High School

California Top 25 girls basketball rankings (12-10-2024)

Ontario Christian rattles off nine straight wins before anyone can catch their collective breath; No. 2 Archbishop MItty wins La Jolla Country Day Sweet 16

Mitch Stephens

From L-R, Ontario Christian sophomore Kaleena Smith and freshemen Sydney Douglas and Tati Griffin hold up hardware for earning All-Tournament honors at the Troy Classic. Griffin was tournament MVP.
From L-R, Ontario Christian sophomore Kaleena Smith and freshemen Sydney Douglas and Tati Griffin hold up hardware for earning All-Tournament honors at the Troy Classic. Griffin was tournament MVP. / Courtesy photo: Ontario Christian Instagram

With one big fly swat, fastbreak and 3-point splash the Ontario Christian girls basketball team has sprinted to the top of all rankings with nine straight wins.

The Knights have been machine-like in precision, shooting, defense and running the court, having scored at least 80 points six of the nine, including a 106-15 win over Troy when five girls scored in double figures, led by preseason All-American Kaleena Smith (30 points, 13 of 19 from the field).

Ontario Christian isn't the only fast starter. Much of the state wasted little time going head-to-head in some big matchups. Check out all the rankings with records through Dec. 9.

CALIFORNIA TOP 25 RANKINGS, DEC. 10

1. Ontario Christian (9-0)

What a start! Though the Knights, who started the season No. 4 in the SBLive National Top 25, already have wins over No. 1 and two-time defending California Open champion Etiwanda (74-66), No. 18 Mater Dei (66-58) and No. 21 Duncanville (94-51). Preseason All-American — we only picked six — Kaleena Smith (21.8 points, 8.2 assists per game) was a lock to come out of the gates fast, but the immediate impact of freshmen Sydney Douglas (17.7, 9.1 rebounds) and Tatianna Griffin (17.7, 8.1) has been startling. The win over Mater Dei was the championship of the Troy Classic in which Griffin was picked as the MVP and Douglas and Smith were all-tournament selections.

2. Mitty (4-0)

The Monarchs impressed winning the La Jolla Country Day Sweet 16 behind another All-American, sophomore McKenna Woliczko who earned MVP honors after going for 28 points and 12 rebounds in the finals. All-tourney picks Maliya Hunter and Tiera McCarthy were also outstanding.

3. Sierra Canyon (3-0)

Wins by 40, 18 and 32 indicate the Trailblazers are far more than just Jerzy Robinson. Emilia Krstevski, a 6-4 junior, has been dominating in the paint.

4. Etiwanda (2-3)

No panic even with a three-game losing streak. After Ontario Christian loss, the Eagles dropped games to Cypress Springs (Cypress Springs, Texas) and Duncanville (55-47), a team Ontario Christian squashed by 43. That's concerning.

5. Mater Dei (7-1)

An eight-point loss to Ontario Christian (66-58) speaks volumes to where the Monarchs are at. The Monarchs have a tough clash with Fairmont Prep (6-2), which has only lost to Sierra Canyon (81-63) and Ontario Christian (79-62).

6. Clovis West (8-0)

Not as competitive a schedule as Southern California counterparts, nontheless the Golden Eagles have put on an offensive display, starting the season wth outputs of 97, 96, 93 and 88. Team recorded 24 steals in 97-36 opening win over Sierra Pacific.

7. Bishop Montgomery (8-1)

The Knights have been involved with some tight ones, beating Moreno Valley (63-58 in OT) and Kamehameha Kapalama (55-52), while losing to Windward (60-57) on Nov. 29. They rebounds from the loss with four straight wins and get Ontario Christian at home on Saturday.

8. Sage Hill (6-2)

After back-to-back losses to Etiwanda (58-30) and Francis Parker (48-41), the Lightning have rattled off five straight wins, perhaps the most impressive a 70-55 home win over Windward while shooting 51% from the field including 44% on 3s and 87% from the line. .

9. Brentwood (5-1)

A tough 67-57 loss to Montgomery is the team's only blemish on the season, which includes solid wins over Bishop Gorman (73-59), Corona Centennial (52-49) and Westlake (56-45). San Diego signee Lev Feiman averages 15.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while while Payton Sugar is at 14.2 ppg.

