Top 25 California Girls High School Basketball State Rankings - Jan. 12, 2026

Ontario Christian and Archbishop Mitty remain No. 1 and No. 2 after their epic battle at the Kay Yow Classic; JSerra and Sage Hill rise yet again; Central East's upset of Clovis West shakes up the rankings

Kaleena Smith, the nation's top-ranked 2027 girls basketball player, scored 24 points and had seven assists, leading national No. 3 Ontario Christian to a 93-45 win over Millennium in the first day of the of the Sabrina Ionescu Showcase at Carondelet High School. Mitty will play in the second national showdown with Ontario Christian Saturday two weeks after the the Monarchs thumped the Knights 59-34. Ontario Christian is hoping for a major turnaround. / Photo: Dennis Lee

It doesn't get much better than the top two teams in the state – if not the country – duking it out in an instant classic for top of the pecking order. Last week was action-packed with exactly that, and much more, in California high school girls basketball.

Here are High School On SI's California top 25 girls basketball rankings for the week of Jan. 12.

The rankings will be updated every Monday throughout the season.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS: Preseason | Dec. 8 | Dec. 15 | Dec. 22 | Dec. 29 | Jan. 5

1. ONTARIO CHRISTIAN (20-0 – 1st last week)

The Knights are still undefeated after their biggest, most challenging, and most exciting game of the regular season. Kaleena Smith dropped 50 points to lead them to a 96-87 double overtime victory against Archbishop Mitty on Saturday, scoring the last 11 points of the game after Ontario Christian trailed by 12 points halfway through the fourth quarter. Tati Griffin totaled 20 points and 18 rebounds, and Dani Robinson had 16 points and eight rebounds.

2. ARCHBISHOP MITTY (12-2 – 2nd)

Despite the disappointing finish, Archbishop Mitty's stock is probably even higher now after it nearly knocked off unbeaten Ontario Christian. McKenna Woliczko recorded 25 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks on 10-17 shooting, Ze'Ni Patterson scored 21 points, and all five of the Monarchs' starters scored in double figures.

3. SIERRA CANYON (16-1 – 3rd)

A big upset outside of California just made Sierra Canyon's highest-ranking win of the season quite a bit more valubale. The Trailblazers won 59-48 against Missouri juggernaut Incarnate Word Academy – the team that had the longest winning streak (141 games) in high school girls basketball history before losing to Etiwanda a year ago – on Dec. 19, and Incarnate Word just surged in many national rankings by upsetting Long Island Lutheran (NY). Meanwhile, Sierra Canyon made quick work of Chaminade, Lousiville, and Mission Hills last week.

4. ETIWANDA (17-2 – 4th)

The Eagles made it look easy against a few of the Southern Section's better teams last week. They beat Los Osos, Villa Park, Moreno Valley, and St. Lucy's with the least lopsided finish being their 69-49 win over Villa Park.

5. ST. MARY'S-STOCKTON (12-2 – 7th)

Back in the top five with Corona Centennial and Clovis West going down. The Rams play Victory Christian Academy, Colorado heavyweight Denver East, and red-hot Christian Brothers at home this weekend (and next Monday) hosting the MLK Day Classic.

6. SAN RAMON VALLEY (12-2 – 8th)

Now on an eight-game tear against Carondelet in one of California high school basketball's top rivalries. The Wolves won 58-48 in their only game last week to take an early stranglehold of the EBAL standings.

7. JSERRA (16-2 – 9th)

The Lions are up to seventh as their amazing run, including 13 wins in their last 14 tries and eight consecutive wins, continues. Last week started with a 10-point win over nationally ranked Corona Centennial and concluded with their first particularly close call at getting upset, a 75-73 win over Flintridge Prep in which they trailed by 10 points in the third quarter. When was the last time JSerra was the heavy favorite entering Trinity League play?

8. SAGE HILL (16-4 – 12th)

Sage Hill started Pacific Coast League play with a bang, blowing out Laguna Hills 92-28 and Portola (Irvine) 73-45. On Tuesday it looks to hand Rosary Academy its first ever loss in PCL play after the Royals left the Trinity League.

9. SAINT FRANCIS-MOUNTAIN VIEW (14-1 – 10th)

Higher yet do the Lancers climb. They blew out Notre Dame (San Jose) in their non-league finale and Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep in their WCAL opener.

