Prep girls’ basketball: Holy Hoops canceled, Dixon enters rankings and SFL play starts

Holy Hoops, the annual basketball game between St. Francis and Christian Brothers, might be the top event for regular season girls’ basketball in the Sacramento area.

In normal years, both sides have a packed house, with students dressing up in costumes and face paint. All events between Jesuit, St. Francis and Christian Brothers are a big deal.

Holy Hoops was supposed to play out last week at St. Francis, but the game was canceled for the second season in a row due to COVID-19. Both teams didn’t play last season because of the shortened season.

The last time the game was played was two years ago. Christian Brothers coach Shandyn Foster feels for her varsity players who haven’t had that experience.

“It’s very sad,” Foster said. “They had a few COVID cases. We have not, as of yet, knock on wood.”

She added, “We suggested rescheduling the game in a couple of weeks but St. Francis didn’t want to do it. Not sure why. It’s year two that we do not get Holy Hoops. (It’s) the biggest game of the year. I have seniors who have not gotten to experience a varsity-level Holy Hoops. I feel for them.”

St. Francis athletic director Mark McGreevy said in a statement last week, “In light of the current surge in COVID cases in our region and in consultation with the leadership teams of both schools, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the Holy Hoops games scheduled for this Saturday. The health and wellbeing of our students and our community ultimately led to this decision as well as the desire to preserve, as best as possible, healthy rosters to compete in our respective league schedules.”

St. Francis announced Monday its games against Cosumnes Oaks and Davis this week would be postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the program.

Other schools are dealing with cancellations

McClatchy is another team that is currently dealing with COVID-19 issues in its program.

The Lions had to postpone games last week against Monterey Trail and San Ramon Valley. McClatchy coach Jeff Ota hopes the game against Monterey Trail can be rescheduled for Jan. 17, which is Martin Luther King Jr. day.

“We are going to start up next week, hopefully,” Ota said.

McClatchy is scheduled to play Burbank, Kennedy and Laguna Creek this week.

No. 18 Rio Linda also had two games postponed last week. The Knights were scheduled to open up Foothill Valley League play against Placer last Monday and had a game schedule against Pioneer for Tuesday. According to the Rio Linda athletic department, the game against Placer will be rescheduled.

Sierra Foothill League play starts

The Sierra Foothill League, which is considered by many to be the best basketball conference in the section, started league play last week.

All six teams in the SFL are ranked in The Bee’s Top 20, including four in the top 10. The Bee’s top-ranked team, Folsom, survived a scare against No. 3 Del Oro last week. The Bulldogs trailed 30-23 at halftime, but a strong performance by freshman Sophia Mindermann helped Folsom beat Del Oro 62-52 to stay undefeated.

No. 4 Oak Ridge opened SFL play with a statement. The Trojans beat No. 16 Rocklin 66-40 behind 27 points from star guard Teagan Brown and strong contributions from Sofia Williams, Ella Ray and Jessica Crannell.

Granite Bay started league play on a positive note, beating No. 13 Whitney 43-32. The 10th-ranked Grizzlies the following day played at Golden 1 Center and beat Rio Americano 63-42.

Lincoln moves up

Lincoln has looked like a different team since losing the Chavez Tournament championship in overtime to Whitney on Dec. 18.

Since that game, the 11th-ranked Zebras have won seven in a row and have won all of those games by double digits.

Lincoln opened up Foothill Valley League play with blowout wins over Nevada Union and Placer. Katie Leeth, Maya Hodge, Madison Barr-Zeltvay and Lauren Holcomb have been contributors for the Zebras.

Dixon enters rankings

For the first time this season, Dixon has entered The Bee’s rankings.

After the Rams lost their first two games of the season against Whitney and Pleasant Valley of Chico, they have won 10 of 11.

Dixon has wins over Franklin, Woodcreek, Bella Vista and Ukiah, whom they beat in the West Coast Jamboree tournament final.

The Bee’s Top 20

Girls’ basketball

Records entering Monday

1. Folsom 12-0

2. Laguna Creek 9-1

3. Del Oro 14-2

4. Oak Ridge 12-4

5. Vista del Lago 10-2

6. Vanden 8-2

7. Colfax 15-2

8. McClatchy 6-4

9. Christian Brothers 13-3

10. Granite Bay 15-4

11. Lincoln 14-2

12. Grant 11-4

13. Whitney 11-7

14. Antelope 5-3

15. Monterey Trail 10-3

16. Rocklin 9-5

17. Bear River 12-0

18. Rio Linda 12-0

19. Dixon 10-3

20. St. Francis 7-5

Bubble Teams (in alphabetical order): Cosumnes Oaks (9-6), Del Campo (9-7), El Dorado (12-6), Franklin (6-9), Inderkum (7-9), Marysville (13-2), Pioneer (9-5), Rio Americano (8-9), West Campus (0-0), Yuba City (10-3)

This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 9:56 AM.