Prep basketball: Star power leads the way for The Bee’s top-ranked girls and boys teams
Star power.
It resonates at all levels of basketball, right on down to the regional high school ranks.
The Bee’s preseason No. 1-ranked girls team for the 2022-23 season is Folsom. The Bulldogs field their best team in program history with a lineup of skilled players who can also box out and set picks. It’s a far cry from 12 years ago when the Bulldogs were regularly wiped out in league games or players opted out of games to attend birthday parties instead.
The Bee’s preseason No. 1 boys team is also a familiar product, led by a familiar name. Jesuit is paced by the region’s top talent and recruit in Stanford-bound 6-foot-7 guard Andrej Stojakovic, son of one-time Kings All-Star shooter Peja Stojakovic.
The senior averaged 25.3 points last season in scoring every which way imaginable: 3-point shots, midrange jumpers, runners and in the post. He is as skilled and prolific as any player in Jesuit’s proud history, one that includes 11 Sac-Joaquin Section championships, nine CIF Northern California finals appearances, 52 Bee All-Metro players and seven Bee Players of the Year. Marauders coach Tim Kelly has marveled at his star’s gifts and humble nature.
Folsom’s girls are ranked seventh in the state by Cal-Hi Sports and second in Northern California behind national powerhouse Mitty of San Jose.
Folsom coach Lynn Wolking will look for 6-foot wing Charlotte Climenhage to lead the charge as the program faces a national schedule for the first time. That’s the bonus of becoming great. But Climenhage is not burdening the Bulldogs load alone. Another national recruit on the roster is combo guard Ava Rawkins, and the support crew is stellar with versatile players Kamryn Mafua, Sophia Minderman, Brooklyn Perry, Jada Tupou and Ella Uriate.
And more star power: No. 2 Antelope is led by 6-foot, Cal Poly-bound Mary Carter, who last season averaged 24.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.1 blocked shots for a Titans team that played for the CIF NorCal Division II championship. Carter is no one-girl gang, either. She is flanked by guard Ivyana Samilton-Babcock, wing Michelle Rice and forward Naomi Johnson, a 6-footer who is a 3-point specialist. Johnson is the younger sister of Nadia and Nia Johnson, who helped power West Campus to a CIF state championship.
One more titan on a roster of Titans: 6-3 freshman Evelini Smith has already wowed coach Sean Chambers, who said she is, “Outstanding!”
No. 3 McClatchy is powered by 6-1 sophomore Nina Cain, a national recruit who can play any position. She averaged 13.6 points and 7.5 rebounds for the storied Lions of the Metro League.
No. 4 Oak Ridge finished top ranked by The Bee in the final 2021-22 rankings. The program is led by Steve White, the winningest girls coach in Sac-Joaquin Section history with 634 victories entering this season. The Trojans beat Sierra Foothill League rival Folsom in a tremendous section D-I title game at Golden 1 Center. Oak Ridge was the first section team to take the D-I championship since 2007 as St. Mary’s of Stockton had been stuffing its trophy case with all of its winnings.
Oak Ridge graduated Bee Player of the Year Teagan Brown, now on scholarship at Washington of the Pac-12 Conference, but the Trojans never run out of talent. Sophomore Sofia Williams is the next star in El Dorado Hills.
No. 5 Vanden of the Monticello Empire League has been a NorCal power of late under veteran coach Allison Johnson. Her team is led by the versatile Alyssa Jackson, who averaged 19.7 points and 5.7 rebounds last season.
The state’s leading scorer returns for small-school Faith Christian of Yuba City. Guard Audrey Harris averaged 46.3 points last season as a junior, upping her career scoring average to and 33.8.
Jesuit will be bolstered by the transfer of Bee All-Metro guard Kevin Haupt Jr., a guard who averaged 28.1 points as a sophomore last season at Oakmont.
Sheldon finished as The Bee’s top-ranked team last season and starts No. 2 this campaign under veteran coach Joey Rollings, who seeks his program’s eighth section D-I championship, having lost to national power Modesto Chrisitian in the finals last season. Few teams in the state play the sort of intense man defense as Sheldon has over the years. Jesuit and Sheldon will battle for the Delta League championship.
