Bee’s Top 20: Sizing up potential Sacramento-area girls basketball CIF finals
Only one week remains in the girls basketball regular season in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section.
Final regular season games will wrap up on Friday and postseason brackets for all six divisions will be announced on Saturday afternoon from the section office in Elk Grove, with a bracket-release show starting 1:30 p.m.
Outbracket games are Feb. 16, with first-round action on Feb. 17.
Section quarterfinals will be held on Feb. 19, semifinals on Feb. 24 and championship games on Feb. 27-28 at Golden 1 Center, home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.
Which Sacramento-area teams have a shot at being some of the top seeds?
St. Mary’s loaded in Division I
St. Mary’s of Stockton seems to have a clear path to the No. 1 seed. The Rams have 22 blue championship section banners, the most of any program in the section, and have produced multiple McDonald’s All-Americans. St. Mary’s is led by senior Evelini Smith, junior Kori Rogers, sophomore Amani Rafiq and freshman Dylan Horton. Coach Alle Moreno is a Sacramento State graduate who set Hornets 3-point records in 2013.
Following the Rams are Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills and Folsom, two Sierra Foothill League titans making a late regular-season push. The Trojans, under first-year head coach Briana Dulgar, have won 14 straight games entering this week and can win the SFL outright with a victory over Del Oro on Tuesday. Their regular season closes Friday at home against Folsom, which has won five straight.
Lincoln of Stockton, defending Division I section champion McClatchy, Vanden of Fairfield, Cosumnes Oaks of Elk Grove and Inderkum, among others, are all in the conversation for first-round home games in the large school bracket.
Christian Brothers, Antelope lead Division II
The Sacramento Bee’s top-ranked Christian Brothers and No. 4 Antelope are the frontrunners, according to divisional rankings on MaxPreps (the section seeding committee relies heavily on such rankings). The Falcons and Titans are led by terrific coaches in Shandyn Foster and Sean Chambers, respectfully.
Del Oro of Loomis, which has put together a solid season despite off-court drama, is also in D-II title contention along with El Capitan of Merced County, Woodcreek of Roseville, Grant, defending champion Atwater and Colfax, which has moved up to D-II after years of championship success at the lower levels.
Placer, Lathrop rolling in D-III
At 24-2 with 12 straight wins heading into the final week, Placer of Auburn leads the Division III field. The team is led by juniors Brookelyn Dunkle, Ginger Biddle, Lana Terrell, Paige Denniston and Breely Shriver. The Lathrop Spartans of the 209 area code in San Joaquin County enter the week as the last remaining unbeaten team in the section at 26-0.
Other local contenders for the D-III crown include Lincoln of Placer County out of the Pioneer Valley League and Foothill Valley League foes Twelve Bridges of Lincoln and Nevada Union of Grass Valley.
Central Catholic, Liberty Ranch are contenders in D-IV
Central Catholic (23-1) of Modesto and defending champion Liberty Ranch (21-5) of Galt headline the top of the Division IV rankings entering the week. The Hawks won their first blue banner in school history a year ago and return all-time program great Haley Smith, who averages 18.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in her fourth year of varsity stardom.
Other D-IV contenders include West Campus of Sacramento, Escalon, Calaveras and Union Mine of El Dorado County.
Faith Christian a favorite in D-V
Faith Christian and the nation’s all-time leading 3-point shooter in Lauren Harris are among the top contenders for the Division V title. Harris also recently became the Sac-Joaquin Section’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing St. Mary’s great and WNBA alumna Jacki Gemelos with 3,199 points and counting.
Bret Harte of Calaveras County, the reigning D-V champs, are also among teams at the top of the conversation along with defending D-VI CIF state champion Woodland Christian and fast-rising John Adams Academy of El Dorado Hills.
John Adams is led by William Jessup commit Elliott Schwartz and her 19.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 5.0 steals per game. Woodland Christian lost in the D-V finals a year ago to Bret Harte but responded by running the table in the state tournament. The Cardinals of Yolo County return juniors Siena Sorbello (15.5 points, 9.3 rebounds) and Bailee Broward (12.3 points, 11.6 rebounds).
Led by senior Gwen Rosich and junior Kyla Friedrich, Sacramento Adventist of Carmichael entered the week as the top-ranked team in Division VI, followed by Sacramento Waldorf, Foresthill and Forest Lake Christian. The Capitals have reached three of the previous four D-VI championship games, winning it all in 2024, when Rosich and Friedrich were underclassmen.
The Bee’s Top 20
(With records entering Tuesday)
1. Christian Brothers (22-5)
2. Oak Ridge (19-6)
3. Folsom (18-5)
4. Antelope (21-4)
5. Del Oro (21-4)
6. Woodcreek (21-6)
7. Vanden (20-5)
8. Grant (19-6)
9. Faith Christian (22-1)
10. Placer (24-2)
11. McClatchy (18-8)
12. Laguna Creek (20-6)
13. Cosumnes Oaks (19-6)
14. Colfax (19-7)
I5. Inderkum (16-10)
16. Sheldon (18-8)
17. Liberty Ranch (21-5)
18. Woodland Christian (23-2)
19. Sutter (19-7)
20. Monterey Trail (13-11)
Bubble: Davis (13-13); Destiny Christian (19-6); Granite Bay (13-13); John Adams (23-3); Lincoln (18-8); Nevada Union (18-9); Rio Linda (15-11); Twelve Bridges (18-7); Union Mine (18-8); Valley Christian (18-6); West Campus (16-3).
Nick Pecoraro is a longtime area high school sports journalist who has contributed to the Bee since 2021. He is a staff writer for MaxPreps.