SBLive's L.A. City Section girls basketball rankings (2/26/2024): No. 1 Birmingham, No. 9 Poly, No. 10 Kennedy win section titles; Garfield debuts

Just two seasons after winning its first Open Division title against Westchester, Birmingham did it again

Here are SBLive's L.A. City Section girls basketball rankings for the week of Feb. 26 - Mar. 3. Rankings will be released every week throughout the season.

(Team names are followed by record and previous ranking.)

MORE: CIF-LACS GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYOFF BRACKETS

1. Birmingham (24-6 – 1st)

Photo by Lance Smith

For the second time in three years, Birmingham edged out Westchester to win an Open Division title. Natalie Lopez led the way with 13 points and six assists.

2. Westchester (22-6 – 2nd)

Westchester's loss to Birmingham was crushing, as the game hung in the balance for a while in the fourth quarter, and foul trouble played a part. Nonetheless, Westchester enters next season, and the upcoming Division I State playoffs, as a three-time reigning LACS finalist and 2023 Open Division champion. Reigne Waugh had a game-high 17 points in the finals on Saturday.

3. Hamilton (24-6 – 3rd)

Fresh off a lot of rest, Hamilton is a strong candidate to go all the way as the third seed in its Division II Regional bracket. It opens up with a home game against St. Margaret's.

4. King/Drew (18-8 – 4th)

King/Drew is another Open Division semifinalist with a chance to turn a lot of heads in Division II. As the sixth seed, it hosts No. 11 Santa Margarita in round one.

5. Palisades (17-12 – 5th)

Recent history and the eye test both tell us that Palisades is a serious threat to emerge atop a wide-open Division III Southern Region field. The third-seeded Dolphins will be the favorite in the first round against Palos Verdes, fresh off a CIF-SS 4A title, but will need to slow down point guard Maddie Farnsworth, who had 35 points and six steals.

6. Granada Hills Charter (17-11 – 6th)

Based on the way GHC found another gear in league play, it could be a force in Division III. It opens up at home against Cantwell-Sacred Heart.

7. Crenshaw (17-9 – 7th)

Crenshaw is the highest-ranked of a whopping six CIF-LACS teams to get placed in Division IV for state playoffs with a realistic chance of making major noise. Don't let it fool you that it's dropped three of its last four games – Crenshaw played some of its best basketball down the stretch, particularly on offense.

8. El Camino Real (14-12 – 8th)

The Royals were plowing right along through a 54-22 win at Cleveland on Jan. 24. Their next game, a 61-30 loss to Birmingham, wasn't a death sentence, but El Camino Real spiraled out from there, losing four of its last five regular season games and offering no resistance in a playoff-opening loss to Westchester. Nonetheless, El Camino Real still rightfully earned a state playoff birth by making the LACS Open Division, and is a scary prospect in Division IV.

9. Sun Valley Polytechnic (18-7 – 13th)

Hannah Lising really did it again. What is it that she did? Well, something that no one else has done in a long time. A year after erupting for 35 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and three steals on just 12 field goal attempts to beat LACES for a Division 1 title, Lising dropped 31 points and seven rebounds – once again on better than 50-percent shooting – to beat Arleta and repeat in Division 1.

10. Kennedy-Granada Hills (26-4 – 9th)

For a Division 2 team to be ranked in the top 10 this late in the season – even after winning a section title – is unheard of in recent years. Now on a 12-game winning streak, Kennedy beat Venice, Northridge Academy, Washington Prep, and Van Nuys all by double-digits for a championship.

11. Chatsworth (18-12 – 10th)

Since beating El Camino Real on Jan. 29, Chatsworth is just 2-2, getting upset by Cleveland in its regular season finale and Arleta in the semifinals. The Division IV State playoffs bring Chatsworth one more chance to get on a roll.

12. Arleta (21-11 – 15th)

After beating Chatsworth 54-50 in the Division 1 semifinals, Arleta obviously has a strong argument to be ranked higher. The reason Chatsworth got the nod was that Chatsworth also has a win against Arleta this season plus a couple wins over Open Division teams. Arleta opens the Division IV State playoffs with a showdown against West Ranch.

13. Van Nuys (19-3 – Bubble)

Van Nuys' season ended with a 53-43 loss to Kennedy, but what a season it was for the D2 finalist. In addition to compiling a 19-3 record, the Wolves split league meetings with Kennedy to share a Valley Mission League title.

14. Cleveland (14-15 – 11th)

The Cavaliers' season got ended in the Division 2 semifinals by Van Nuys, which won 54-43. Despite the losing record, Cleveland picked up wins over a handful of the City Section's standout teams across the season.

15. Garfield (23-6 – Unranked)

In retrospect, Garfield should've entered the bubble weeks ago. To be fair, it had been held back in the rankings by a narrow loss to Franklin back in November, and only just beat a ranked team when it upset Eagle Rock by 15 points in the Division 1 quarterfinals. However, quite a few teams ranked above Garfield have an early-season loss to a lower-ranked team, but have since risen past those teams. And Garfield was a machine down the stretch of the season. It even nearly knocked off Sun Valley Poly in the semifinals.

ON THE BUBBLE:

Eagle Rock, Verdugo Hills, Franklin, George Washington Prep, Los Angeles CES, Sylmar, San Fernando, San Pedro