CIF State basketball championships: Players, teams to watch at Golden 1 Center
The ball got rolling for the idea of introducing a California state tournament for high school basketball just over 50 years ago, and if one player in particular unknowingly kick-started it all, it was Bill Cartwright.
He became the nation’s No. 1 high school recruit in 1975 — a towering 7-foot scoring machine for the Elk Grove Thundering Herd of southern Sacramento County. In the 1970s, the Tournament of Champions was a showcase, invite-only event at the Oakland Coliseum, the closest thing to a state tournament California had, and Big Bill and his team won that event, prompting state officials to conclude that it was time to create a state event.
Cartwright went on to college at the University of San Francisco, became the No. 2 pick in the 1979 NBA draft and won three NBA championships in the early 1990s with the Chicago Bulls.
The CIF State event grew, too.
On Friday and Saturday at Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento, the 44th CIF State Basketball Championships returns to the state capital. From three divisions in the early years of the event to six divisions now, the CIF tournament caps the hoops season in a gem of an NBA venue, featuring nationally ranked teams in the elite Open Division and boasting intriguing storylines for the smallest schools in the lower divisions.
Here are some of the weekend’s storylines to ponder.
Can Lauren Harris finish with a flash?
The most prolific 3-point shooter in the history of girls high school hoops nationwide is a 5-foot-11 marvel named Lauren Harris. She averages 32.1 points a game for Faith Christian of Yuba City, has made as many as 10 3s in a game, can drop 47 in an instant as she comes off screens or dribbles her way to spots, and is headed to Long Beach State on scholarship as proof that small-school talents can play anywhere.
The gregarious Harris is the student body president of the 52-person campus, is coached by her father Geoff Harris and guides a 33-1 team in the opening game Saturday morning against Palisades. Win or lose, what a player, what a team, what a story and what a great example that the smallest schools can dream just as big as the 3,000-enrollment schools.
Can Wall Ball deliver in D-I?
The Folsom Bulldogs are the lone Sacramento-area boys team left standing, and it’s quite a team that embodies the spirit of the sport, especially in sharing the ball, moving without the ball, running the break, hitting 3-pointers and defending with purpose.
It’s called Wall Ball, not that coach Mike Wall deems it that way. We do, though the coach calls his team’s masterful execution “beautiful.” He’s right, and now Folsom finds itself in the Division I state title game Friday night against Southern California powerhouse Damien of La Verne in Los Angeles County.
This is how difficult it is for a Sacramento-area program to win a D-I state crown: only one has done it before. That was Pleasant Grove of Elk Grove in 2013, under coach John DePonte. The only others to appear in the D-1 state finals, aside from Pleasant Grove then and Folsom now: Jesuit, under coach Hank Meyer in 1993 and 1994, and Sheldon of Sacramento in 2012 under coach Joey Rollings.
Damien won the D-I state title in 2022 under coach Mike Leduc, who pondered coaching retirement but returned for more title pursuits.
Can there be a bow-tie repeat?
In Yolo County, Woodland Christian girls coach Shiloh Sorbello goes with the bow tie and red sneakers for big games, including a year ago when he guided the Cardinals to the state D-V championship.
Here they come again, coach and all, for a repeat effort Friday morning against Laguna Hills of Orange County, a battle-tested unit. Woodland Christian is 32-3, with Sorbello ready to dress the part for a 33-3 finish.
His added-bonus joy is coaching two daughters in Sofia and Siena.
Girls powerhouses in Open Division
The Open Division was created in 2013 to place the elite, state and national powerhouses into one division, thereby allowing everyone else a better chance to compete for state hardware.
The Open generally features the teams with the most 5-star prospects and those who play the most daunting schedules. The girls Open on Saturday night features decades-long powerhouse Mitty of San Jose under Hall of Fame coaching great Sue Phillips taking on Ontario Christian of San Bernardino. This pits the nation’s No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams, with national top-ranked Ontario Christian topping second-ranked Mitty in double-overtime in a showcase game in January when junior guard Kaleena Smith scored 50 (she averages 31.7). Ontario Christian is 32-2.
Mitty (28-2) is paced by 5-star recruit McKenna Woliczko, who returned this season from a knee injury.
Boys powerhouses in Open Division
The end of the prep season in this state is Saturday night when Cal-Hi Sports state-ranked No. 1 Sierra Canyon (29-1) takes on Salesian of Richmond (29-3). Sierra Canyon is in Chatsworth in Los Angeles County, and it is where the sons of NBA stars have played and starred, and it is where highly touted recruits still dot the roster, including Brandon McCoy, Maximo Adams and Brannon Martinsen.
Salesian has its share of talent, and it is superbly coached under Bill Mellis, having just beaten previous NorCal No. 1-ranked Riordan of San Francisco in overtime to win the NorCal Open title. Since the boys Open started in 2013, only one NorCal team has won it: Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland in 2015. Otherwise, it’s been an all-SoCal event with Sierra Canyon winning titles in 2018 and 2019 under coach Andre Chevalier, still the Trailblazers’ coach.
Rising from ashes
Palisades has 13 losses this season, but the perspective is deep for the Los Angeles County team that plays Faith Christian for the girls D-IV title. The Palisades region was badly burned in January 2025 by wildfires, including destroying about 40% of the campus, though the gym was spared.
Palisades students didn’t return to campus until late January, having taken classes on an interim campus inside a former Sears department store while the rebuild took place. Devastating fires have united schools and communities before, and for Palisades to reach the season’s final weekend is a credit to the players and coaches.
Hello, friends
The Division II boys final on Saturday pits familiar programs from the Central Section, which is heavy on Fresno and Bakersfield schools.
San Joaquin Memorial of Fresno plays Bakersfield Christian, and Memorial owes BC one. Bakersfield Christian topped Memorial 67-52 in a regular-season game on Dec. 29, and then again on Feb. 17 in a playoff game, 61-59. That these programs meet again is testament to the talent and depth in this section.
Famous basketball alums from Memorial include Jalen Green, now in the NBA playing for the Phoenix Suns, and brothers Robin and Brook Lopez, both of whom reached the NBA. The school opened in 1945.
Bakersfield Christian opened in 1996 with alums that include former Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
44th CIF State championships
All games played at Golden 1 Center, with start times of 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively, each day. All games aired in Northern California on the NFHS streaming network.
FRIDAY
Division V Girls: Laguna Hills (21-11) vs. Woodland Christian (32-3)
Division V Boys: Sylmar (24-12) vs. San Marin (21-13)
Division III Girls: El Dorado-Placentia (23-14) vs. Valley Christian-San Jose (16-15)
Division III Boys: Birmingham (22-8) vs. Cornerstone Christian (28-8)
Division I Girls: Centennial-Corona (23-5) vs. Clovis (26-10)
Division I Boys: Damien-La Verne (31-7) vs. Folsom (29-6)
SATURDAY
Division IV Girls: Palisades (16-13) vs. Faith Christian-Yuba City (33-1)
Division IV Boys: San Juan Hills (21-14) vs. Sacred Heart Prep (20-11)
Division II Girls: St. Joseph-Santa Maria (17-15) vs. Sierra Pacific (24-11)
Division II Boys: Bakersfield Christian (24-11) vs. Memorial-Fresno (27-7)
Open Division Girls: Ontario Christian (33-2) vs. Mitty (28-2)
Open Division Boys: Sierra Canyon (29-1) vs. Salesian-Richmond (29-3)