10. CLOVIS WEST (17-2 – 5th)

After a dazzling 16-0 start to the season, the Golden Eagles have lost two of three including an absolute shocker in their only game of the week, 50-45 at home to Central East in TRAC play. One could understandably argue that they should drop farther, but they've beaten so many outstanding opponents this season that for now they stay above Central East.

11. FAIRMONT PREP (10-9 – 11th)

Fairmont Prep is above .500 against one of the toughest schedules in the nation despite having health problem after health problem for most of the season. If the Huskies get healthy and stay healthy down the stretch, they'll probably prove to be much better than No. 11 in the state. Last week was one of the Huskies' better ones as they defeated Corona Centennial 47-45 and La Jolla Country Day 67-52 with a blowout loss to Archbishop Mitty.

12. CORONA CENTENNIAL (8-3 – 6th)

The Huskies slide substantially for week-opening losses to JSerra and Fairmont Prep, but they did manage to win three games – including two against ranked opponents – to enter this week with some momentum. They annihilated Norco 96-8 in their Big VIII League opener before defeating Valencia (Valencia) 60-57 and Brentwood 68-54.

13. MATER DEI (14-4 – 13th)

It appears that the Monarchs have found whatever footing they entered the season with before struggling in the second half of December. They are on a five-game winning streak with wins over excellent competition, most recently Caruthers and Francis Parker, entering a challenging slate of Orange Lutheran, Christ the King (NY), and Sacred Heart Academy (CT).

14. OAK PARK (12-5 – 14th)

Saturday brought one of Oak Park's best wins of the season, a 63-44 rout of Redondo Union.

15. CARONDELET (13-4 – 15th)

The skid against rival San Ramon Valley continues, but Carondelet is still 13-0 this season against teams not ranked in the top eight in California.

16. RANCHO CHRISTIAN (14-3 – 16th)

It was just another day at the office last week as Rancho Christian blew out Canyon Springs 112-24 and Lincoln (San Diego) 86-40.

17. CENTRAL EAST (9-6 – 25th)

Talk about starting the new year with a bang. After 10 days away from action, Central East went to Clovis West and delivered a 50-45 upset to the 13-time defending CIFCS champion. Tuesday's battle with Buchanan should be another great game.

18. CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER (10-5 – 17th)

The Ugly Eagles have won a season-best four games in a row after defeating Marin Catholic, Mt. Diablo, and Windward last week, with the latter win coming by one point. This week brings another non-league test, Archbishop Riordan.

19. CARUTHERS (9-5 – 18th)

Last week's only game was a 55-39 loss to No. 13 Mater Dei. Not ideal, but certainly not worth sliding much in the rankings over. If Caruthers wants to make any more major noise before the playoffs, it'd have to be an upset of St. Mary's (Stockton) on Jan. 24.

20. FRANCIS PARKER (9-4 – 20th)

Like Caruthers, Francis Parker also happened to fall by double digits to Mater Dei over the weekend at the Kay Yow Classic. Before that, the Lancers routed Victory Christian Academy and Torrey Pines.

21. CLOVIS (10-8 – 21st)

Talk about a statement win. With Buchanan and Central East getting a lot of hype lately about potentially disturbing the incumbent TRAC hierarchy, Clovis went into the house of rival Buchanan and won 65-46.

22. VILLA PARK (16-4 – 24th)

The Spartans thrashed a solid El Dorado (Placentia) foe 68-25 in North Hills League play before falling 69-49 to Etiwanda.

23. BUCHANAN-CLOVIS (16-3 – 19th)

Time for the Bears to dig deep. They lost 65-46 to Clovis at home and are about to face Central East and Clovis West with an opportunity to either flip TRAC play on its head or fall to 0-3.

24. REDONDO UNION (9-6 – 22nd)

All of a sudden, the Sea Hawks have dropped five of their last six. They did get a nice 68-53 Bay League win over West (Torrance) under their belt last week before losing by a similar margin to Oak Park.

25. MISSION HILLS (7-7 – 23rd)

Can't fault Mission Hills much for losing 78-40 to Sierra Canyon. The Grizzlies probably won't be able to boost their stock much in North County - Palomar League play with most of the conference having a down year, but next Monday they get a crack at Colorado stalwart Denver East.

ON THE BUBBLE:

PRIORY, VALENCIA (VALENCIA), BRENTWOOD, VENTURA, LA SALLE, SAINT JOSEPH (LAKEWOOD), BISHOP O'DOWD, PINEWOOD, MORENO VALLEY, PIEDMONT, LA JOLLA COUNTRY DAY, ANTELOPE, CARDINAL NEWMAN