The Bee’s Top 20 rankings: League races underway for Sacramento-area HS teams

The holiday tournaments are over. The nonleague games are down to a sprinkle dotted across the rest of the schedule.

Otherwise, it’s “go time” for the Sacramento-area high school boys basketball teams with league play tipping off this week.

In recent seasons, the Sierra Foothill League was the top collection of teams in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section, including last year.

The 2024-25 section champions included SFL members Folsom in Division I and Rocklin in Division III with Jesuit overcoming a last-second section loss to Rocklin to roar back and take the CIF State Division II championship.

Folsom, Jesuit, Whitney, Del Oro in SFL race

The SFL is still stacked with Folsom, ranked third this week in The Sacramento Bee’s Top 20 rankings, followed by No. 7 Jesuit, No. 12 Whitney, No. 14 Del Oro and bubble-ranked teams in Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills and Granite Bay.

Folsom and longtime coach Mike Wall are coming off a bracket championship at the elite Damien Classic behind the efforts of versatile leaders Parks Weaver, Joven Dulay and Jack Shull. Jesuit is a misleading 6-6 with no local defeats amid a grueling schedule under 2024-25 Bee Coach of the Year Tim Kelly. Jesuit plays decades-long rival Christian Brothers on Saturday night at Golden 1 Center in a nonleague clash after SFL games this week against Del Oro, Granite Bay and Whitney, which is 11-3 with no local losses under veteran coach Nick French.

Del Oro of Loomis is 9-4 after an uncharacteristic 9-19 showing last season. The Golden Eagles have two losses this winter to Placer and one to Antelope with wins over Woodcreek and Rio Americano behind guards Mikey Root and Brendan Hawkins and impressive freshman big man Keyaan Moula.

Sheldon, Franklin lead Delta

The Delta League is also stacked, headed by Bee top-ranked Sheldon and No. 2 Franklin, both of the Elk Grove Unified School District.

Under longtime coach Joey Rollings, Sheldon is 12-3 with no local losses and with ranked wins over Vanden of Fairfield and Destiny Christian of Sacramento. The Huskies are coming off of an elite-level tournament championship behind event MVP Baron Sabir, a 6-foot-5 junior scorer averaging 24.3 points. Sabir is flanked by Zech Beatty (13.7 points), Tae Carter (12.8) and KJ Brooks (7.9 rebounds).

Franklin and longtime coach Ken Manfredi is 14-1 with a loss only to Bay Area-ranked Monte Vista of Contra Costa County. Franklin is fueled by fourth-year varsity starting guard Aiden Rollins, the program’s all-time career scorer. The Wildcats have ranked wins over Woodcreek, Oak Ridge, Rio Americano and Granite Bay and plays at Bee No. 13 Monterey Trail on Friday night and at Sheldon on Jan. 21.

Red-hot Placer heads FVL race

Ranked fourth by The Bee behind three large-school Division I programs, the Division III Placer Hillmen of Auburn are 16-1 and loom as the favorite to win the Foothill Valley League that includes contenders in No. 20 Twelve Bridges of Lincoln, Nevada Union, Roseville and others.

Placer is led by star guards Kannon Rector and Emmett Rose. The ranked wins for the Hillmen: Del Oro, Rocklin, Antelope, Natomas and Granite Bay with a loss to Bay Area powerhouse Dublin of Alameda County.

CVC race includes CB, Inderkum, Woodcreek

The Capital Valley Conference race will include Bee-ranked No. 6 Christian Brothers, No. 8 Inderkum and No. 15 Woodcreek. Christian Brothers is the defending section Division III champions. The Falcons and inspiring coach Jermaine Brown has one local loss, to Antelope.

Behind leading scorers Braedon Hennelly, Joaquin Mucero-Mattis and Jaden DeJesus-Eves, Christian Brothers is 9-4. CB opened CVC play with a 54-40 effort over defending league champion Inderkum, which is led by first-year coach Kevin Pham. The 10-5 Tigers are led by leading scorers Jaeden Goodman and LJ Chadwick.

