 5-19, 6-17, 6-18 starting in 2007-08, then rising to 25-4, 22-3 and 25-5 starting in 2012. The program headed back down to 5-20 and 11-14 in 2015-16 and 2016-17, then swung back up at 24-5, 23-7 in 2017-18 and 2018-19, before eventually a North turn in 2021-22, going 21-8, 22-8, 27-6 and now 30-6.

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2PM - Division III: Mater Dei Catholic (21-13) vs. Marin Catholiic (25-11)
WATCH: NFHS

CRUSADERS: It’s all about junior Promise Martin, who averages a double-double every night. Martin averages 15 points, 11 rebounds and five steals per game for the Crusaders. Jordyn Worley is tallying eight points and eight rebounds per game.

Mater Dei Catholic qualified to the state tournament after reaching the San Diego Section Division 1 semifinals.

WILDCATS: Making its first trip back to a state game since 2002, when future WNBA player Brooke Smith led them to a 66-48 victory over St. Bernard of Playa del Rey. These Wildcats, coached by Kayden Korst, are very balanced. They've won 11 of 12 led by Izzy McFadden, Brooke Spagnuolo and Sienna Frazier, who combined for 45 points in a 65-54 regional final win over Justin-Siena of Napa.

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6PM - Division I: Sage Hill (23-11) vs. Carondelet (29-6)
WATCH: NFHS

LIGHTHING: Sage Hill was in the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs where it took on juggernauts like Sierra Canyon and Ontario Christian, but it prepared the Lightning for the CIF State Division I tournament. Sage Hill beat Windward in the regional final.

Top players are junior Amalia Holguin (14 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds per game) and sophomore Kamdyn Klamberg (12.9 points per game).

COUGARS: Coached by Kelly Sopak, who notched his 500th career win earlier this season is 515-97 in 20 seasons with previous stops at Northgate (94-20) and Miramonte-Orinda (304-52), where he coached in his only other state title game, an 80-71 Open Division loss to Chaminade-West Hills. It was the last prep game for Sabrinia Ionescu, who played for Sopak since she was 8.

This Carondelet team, without a senior on its roster, arrived early, winning its regional final behind freshman guard Niylah Christopher (12 points, nine rebounds), junior wing Layla Dixon (11 points, eight rebounds), sophomore forward Celeste Alvarez (eight points, 12 rebounds) and Olivia Smith and Sophia Ross, a pair of 5-foot-8 guards, and 5-9 sophomore Janel Navares who ombined for 23 points. 

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SATURDAY, MARCH 15

10AM - Division IV: Whitney (27-9) vs. Half Moon Bay (23-7)
WATCH: NFHS

WILDCATS: Champions of the 605 League, Whitney of Cerritos is on a remarkable run highlighted by a stout defensive stand in the final minutes of its regional final victory over Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary, 47-42, in comeback fashion. Whitney lost to CSHM in the sectional semifinals before holding CSHM scoreless in the last six minutes in the rematch, which grants the program its first-ever CIF State final.

Sophomore Alyssa So had 22 points in the win. Senior Haylie Wang scored 10 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter.

COUGARS: Half Moon Bay really caught its stride following a 55-45 CCS loss to Harker with four tough regional wins over St. Patrick-St. Vincent (52-45), West Campus (52-47), Rio Linda (58-40) and a wild back-and-forth 49-47 championship win over Lowell as Zoey Lemoge had 14 points, Delaney Dorwin 13 and Xochitl Nieves 11. Half Moon Bay, which offset a 25-point performance from Lowell's Patriceia Walsh.

This is only the sixth 20-win-plus season for the Cougars since 2004. Lemoge (17.1 ppg, 10.0 rpg), a 6-1 junior post, and Dorwin (15.0), a 5-8 senior, are the only HMB players who average double-digit scoring.

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2PM - Division II: Rancho Bernardo (26-7) vs. Caruthers (25-6)
WATCH: NFHS

BRONCOS: Rancho Bernardo hails from San Diego and is led by junior Lindsey Biddle, who’s scoring 19.1 points per game. The Broncos were the No. 8 seed in the San Diego Section Open Division and lost in the opening round before dropping into the Division II CIF State playoffs.

BLUE RAIDERS: The defending D3 champions moved up to D2 and are led by 5-8 junior Emmi Almeida, who is the daughter of head coach Anna Almeida. Of the team's six losses, five came against teams that were ranked in the state Top 25: Acalanes (68-45), Bishop O'Dowd (55-41), Ventura (42-34), McClatchy (64-49) and Clovis (68-64). Caruthers is beyond motivated to repeat as champions while playing for late assistant coach Larry Triguero, who passed away unexpectedly last month.

Emmi Almeida goes up for a layup in Caruthers' 54-48 state-championship win over Granada Hills Charter in 2024. Almeida had 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the game. / Photo: Dennis Lee

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6PM - Open Division: Etiwanda (27-5) vs. Mitty (27-3)
WATCH: NFHS

EAGLES: Etiwanda will be making its third straight CIF State Open Division final appearance on Saturday night, and if they win, it would mark history. No program (boys or girls) has won three straight Open Division titles. After falling to Ontario Christian in the Southern Section Open Division final, the Eagles’ experience has anchored yet another state final appearance.

Led by two McDonald’s All-Americans, Puff Morris and Grace Knox, and savvy coach Stan Delus, Etiwanda will be tough to beat — especially after beating Mitty in 2023 and 2024.

MONARCHS: When national Freshman and Sophomore Player of the Year McKenna Woliczko went down with a season-ending torn ACL on Jan. 4, most figured the Monarchs wouldn't get back to this game. But for the fourth straight year, the Monarchs will represent the North in the Open Division game thanks to accelerated play from freshman center Maliya Hunter and all around play from Emma Cook, Devin Cosgriff, Ze'Ni Patterson and more.

Coached by Sue Phillips, the second winningest coach in state history at 846-142, who was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame last spring, the Monarchs have gone 6-9 in state finals appearances.

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