The Bee’s girls basketball Top 20: Powerhouse Folsom tops first rankings of the season
The Sacramento-area high school girls basketball scene includes a lot of familiar faces from last season’s banner season, starting with the Folsom Bulldogs. They top The Sacramento Bee’s tip-off girls basketball rankings for the fifth consecutive season.
Leading the pack for the large-school powerhouse in the CIF Sac-Joaqiuin Section is senior guard Ava Rawlins, who has overcome leg injuries to prepare for a final prep hurrah before playing on scholarship at UC Santa Barbara.
Rawlins is joined by fellow senor leaders Dixie McLanahan, headed to Air Force, Jada Tupou and Pacific-bound Sophia Mindermann to give coach Lynn Wolking a balanced and experienced team.
Folsom towers as the team to beat again in the Sierra Foothill League and will be challenged in a national tournament in Florida in the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational.
Bee No. 2 McClatchy is led by reigning Bee Player of the Year Nina Cain, a 6-foot-1 senior forward headed to the Washington Huskies on scholarship as the Lions again stand as the heavy favorite to win the Metro League. Cain averaged 23.4 points and 9.6 rebounds for a 26-6 team. McClatchy’s roster also includes returning All-Metro guard Norret Lewis, who has signed with Northridge.
The talented No. 3 Vanden Vikings of Fairfield will make another run at a section championship under spirited coaches in the wife-husband co-coaching operation that is Allison and Jake Johnson. Their team is led by Calonni Holloway and La’Miracle Lebon.
But there are injuries dulling the overall good vibe.
No. 4 Oak Ridge, a contender in the SFL, is without returning All-Metro guard and Pacific-bound Liv Yergernsen, sidelined with a knee injury.
No. 18 Vista del lago of Folsom is without all-time program scorer and 2023-24 Bee Medium School Player of the Year Ella Skrzyniarz. She averaged 21.4 points and 8.4 rebounds for the school’s first section championship team. She also has a knee injury.
No. 5 Colfax seeks a third consecutive Northern California championship, the small-school wonder in Placer County with homegrown talent for 40 years of hoops excellence fielding another strong cast.
Last season’s Bee Small School Player of the Year is from Colfax: pesky and versatile senior guard Kaia Diederichs. A star in soccer and flag football, Diederichs is flanked by a tremendous supporting cast under coach Rexanne Simpton, including Juliette James, Madalyn Sigrist and Laurlyn Massick, each of them able to handle the ball, score and defend.
No. 6 Whitney went 23-10 last season, beating Vanden in the section finals and losing to McClatchy in an overtime thriller in a CIF NorCal playoff round, under Bee Large School Player of the Year Harper Peterson, now on scholarship at Stanford. But last season’s Bee Coach of the Year, Sydney Gatson, has returning players Tylie Kitchen, Kendall Dykstra, and Natalia Benavidez. Those players are defined by their versatility.
The No. 7 Antelope Titans are led by guard Tiana Spain and No. 8 Christian Brothers is fueled by one of the most dynamic guards in the state in Aleyah Harmon, who is joined again by guards Joy Omishakin and Olivia Novi and forward Journey Williams.
No. 9 Grant is off to a 7-1 start this season with returning Bee All-Metro forward/center Asia Washington averaging 17.6 points and 11.2 rebounds for a team that will challenge McClatchy in the Metro League. No. 10 Monterey Trail is poised to make a run in the Delta League under coach David Whitsett and a lineup of defenders.
No. 11 Ponderosa is led by guard Brooklyn Nordquist, who averaged 18.8 points last season and is coming off a spectacular senior season of flag football, where she quarterbacked the Bruins of Shingle Springs to a 25-0 season.
Other returning All-Metro players this season include: The Bee’s Smallest School Player of the Year Lauren Harris of Faith Christian in Yuba City (she averaged 31.2 points and 13.5 rebounds); Sacramento State-bound guard Jamiah Fontenberry of No. 12 Inderkum; guard La Ne Dunn of Sacramento; guard Ryan Nair of Woodcreek; guard Kate Myers of Pleasant Grove; guard Kacie Shinmoto of No. 13 Kennedy; and guard Ysabella Von Seipler of No. 14 Del Oro.
The Bee’s Top 20
(With last year’s record)
1. Folsom (26-6)
2. McClatchy (26-7)
3. Vanden (25-9)
4. Oak Ridge (26-8)
5. Colfax (34-3)
6. Whitney (23-10)
7. Antelope (21-9)
8. Christian Brothers (23-7)
9. Grant (23-8)
10. Monterey Trail (17-11)
11. Ponderosa (22-8)
12. Inderkum (22-7)
13. Kennedy (17-10)
14. Del Oro (16-13)
15. West Campus (22-8)
16. Rocklin (15-14)
17. Lincoln (24-6)
18. Vista del Lago (23-9)
19. Liberty Ranch (23-6)
20. Cosumnes Oaks (17-12)
Bubble: Bear River (23-8), Cosumnes Oaks (17-12), Davis (17-13), Faith Christian (26-6), Marysville (23-5), Pioneer (25-4), Pleasant Grove (12-16), Rio Linda (24-6), Sacramento Adventist (26-7), St. Francis (22-7), Valley Christian (21-8), West Park (15-13), Woodcreek (16-13), Woodland Christian (27-6).