SBLive's L.A. City Section girls basketball rankings (3/15/2024): Birmingham ends season No. 1; Granada Hills Charter rises after regional title

Granada Hills Charter finished its midseason turnaround with a regional championship

With the 2023-24 basketball season over in California, the dust has finally cleared on another riveting season of L.A. City Section girls hoops. The City Section's finest performed admirably in the state playoffs, with a host of notable first round performances by both teams and individuals, and one City team going on to make (recent) history.

Here are SBLive's end-of-season CIF-LACS girls basketball rankings.

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

1. Birmingham (25-7 – 1st)

Birmingham Charter storms the court after the buzzer sounds, beating Westchester 55-50 in the City Section Open Division girls basketball finals at Pasadena City College on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024 :: Tarek Fattal/SBLive

After winning the Open Division championship, Birmingham made more program history. The Patriots beat San Diego heavyweight Westview 49-41 the first round of state playoffs, advancing to the second round of Division I for the first time in program history. Then the Patriots ran into CIF-SS D2 finalist Moreno Valley, a borderline top-20 team in the state, and fell 67-50. Since the season ended, seniors DeeDee Berry, Sammy Velazquez, and Natalie Lopez were voted Open Division co-Players of the Year, and Lopez was named West Valley League Player of the Year.

2. Westchester (22-7 – 2nd)

Photo by Lance Smith

Westchester had a brutal first round draw in the state playoffs, and nearly upset Southern Section D1 finalist Santiago (Corona) 62-54 in the first round of Division I. No CIF titles for the Lady Comets this year, but they did win another West Valley League title and maintain their status as one of the most dominant teams in the City.

3. Hamilton (25-7 – 3rd)

The Lady Yankees notched a state playoff win before the season ended, holding off an upset bid from St. Margaret's in a 46-40 victory. They nearly took down the other South Orange County stalwart with a nearly identical name, Santa Margarita, but ended their outstanding season with a 46-44 loss.

4. King/Drew (18-9 – 4th)

Photo by Lance Smith

Hamilton wasn't Santa Margarita's only City Section victim in state playoffs. King/Drew also came up just short against the Eagles in the first round, losing 49-47. In addition to its second straight Open Division semifinals appearance, King/Drew will remember this season for its first sweep of the Coliseum League.

5. Granada Hills Charter (21-12 – 6th)

Karma Paez (Granada Hills Charter) / Photo by Dennis Lee

Because of the pandemic, Palisades never got its chance at a Division III State title in 2020 against Oakland Tech. As a result, no L.A. City Section girls basketball team had a played in a state championship since 2001 until Granada Hills Charter a week ago. Despite coming up just short against Caruthers in Sacramento, the Highlanders represented the City well with an underdog run to a Division III regional championship.

READ MORE: Granada Hills girls basketball shows resilience en route to first CIF State final

6. Palisades (17-13 – 5th)

Photo by Lance Smith

Another LACS team getting a tough first round draw, Palisades ran into one of the Southern Section's hottest teams, Palos Verdes, and got edged out 61-58 by the 4A champion. Palisades cooled off a little down the stretch, but still showed in 2023-24 that it's almost ready to return to Open Division title contention.

7. Crenshaw (18-10 – 7th)

One of two City Section players to record a 30-point masterpiece in the first round of state playoffs, Sarah Ramos went for a career-high 33 points on 8-14 shooting from the field, 5-7 from three, and 12-14 from the free throw line as Crenshaw knocked off Victory Christian Academy 65-59. Ramos also had six rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Crenshaw very nearly took down eventual Division IV Southern Region champion Grossmont before losing 57-51.

8. El Camino Real (15-13 – 8th)

A thumb injury to star shooting guard Laila Bowens took the wind out of ECR's sails down the stretch of league play, and that's probably an understatement. But after 17 days off from action, El Camino Real opened state with a 74-46 blowout of Adelanto – led by 32 points, seven rebounds, five steals, and five assists from a rejuvenated Bowens. They lost to regional finalist Fallbrook in the next round, a fate also suffered by Kennedy.

9. Sun Valley Polytechnic (18-8 – 9th)

Poly's postseason ended a bit early than expected, with a 55-45 loss to Oceanside in the first round of state. But what the Parrots will remember for a long time was winning their second straight Division 1 CIF-LACS title in their previous game, led by D1 Player of the Year Hannah Lising.

10. Kennedy-Granada Hills (26-5 – 10th)

Yet another City Section star with a huge first round state playoff game, D2 Player of the Year Gabriela Valles had a career-high 26 points on 9-19 shooting (8-10 FT) in a 61-47 loss to eventual regional finalist Fallbrook. Valles' previous career-best was 20 points.

11. Chatsworth (19-13 – 11th)

Chatsworth had one more noteworthy win left on the season heading into state playoffs, where it defeated Whittier Christian 50-45. Like Poly, Chatsworth saw its season ended by Oceanside.

12. Arleta (21-12 – 12th)

Arleta lost 55-45 to West Ranch in their state playoff opener.

13. Van Nuys (19-3 – 13th)

The Wolves didn't play again after losing to Kennedy in the Division 2 title game.

14. Cleveland (14-15 – 14th)

Cleveland's last game was a 54-43 loss to Van Nuys in the Division 2 semifinals.

15. Garfield (23-6 – 15th)

The Bulldogs' season ended a month ago with a 61-56 loss to Sun Valley Poly in the Division 1 semifinals. But their 15-point quarterfinals win over Eagle Rock was enough for them to finish in the top 15.

ON THE BUBBLE:

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