Girls basketball: Folsom No. 1 in Sacramento-area rankings entering Tournament of Champions
Sometimes high school teams have to leave the comfort zone of home to get tested in athletics.
Take the Folsom Bulldogs in girls basketball.
The Bee’s top-ranked team is in Arizona this week, competing in a national event, the 26th Nike Tournament of Champions, an event that features powerhouse programs from across the country. The brackets include state-ranked No. 3 Mitty of San Jose and longtime California powerhouse St. Mary’s of Stockton. It is also a haven for college coaches from across the country to attend and recruit.
The event touts itself as the de facto national championship for American girls basketball. It has produced the consensus national champion 21 times in the last 25 years and showcased at least 244 state championship teams while featuring 22 WNBA All-Stars and eight former and current U.S. Olympians.
Folsom got off to a 6-0 start this season under 2022-23 Bee Player of the Year Kamryn Mafua, a senior forward headed to Cal. The Bulldogs own wins over Bee No. 2 McClatchy (64-57), No. 3 Oak Ridge (82-44) and CIF Northern Section top-ranked Pleasant Valley of Chico (70-39).
The Bulldogs have used balanced scoring, 3-point shooting, defense and depth, much like they did last season in winning the program’s first CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship.
Next week, Folsom will play in the top division at the 22nd West Coast Jamboree.
Whitney rolls on: No. 4 Whitney beat No. 6 Colfax 64-43 on Dec. 15 in a nonleague game between defending CIF Sac-Joaquin Section champions.
Whitney, the winner of the Division III field last season, led 10-0 Colfax in the semifinals of the Chavez Christmas Classic in Lincoln, then topped No. 11 Vista del Lago 56-50 in the finals. Stanford-bound forward Harper Peterson again held her own in the post against Colfax, and Tylie Kitchen had 17 points and eight rebounds.
Kitchen is a strong forward who is committed to playing on softball scholarship at San Diego State. Whitney is unbeaten this season against regional competition, falling to powerhouse programs Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa, Buchanan of Fresno and St. Mary’s of Stockton.
Peterson had 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots against Colfax. Against Vista, she had 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
The Sierra Foothill League includes Whitney, Folsom, No. 3 Oak Ridge, No. 9 Rocklin, No. 13 Del Oro and No. 18 Granite Bay.
Kennedy cruisers: No. 14 Kennedy has its best team in some time and has lost three games that could have gone either way.
The Cougars lost 62-61 in overtime to Rocklin, 35-28 to No. 5 Christian Brothers and 55-48 to Thunder Mountain of Alaska, teams that were a combined 17-3 entering Tuesday.
The Cougars under coach Marvin Nakamoto are balanced and defensive minded. In beating Cosumnes Oaks 57-51 on Monday in nonleague play, the Cougars were led in scoring by Kacie Shinmoto and Kaylee Wong, who had 19 and 18 points, respectively.
Kennedy was The Bee’s Team of the Decade for the 2000s under coach Brandon Yung, remained strong under coach Dave Parsh into the last decade and has been competitive under Nakamota since he took over in 2017, though this is his best team. Kennedy expects to be in the Metro League race along with McClatchy, Monterey Trail and Grant.
Tan on fire: Days after McClatchy junior forward Nina Cain went off for a school-record-tying 44 points, Isabel Tan of Cosumnes Oaks set a school mark with 46 points, including 12 3-pointers, in a 90-43 rout of Nevada Union.
A 5-foot-4 senior guard, Tan isn’t just a scorer. She is all over the place. She had nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals against NU, and she has picked up the slack as the Wolfpack have played shorthanded of late with three starters sidelined with injuries.
Cain sidelined: Cain, a national five-star recruit, missed Del Oro’s Takayama Memorial Classic in Loomis due to a concussion suffered in a game, which may sideline her for next week’s West Coast Jamboree.
Lions coach Jeff Ota has challenged his players to step up and seize the opportunity to pick up the scoring and rebounding slack.
Vikings conquer: Pleasant Valley of Chico has certainly left a dent on the regional scene in nonleague action.
PV has wins of 59-39 over Del Oro, 75-22 over Nevada Union, 53-45 over Vista del Lago, 57-48 and 53-44 over Antelope, 53-35 over Woodcreek, and, in the finals of the Monterey Trail Mustang Classic, 36-27 over Oak Ridge.
The local losses are to Folsom (70-39), Oak Ridge (55-53) and Whitney (49-47 in overtime).
AJ Gambol, a 5-9 junior guard, leads the Vikings in scoring at 18.8 points a game. She was the MVP of the Monterey Trail tournament.
Trojan time: After starting the season with losses of 54-35 to St. Francis and 60-48 to McClatchy, the Lincoln Trojans of Stockton have reeled off six consecutive wins, downing five local teams in the process under coach Chris Roemer.
The streak includes wins of 55-53 over Vista del Lago in overtime, 46-28 over Del Oro, 50-33 over Davis, 54-34 over Rocklin and, in the finals of the La Sallian Classic, 66-63 over Christian Brothers as sophomore guard Touraya Blakey scored 22 points, including hitting the game-winning 3-pointer late. Her efforts offset a 24-point game by CB’s terrific junior guard, Aleyah Harmon.
The Bee’s Top 20
Girls basketball
Records entering Wednesday
1. Folsom (6-0)
2. McClatchy (6-3)
3. Oak Ridge (7-3)
4. Whitney (10-3)
5. Christian Brothers (5-1)
6. Colfax (8-1)
7. Antelope (3-3)
8. Grant (10-1)
9. Rocklin (9-2)
10. Monterey Trail (6-2)
11. Vista del Lago (7-5)
12. West Campus (8-2)
13. Del Oro (7-3)
14. Kennedy (7-3)
15. Inderkum (9-2)
16. Lincoln (8-2)
17. Placer (9-5)
18. Granite Bay (7-3)
19. Liberty Ranch (9-3)
20. St. Francis (4-6)
Bubble: Bear River (4-2), Cosumnes Oaks (6-4), Franklin (7-4), Marysville (7-3), Pioneer (10-2), Rio Linda (10-3), West Park (8-4), Woodcreek (4-5).