Monterey Trail and Rocklin headline Top 20 boys basketball rankings for Sacramento area
Two teams that went a combined 29-30 last season are the top-ranked high school boys basketball teams as the season starts to warm up.
Holiday tournaments dot the schedules and league play across the Sacramento region is set to begin next month. The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section basketball championships are in late February at Golden 1 Center and UC Davis. The state championships will be held March 8-9 at Golden 1.
How can two programs not used to being ranked this high be here now? Top-ranked Monterey Trail of the Elk Grove Unified School District and No. 2 Rocklin of Placer County return a wealth of players, including two Bee Player of the Year candidates, and veteran coaches who sensed a surge would happen this winter.
Monterey Trail is off to an 8-0 start entering Wednesday and No. 2 Rocklin is 13-0.
Monterey Trail has never been ranked No. 1 in this sport by The Bee. The Mustangs are led in part by 6-foot-5 senior wing Brandon Gibson, who can score inside and out, rebound and defend the perimeter. Monterey Trail’s roster includes 6-5 wing Ahzeil Franklin and key cogs Derron White and Rashawn Inglemon.
“We’re expecting a big season,” Gibson said. “We have a lot of experience and we’re hungry.”
The Thunder is fueled by 6-8 junior post Mark Lavrenov, who can score inside and outside, crash the boards and defend. Rocklin recently won the Kaimuki Invitational in Honolulu, a trip that included visits across the island and the beaches. For two Thunder players, the trip was a homecoming. Kainoa Marasco and Kanyon Rice played in front of a lot of family.
Monterey Trail lost a heartbreaker at Jesuit in a section Division I playoff opener last season, a game the Marauders won at the buzzer off a putback. The Mustangs did not box out and have worked on that fundamental ever since under coach Robert Fields.
Monterey Trail tied for the Metro League championship last season with Laguna Creek and Grant, now ranked ninth and 15th by The Bee, respectively. The Mustangs opened this season with an 82-68 win over Sacramento and have won two tournaments, including their own Mark Macres event on campus. Gibson is averaging 21.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists
Rocklin hails from the Sierra Foothill League, which includes No. 7 Folsom and 500-game winning coach Mike Wall; No. 8 Del Oro and multi-sport star Caden Pinnick; No. 12 Oak Ridge and 6-7 national football recruit Kaleb Edwards; and No. 17 Granite Bay, which reached the Sac-Joaquin Section finals last season under veteran coach Jason Sitterud before graduating guard Yaqub Muir, The Bee’s Player of the Year, who is now at San Diego.
The Thunder went 14-16 last season and fell hard to powerhouse Inderkum in the D-I playoffs, 99-40.
More top-ranked teams
Jesuit is ranked third with returning key cogs in guards Kevin Haupt and Ahjani Lewis and 6-8 forward Cole Epperson.
No. 4 Sheldon features guards Jaden Spears and Jaden Woodard. No. 5 Capital Christian is led by forward Marcellas Jackson and guards Jaylen Valdez and CJ Willenborg a transfer from Folsom.
No. 6 Franklin will compete with defending champion Jesuit and longtime regional power Sheldon for Delta League honors under longtime coach Ken Manfredi. The Wildcats are 10-1, including wins of 57-48 over St. Mary’s of Stockton, 63-52 over Granite Bay, 44-24 over Ponderosa and 71-58 over Oak Ridge.
No. 7 Sacramento is the defending section Division III champion, led by guards Sir Marius Jones and Kendahl Hearne and powerfully built 6-6 forward Shobal Barksdale..
No. 10 Laguna Creek is led by guards KJ Ramey, Jalen Flenory and 6-1 freshman Jaylan Virgil, who leads the team in scoring at 15.7 points.
No. 13 Placer is 10-1 under first-year coach Nate Swesey, a longtime assistant under Mark Lee, who led the program for three decades before retiring at the end of last season. Swesey is a 1996 Placer graduate who was on Lee’s first team in 1996. Sacramento High also has a new coach who slid over from the assistant coaching spot. Sidney Duplessis took over for 2022-23 Bee Coach of the Year Matt Johnson.
Benney Ambriz leads bubble-ranked Casa Roble in scoring at 25.3 points a game. Nate Sweet is also a prolific guard to look for at Union Mine, averaging 24 points. Jagger Beck, a 6-6 quarterback and pitcher, is averaging 23 points and 11.6 rebounds for Sutter.
Twelve Bridges, with its first senior class, features versatile 6-7 UC Davis-bound forward Jacob Gilchrist.
The Bee’s Top 20
(records entering Wednesday)
1. Monterey Trail (8-0)
2. Rocklin (13-0)
3. Jesuit (4-3)
4. Sheldon (3-2)
5. Capital Christian (2-2)
6. Franklin (10-1)
7. Sacramento (5-3)
8. Folsom (2-3)
9. Del Oro (6-2)
10. Laguna Creek (6-1)
11. Ponderosa (3-2)
12. Oak Ridge (7-3)
13. Placer (10-1)
14. Inderkum (4-2)
15. Grant (1-3)
16. Christian Brothers (7-4)
17. Granite Bay (4-6)
18. Woodcreek (7-3)
19. Cosumnes Oaks (6-0)
T20. Whitney (4-5)
T20. Rio Americano (4-2)
Bubble (alphabetical order): Antelope (4-3), Bradshaw Christian (4-2), Burbank (5-3), Casa Roble (5-2), Colfax (7-1), El Dorado (8-4), Futures (5-1), Kennedy (6-3), Natomas (4-2), Nevada Union (8-3), Roseville (5-1), Twelve Bridges (6-2), Union Mine (8-1), Vacaville (6-4), West Park (6-4).
▪ Coaches, stat keepers: Keep us updated with team and player achievements, milestones, records, Prep of the Week nominations, etc. Email jdavidson@sacbee.com.
This story was originally published December 14, 2023 at 5:00 AM.