10. Clovis (7-0)

A season-opening win over San Joaquin Memorial, which beat LJCD, and win at St. Mary's-Stockton (53-45) has opened some eyes around the Central Section and around the state. Back-to-back games with San Ramon Valley and Oakland Tech Friday and Saturday should be telling.

11. St. Mary's (4-2)

Excellent wins for the Rams over Bishop O'Dowd and Mission Hills, and nothering wrong with tight losses to Clovis and at La Jolla Country Day. The loss of McDonald's All-American Jordan Lee and top 2027 guard Kori Rogers (season-ending knee injury) hasn't deterred Alle Moreno's squad.

12. McClatchy (3-2)

Three straight home wins over Cardinal Newman (57-46), Corona Centennial (58-46) and Rancho Christian (64-58) were what coach Jeff Ota had in mind. Back-to-back losses to Mitty (70-51) and St. Mary's (55-52) nothing to be ashamed of. Nina Cain, a 6-1 Washington signee, is averaging a double-double.

13. Mission Hills (3-1)

A season-opening home loss to St. Mary's-Stockton seemed to wake up the Grizzlies with three straight wins including 76-73 over Valley Vista as four players scored in double figures, led by Izzy Medina (15).

14. Moreno Valley (5-4)

Don't be fooled by the record. The Vikings, led by Alaysha Mills (18.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg) and Bella Medina (13.7 ppg), have played a gauntlet of a schedule, with losses to Sage Hill (73-64), Bishop Montgomery (63-58 OT) and Mater Dei.

15. Folsom (4-0)

The Bullldogs lost two Division 1 players to graduation last season, but coach Lynn Wolking always reloads. Plus Folsom had a ton coming back, including UCSB-bound Ava Rawlins back, UOP commit Sophia Minderman and 6-3 sophomore Avery Masters. The Bulldogs have had a couple tough tussles thus far, including a 52-48 win at Antelope.

16. Carondelet (4-1)

The Cougars got some out-of-state experience in Texas, playing three non-California teams, including Union (Tulsa, Okla.), which delivered Carondelet a 61-54 defeat. Kelly Sopak's team should get healthy before going to Nike TOC.

17. Windward (6-3)

With two of the losses to Sage Hill, and a big win over Bishop Montgomery, first-year coach Rachel Schrote has to feel good. Samari Bankhead has lived up to her big billing in the early going.

18. La Jolla Country Day (5-2)

A season-opening 51-50 loss to San Joaquin Memorial didn't detract the Torreys, winning five of six, the only defeat to Mitty (65-40) at the their own Sweet 16 tourney.

19. Bishop O'Dowd (2-1)

The Dragons, typically a slow starter, has two blowout wins over San Domenico and Granada, but sustained a tough 43-37 loss at St. Mary's-Stockton, always a tough place to play.

20. Rancho Christian (5-2)

Tough trio in senior guard Julia Wilson (20.6 ppg), junior guard Ebony Taylor-Smith (16.0) and junior wing Allyson Boyd. A 66-57 win over Francis Parker perhaps its best win, though a 57-52 overtime victory over Westview might have been its toughest when Wilson broke lose for 37 points.

21. Acalanes (4-0)

The Dons, led by seniors Karyss Lancanlale, Sophie Chinn and Dulci Vail and longtime coach Margaret Gartner (613 wins), are off to a fine start with their best win a 56-53 home win over St. Ignatius.

22. San Ramon Valley (4-0)

A season-opening home win over Riordan (66-42) was the best of the four. Freshman Kaitlyn Mills has been quite an addition. She had 30 points in a 75-30 win over Northgate. Ella Gunderson and Carly Stern have also put up big numbers.

23. Pinewood (1-0)

The four-time state champs tend to start slow though their 73-45 win over Los Gatos was impressive as senior Katherine Garr had 19 points and junior Caitlyn Kramer contributed 18. The Panthers drilled 10 3-pointers and made 12 of 13 free throws.

24. Bishop's (7-0)

The Knights' metoric rise continues going from 2-22 two seasons ago to 22-8 last season and now off to a red-hot starm behind double-digit scoring from Margo Leon (13.0), Maya Mahone (10.4) and Moana Peterson (10.4). Leong, a 6-2 sophomore, also averages 14.6 rebounds per game.

25. Cardinal Newman (3-1)

After a tough opening loss against McClatchy, the Cardinals have won three straight handily behind Santa Clara sharpshooting signee Kate Schat.

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Mitch Stephens
MITCH STEPHENS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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