Top 25 California Girls High School Basketball State Rankings - Jan. 20, 2026

Mission Hills leaps a whopping 18 spots for upsetting San Ramon Valley; Ontario Christian is still No. 1 despite losing its undefeated bid; Sage Hill rises yet again; Mater Dei's hot streak finally pays off in the rankings; Priory, Moreno Valley, Ventura, and Valencia (Valencia) come back from the bubble

Mission Hills' Bay Cardova handles the ball in a game against Fallbrook. / Rudy Schmoke

The rankings are in utter chaos after a slew of upsets last week, including Mission Hills over San Ramon Valley, Santa Margarita over JSerra, and Archbishop Riordan over both Clayton Valley Charter and Saint Francis (Mountain View).

Here are High School On SI's California top 25 girls basketball rankings for the week of Jan. 19.

The rankings will be updated every Monday throughout the season.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS: Preseason | Dec. 8 | Dec. 15 | Dec. 22 | Dec. 29 | Jan. 5 | Jan. 12

1. ONTARIO CHRISTIAN (22-1 – 1st last week)

The Knights' perfection ended with a 57-55 loss to fellow national title contender Bishop McNamara (MD) at Hoophall Classic, the same team that beat Archbishop Mitty at Nike TOC. As for the state and section level, however, that doesn't drop Ontario Christian's stock at all. Ontario Christian did bounce back by beating New Jersey powerhouse St. John Vianney 78-70 and has a chance on Monday to deeper entrench itself in the national title race when it faces Long Island Lutheran (NY), which is 1-1 against Bishop McNamara and just beat Sierra Canyon 70-60.

2. ARCHBISHOP MITTY (13-2 – 2nd)

From a national title contention standpoint, one of the biggest stakeholders in Ontario Christian's battle with Bishop McNamara was Mitty. The Monarchs lost 53-50 to Bishop McNamara at Nike TOC without McKenna Woliczko and lost to Ontario Christian with her back in the fold before Ontario Christian's loss. But from a standpoint of state rankings, the Monarchs are untouched. They thrashed St. Ignatius 66-26 in their only game of the week.

3. SIERRA CANYON (18-2 – 3rd)

Like Ontario Christian, Sierra Canyon doesn't move down after taking a loss to one of the best teams in the country at the Hoophall Classic. It fell 70-60 to Long Island Lutheran (NY) despite a 33-point double-double from Jerzy Robinson. That was the Trailblazers' first loss of the season with her in the lineup.

4. ETIWANDA (20-2 – 4th)

Now on 12-game winning streak capped off by last week's 72-44 win over St. Joseph (Lakewood).

5. SAGE HILL (18-4 – 8th)

Speaking of long winning streaks, Sage Hill has won 13 straight since a 59-56 loss to Oak Park on Dec. 6. It is, however, coming off a near-upset, a 67-62 win against Moreno Valley.

6. ST. MARY'S-STOCKTON (14-2 – 5th)

The Rams were stellar defending the home court as host of the MLK Day Classic in a 72-31 annihilation of an excellent Colorado foe, Denver East. They look to keep it going on Monday against fast-rising Christian Brothers.

7. MISSION HILLS (10-7 – 25th)

Mission Hills' Bay Cardova handles the ball in a game against Fallbrook. / Rudy Schmoke

From 25th to seventh in one fell swoop this late in the season? Mission Hills entered last week 7-7, but five of its seven losses were against top-five teams in California, one was against Washington powerhouse Davis, and the other was against La Jolla Country Day, which it avenged shortly thereafter. 25th felt way too low for the reigning CIF-SDS Open Division champions, but they didn't have any high-ranking wins this season despite the fact that all of their losses were respectable. Clearly, the schedule worked itself out, and they came up clutch from beyond the arc to take down San Ramon Valley 73-72.

8. SAN RAMON VALLEY (15-3 – 6th)

Another dominant team with a surprising upset this month, San Ramon Valley's outstanding six-game tear ended with a 73-72 loss to Mission Hills despite 30 points and 10 rebounds from Ella Gunderson.

9. MATER DEI (17-4 – 13th)

Whereas a lot of teams' seasons are a tale of two halves, Mater Dei's has been a tale of two identical portions consisting of just under half the season separated by a brutal Nike TOC showing, and that blip is now a month into the past. When the Monarchs went 1-3 at the TOC and got rolled by Tualatin (OR) the next week at the Nike POA Holiday Classic, it seemed that a return to the top nine within a month would be impossible even if they won out from there. But with everyone else getting upset, here we are. Mater Dei's eight-game tear includes wins over Benson Tech (OR), Democracy Prep Agassi Campus (NV), Caruthers, Francis Parker, and most recently, Christ the King (NY) and Sacred Heart Academy (72-32).

10. FRANCIS PARKER (12-5 – 20th)

This season has been so odd and unpredictable for ranked teams that Francis Parker just jumped from 20th to 10th despite recently losing by double digits to last week's No. 13 team (which is now No. 7). The Lancers cruised past Fairmont Prep 75-56 in their only game of last week and could make a world of noise this week with Etiwanda, La Jolla Country Day, and Corona Centennial on deck.

11. CLOVIS WEST (20-2 – 10th)

With so much chaos among California's top teams, Clovis West still is safely within the vicinity of the top 10 just 10 days after falling at home to Central East. Last week it let out some frustration with a 118-20 annihilation of Clovis East, then defeated Buchanan (Clovis) 61-52, and finally routed Folsom 81-47 in non-conference play.