Woodcreek of Roseville is coached by longtime leader Drew Hibbs, a two-time CIF State championship coach with Foothill of Sacramento. The Timberwolves are paced by relentless guard Zack Bualat and fourth-year varsity starting big man Max VanLaningham, who signed a letter of intent to play at Long Beach State. Woodcreek has ranked losses to Granite Bay and McClatchy by a total of five points, a 6-point setback to Del Oro and an 11-point win over Folsom, all in nonleague play.

Metro race features Antelope, McClatchy, DCA, Grant

The Metro League also figures to be a great race. No. 5-ranked Antelope is 14-2 with a 1-point loss to Inderkum and a 13-point setback to Placer and ranked wins over Rio Americano, Christian Brothers, Rocklin, Del Oro and Casa Roble. The Titans are led in scoring by senior guard Malichai Brown at 20.2 points per game. He made 10 3-pointers against Casa Roble. Ezrah Kaheaku averages 11.3 points and a team-best 7.1 rebounds.

Also in the Metro: No. 10 McClatchy of the Sacramento City Unified School District, No. 11 Destiny Christian and Grant of Del Paso Heights.

McClatchy is 10-3, its best start in years. The Lions were a powerhouse in the 1980s and early 1990s and are back in the groove under coach Tony Vaughn with no local losses. Key players include guards Jordan Boyce, Kai Bradford and Gene Castillo. DCA made a section and NorCal championship run last season under coach Michael Lorente, now heading the American River College of Sacramento men’s basketball program. New DCA coach and familiar face Rich Sondhi has suffered just one local loss, to Sheldon last week, and are paced by guard Frederick Blue and forwards Mohamed Kamara and Myles Wiggins.

Grant under longtime coach Deonard Wilson is 9-3, which includes an early 4-point win over Folsom. The Pacers are led by fourth-year starting guard Andre Gomez, freshman Marvin Crump and senior Cobe Jones.

MEL race includes Vanden, Sacramento

No. 9 Vanden is 9-3 with local losses to Sheldon and Inderkum and a schedule that has included teams from out of state. The Vikings are paced by guards Templeton Fountaine V and James Carraway.

The No. 16 Sacramento Dragons of Oak Park are a misleading 5-7, having endured a challenging early schedule with just one local loss, by 11 to Folsom, with competitive setbacks to Bay Area powerhouse programs Serra of San Mateo, De La Salle of Concord and Bellarmine of San Jose.

Sac High is led by senior guards and co-captains Jamare Garrison and Damare Taylor and impressive 6-foot-8 freshman guard/wing William Phillips.

GEL race features Casa Roble, Natomas

Casa Roble under coach Nathan Gilbert last season stormed to the first section championship in the history of the school, which opened in Orangevale in 1966, and the Rams expect to again battle Natomas for the Golden Empire League crown. Casa Roble and Natomas tied for the title last season.

No. 19 Casa Roble (9-4) is led by senior team captains Tariq Lofton, Ace Villegas and Mateo Velasquez. No. 17 Natomas is paced by guards Aeron Wallace, Alfred Jenkins and Manno Jenkins and Jaylen Russell and forward Marcus Harris. The Nighthawks are 4-7 with close ranked losses to McClatchy, Inderkum, Monterey Trail and Place, and they showed how good they can be with an 87-71 nonleague win over Grant on Saturday as Jenkins and Wallace combined to score 43 points.

THE BEE’S TOP 20

(Records through Sunday)

1. Sheldon (12-3)

2. Franklin (14-1)

3. Folsom (9-4)

4. Placer (16-1)

5. Antelope (14-2)

6. Christian Brothers (9-4)

7. Jesuit (6-6)

8. Inderkum (10-5)

9. Vanden (9-3)

10. McClatchy (10-3)

11. Destiny Christian (9-5)

12. Whitney (11-3)

13. Monterey Trail (7-6)

14. Del Oro (9-4)

15. Woodcreek (10-5)

16. Sacramento (5-7)

17. Natomas (4-7)

18. Grant (9-3)

19. Casa Roble (9-4)

20. Twelve Bridges (14-2);

Bubble: Rocklin (9-5); Oak Ridge (9-5); Rio Americano (10-5); Colfax 11-3; Granite Bay (6-8); Nevada Union (12-5); Sutter (12-3).