No. 3 Inderkum returns a wealth of talent for coach Fred Wilson, whose team lost in the section semifinals last season to Sheldon. Inderkum is paced by guards Isaiah Chandavong and Jermaine Haliburton and forwards Jalen Green and Logan Steuben, and stand as the heavy favorite to win the Capital Valley Conference.
No. 4 Grant is the two-time defending section D-II champion under coach Deonard Wilson, whose Pacers have been moved up to D-I this winter due to the section’s “sustained success” model. The Pacers will fare just fine in those waters, which include Modesto Christian, Jesuit, Sheldon and Inderkum.
Grant is paced by forward Jordan Bobo and hopes to have El Camino All-Metro transfer guard Kiku Parker this season, though his transfer has been held up and is likely headed to a courtroom to sort it all out.
No. 5 Monterey Trail has its most talented roster and will challenge Grant for Metro League honors. Long Beach State-bound guard Varrick Lewis is back after averaging 23.7 points, as is forward Kentrell Kelly. Guard Ben Rosenborough is a four-star national recruit junior who started his prep career at Sacramento High and played part of last season at Prolific Prep in Napa. He is now attending his neighborhood school Monterey Trail, where older siblings graduated, but he, too, has not been cleared yet by the CIF.
Folsom is ranked sixth and includes key players Justin Ard, Cade Petersen and CJ Willenborg. The Bulldogs and longtime coach Mike Wall have gone 46-5 in the Sierra Foothill League over the past five seasons.
Defending CIF State D-II champion Elk Grove graduated just about everyone, including Bee Player of the Year Ameere Britton, but Bee Coach of the Year Dustin Monday still expects to compete. The Thundering Herd is ranked 10th.
The star power can be found even at the smallest schools. Sacramento Adventist Academy has been a small-school power under coach Scott Tedmon, and he credits a lot of that to the Beaman family, including 6-2 senior guard/forward Braeden Beaman, who averaged 23.2 points last season. His older brother, Breckin, set scores of school game, season and career records.
THE BEE’S TOP 20
Girls
With last year’s record
1. Folsom 26-4
2. Antelope 26-7
3. McClatchy 20-7
4. Oak Ridge 25-6
5. Vanden 26-4
6. Christian Brothers 23-6
7. Whitney 15-15
8. Monterey Trail 18-9
9. Vista del Lago 26-4
10. Grant 17-11
11. Lincoln 30-4
12. Del Oro 23-9
13. Cosumnes Oaks 20-8
14. St. Francis 14-12
15. Colfax 26-6
16. Granite Bay 15-13
17. Rocklin 13-13
18. Inderkum 16-13
19. Placer 19-11
20. Yuba City 15-10
Bubble teams: Bear River 23-3; Capital Christian 18-12; El Dorado 21-8; Marysville 22-6; Natomas Pioneer 17-11; Sacramento Adventist 26-7; Valley Christian 22-3; Wood 13-11.
THE BEE’S TOP 20
Boys
With last year’s record
1. Jesuit 14-14
2. Sheldon 22-11
3. Inderkum 28-3
4. Grant 25-4
5. Monterey Trail 11-16
6. Folsom 24-7
7. Capital Christian 17-10
8. Granite Bay 19-14
9. Vanden 21-13
10. Elk Grove 28-6
11. Rocklin 15-15
12. Liberty Ranch 29-6
13. Ponderosa 27-1
14. Whitney 24-9
15. Antelope 23-6
16. El Camino 21-9
17. Rio Americano 17-12
18. Oak Ridge 16-12
19. Sacramento 16-13
20. Placer 22-8
Bubble teams: Bella Vista 18-9; Burbank 19-10; Center 18-9; El Dorado 11-17; Franklin 9-18; Laguna Creek 13-12; Lincoln 19-8; Oakmont 19-9; Pioneer 19-8; Pleasant Grove 16-13; River City 15-12; Sacramento Adventist 11-17; Sacramento Waldorf 17-5; San Juan 16-10; Twelve Bridges (first varsity season); Union Mine 23-9; West Campus 16-10, Woodcreek 10-16.
This story was originally published November 24, 2022 at 6:00 AM.