12. JSERRA (17-3 – 7th)

The close call against Flintridge Prep did turn out to be a bad omen as the Lions were upset 47-43 by traditional rival Santa Margarita in their next game to lose their Trinity League opener. That marks the second time this season Santa Margarita posed a thorn in JSerra's side, as JSerra's Nov. 22 loss to Villa Park only weighed the Lions down for so long in the rankings because Villa Park was upset not long afterwards by none other than Santa Margarita. Fortunately for JSerra, many of the other heavyweights in this part of the rankings also fell in the last couple of weeks, and JSerra can return to well inside the top 10 with a strong showing throughout the rest of Trinity League play.

13. FAIRMONT PREP (10-10 – 11th)

The roller coaster ride continued with a 75-56 loss to Francis Parker in the Huskies' only game of the week. Saint Francis (Mountain View)'s loss to Archbishop Riordan would've plummeted Fairmont in the rankings under normal circumstances, but the Huskies were not at full strength when they fell 74-62 to Saint Francis earlier this month so we'll give them some grace given all their big wins this season.

14. CORONA CENTENNIAL (10-3 – 12th)

It turns out that the Huskies' meeting with Francis Parker on Saturday will give them ample opportunity to rise in the rankings. All three of Centennial's losses were against excellent teams, but unfortunately for the Huskies, JSerra and Fairmont Prep cooled off since beating them.

15. OAK PARK (14-5 – 14th)

One spot past the section of the rankings that's been defined by continual chaos, Oak Park has steadily maintained its spot in the rankings for a while. It'll need to win on Saturday to keep that up, however, with No. 16 Carondelet coming to town.

16. CARONDELET (14-4 – 15th)

It turns out that Carondelet's battle with Oak Park is a matchup of two teams that have been neck-and-neck in the rankings for a while. Carondelet also has a potential test before then on Monday against Bothell, a strong Washington team that lost 46-32 to Brentwood in its only battle against California competition.

17. CENTRAL EAST (11-6 – 17th)

As if beating Clovis West on the road weren't enough of a statement, Central East followed it up by winning 77-34 a Buchanan (Clovis) team that played Clovis West to a single-digit finish that same week – a Buchanan team the Bengals lost to earlier this season as well. While we still have Central East behind Clovis West for now due to results from November and December, we wouldn't argue with anyone who calls Central East the favorite to make it 2-0 against the Golden Eagles next Tuesday at home.

18. CLOVIS (10-8 – 21st)

Sticking with the TRAC theme, Clovis enjoys a rise of a few spots following a 3-0 week with some other teams falling. The Cougars' schedule has been so tough that a week in which it faced Clovis North, Clovis East, and Cardinal Newman will somehow go down as one of its "easiest" of the season. Now the Cougars jump back in the fire for a defining eight-day stretch in which they play Clovis West, Central East, and Buchanan (Clovis).

19. BUCHANAN-CLOVIS (16-5 – 23rd)

Last week was such a strange one in the rankings that Buchanan rises four spots despite losing two of its biggest games of the regular season. The teams it lost to, Central East and Clovis West, are both higher-ranked, and Buchanan's track record is still very clean despite the fact that its 0-3 start to TRAC play is deflating after a tremendous non-league run. The Bears did manage to play Clovis West to a single-digit finish on the road immediately after getting dismantled by Central East.

20. PRIORY (9-5 – Bubble)

When this section of the rankings got crowded, Priory just barely got pushed to the bubble even without taking an upset loss. So after a big week on the court, Priory got its top-25 spot back and then some with the rankings in chaos. The Panthers started West Bay – Foothill play with a bang by blowing out Notre Dame (San Jose) and edging out Pinewood 40-39 before cruising past Bishop O'Dowd 50-33 in non-league play.

21. MORENO VALLEY (12-9 – Bubble)

Like Priory, MoVal reentered the top 25 in a big way, but for the Vikings it was due to an upset win: 95-86 over Rancho Christian with an Ivy League title on the line. The rematch on Jan. 30 will be must-see TV. Later in the week, Moreno Valley crushed Valley View and then gave No. 5 Sage Hill all it could handle in a 67-62 loss.

22. RANCHO CHRISTIAN (16-4 – 16th)

Even with the deflating MoVal loss, Rancho Christian still has a particularly clean 2025-26 track record. It bounced back to destroy Hemet 113-19 and gets a crack at Moreno Valley at home on Jan. 30.

23. VENTURA (17-4 – Bubble)

Ventura came back to the top 25 with a statement by beating Redondo Union 59-47.

24. REDONDO UNION (11-7 – 24th)

For now, the Sea Hawks retain their spot despite the loss to Ventura and a general cooling off as of late. While they haven't beaten any higher-ranked teams, they're also ranked behind every team they've lost to and they've beaten a slew of other tough teams.

25. VALENCIA-VALENCIA (17-4 – Bubble)

Valencia is back in the top 25 as well despite a relatively quiet week with a lot of strong teams going down. In its only games last week, it thrashed Golden Valley (Santa Clarita) and Santa Monica by a combined score of 150-37.

ON THE BUBBLE:

BRENTWOOD, VILLA PARK, SAINT FRANCIS (MOUNTAIN VIEW), SAINT JOSEPH (LAKEWOOD), SANTA MARGARITA, LA SALLE, ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN, PIEDMONT, BISHOP O'DOWD, CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER, CARUTHERS, LA JOLLA COUNTRY DAY, CHRISTIAN BROTHERS, PINEWOOD, ANTELOPE, CARDINAL NEWMAN, ESPERANZA