Top 25 California high school girls basketball rankings (1/31/2024): Orangewood Academy debuts at No. 19

Red-hot Orangewood Academy debuted in a big way by beating Brentwood School – just in time for a special milestone

Here are SBLive's California girls basketball rankings for the week of Jan. 29 - Feb. 4. After each team's name is its record and previous ranking. The rankings will be released every week for the remainder of the season.

SBLIVE TOP 25 CALIFORNIA GIRLS BASKETBALL RANKINGS

1. Archbishop Mitty (20-0 – 1st last week)

McKenna Woliczko, MItty / Photo by Darren Yamashita

While a few games remain on the schedule, there's nothing left to be said about Mitty's regular season crusade. Sophomore phenom McKenna Woliczko is coming up on 1,000 points and 500 rebounds on her career.

2. Etiwanda (23-3 – 2nd)

Mykelle Richards, Etiwanda / Photo by Heston Quan

Etiwanda is set to start the postseason playing its best basketball. It has scored more than 80 points all six games – all blowout victories – since losing to national No. 2 Long Island Lutheran at the Hoophall Classic.

3. Sierra Canyon (26-1 – 3rd)

Two more games until the Trailblazers' CIFSS Open Division title defense really begins. When the dust clears, the numbers might show that they dominated the Mission League even more ferociously in year two than they did last season.

4. Sage Hill (22-2 – 4th)

After taking down formidable Mira Costa 68-56, Sage Hill has won 12 games in a row, and all by at least 12 points. Team currently has its highest national ranking ever.

5. Cardinal Newman (22-2 – 5th)

Like Sage Hill, Cardinal Newman hasn't backtracked since entering the national rankings. It will enter the playoffs on 22-game winning streak – and unbeaten with Taissa Queiroz in action.

6. Folsom (19-4 – 6th)

Speaking of national rankings, the Bulldogs have cracked our top 25 for the first time, which they were set to do a few weeks ago before the Cardinal Nemwan loss. Folsom is making an absolute mockery of the Sierra Foothill League, one of the premier conferences in NorCal – and some years, the West Coast – with seven league wins coming by a combined score of 516-174.

7. Ontario Christian (23-3 – 7th)

With the regular season winding down, Ontario Christian makes yet another California team that could crack the national top 25 for the first time ever depending how the playoffs go.

8. Mater Dei (21-6 – 8th)

While unlikely, there is indeed a scenario in which a whopping eight California teams finish inside the national top 25, where Mater Dei was comfortably positioned before injuries struck. Even at much less than full strength, the Monarchs are about to wrap up one of their most dominant sweeps of the Trinity League yet following a 51-point thrashing of rival Rosary Academy.

9. Bishop Montgomery (18-3 – 9th)

Finished the regular season on a nine-game winning streak with a sleep of the hotly-contested Del Rey League. After fairly close calls the first time around, Bishop Montgomery beat St. Anthony and La Salle by more than 20 points each to cement it.

10. St. Mary's-Stockton (18-5 – 10th)

After a near-upset against Pinewood the previous week, St. Mary's made a statement by beating St. Ignatius 78-46 and Salesian 71-51.

11. San Ramon Valley (23-1 – 11th)

Used outstanding defense to stay on top of Carondelet with a 46-39 victory in one of California's top public-versus-private rivalries. San Ramon Valley closes the regular season against Monte Vista (Danville) and St. Joseph (Santa Maria).

12. Clovis West (24-2 – 12th)

During Clovis West's 14-game winning streak, only one finish was closer than 12 points. Just one more win cements an undisputed TRAC title, but look for the Golden Eagles to win all three games to close the regular season.

13. Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep (16-2 – 13th)

As the Fightin' Irish entered the season with a loaded and finally-healthy roster, it was easy for the outside world to say that they "should" be the clear top team in the Central Coast Section behind Archbishop Mitty. A lot easier said than done, in fact. But Sacred Heart Cathedral has still beaten all in-section challengers besides Mitty, with its only other loss coming against San Ramon Valley.

14. Bishop O'Dowd (12-5 – 14th)

It's been a long three weeks since Bishop O'Dowd's stunning upset loss at the hands of league foe Piedmont. Wednesday brings a chance at a revenge win that would effectively clinch a league co-title and certainly bump the team up a spot or more in the rankings. However, another loss to Piedmont would be crushing, especially at this juncture of the season.

15. Mission Hills (16-8 – 16th)

Two brilliant wins since the Mater Dei loss, cruising past Del Norte (San Diego) 76-28 and Westview 66-52. Mission Hills enters the CIFSDS Open Division playoffs as the clear team to beat, which it's looked the part of all season long.

16. Moreno Valley (23-4 – 15th)

With only an impending win against J.W. North left on the schedule, Moreno Valley gets an A-plus for an impeccable regular season. A big playoff run is expected, but even the its postseason gets cut short unexpectedly, very few teams in the state are set to rise further in 2024-25 than underclassmen-centric MoVal.

17. Acalanes (16-4 – 18th)

Since Dec. 30, the Dons' stock was tied to that of Village Christian, which defeated them in overtime. Normally they'd drop as a result of Village Christian dropping, but injuries have been the basis of Village's fall, and the team was at full-strength when it beat Acalanes. Outside of that, Acalanes' only three losses were against top-10 teams in the state. Two more games until the Dons complete another sweep of the Diablo Foothill League.

18. Corona Centennial (17-10 – 23rd)

Still playing Open Division-caliber basketball since the turn of the new year. Centennial has now won six games in a row and 12 of its last 13, with the only loss coming by single digits to St. Mary's (Stockton). It received a big transitive boost this week for its Jan. 20 win against fast-rising Orangewood Academy.

19. Orangewood Academy (20-6 – Bubble)

Photo by Lance Smith

Like a few other teams late in the rankings, Orangewood Academy doesn't have the season-wide resume of a top-20 team, but has been playing at that level with room to spare in recent weeks. Other than a close setback on Jan. 20 against Corona Centennial – a team that meets the same aforementioned criteria – Orangewood has been mowing down many outstanding teams, most recently Brentwood School. Perfect timing for head coach Leslie Aragon's 500th win.

20. Brentwood School (19-8 – 17th)

While the loss certainly constitutes a big upset, the Eagles losing to Orangewood Academy says more about their red-hot opponent than themselves. Can they bounce back immediately to win an outright Gold Coast League title? After beating Windward 64-55 the first time around, the worst Brentwood could do is a co-title.

21. Windward (17-5 – 20th)

Since getting off to a shaky start, Windward has remained one of California's elite teams down the stretch of what was considered to be a likely reloading season. Its season finale against Brentwood School is guaranteed to have a playoff atmosphere.

22. La Jolla Country Day (17-6 – 21st)

Still untouchable in the last month-plus besides the upset against formidable McClatchy. Thanks to the 15-point loss against Mission Hills on Dec. 20, La Jolla Country Day enters the San Diego Section playoffs as an "underdog" for a change – but is still the heavy favorite against all foes not named Mission Hills. Currently thrashing the Coastal League as usual before the postseason begins.

23. Carondelet (22-3 – 22nd)

Carondelet was able to seriously push rival San Ramon Valley on Tuesday before its 10-game winning streak ended.

24. Rancho Christian (14-7 – 24th)

Mixed a near-upset against Windward in with a dominant romp of the Ivy League.

25. Santiago-Corona (13-10 – 25th)

Held off an upset bid from Long Beach Poly to remain hot since Jan. 15 loss to Orangewood Academy.

ON THE BUBBLE:

McClatchy, Village Christian, Piedmont, Buena Park