High school basketball: Season-ending Bay Area News Group rankings, plus what it meant to have state finals back
CIF state finals rewind, early look to next season, a tip of the cap to Campo's four-year run and much more.
Archbishop Mitty had just suffered a bad loss at the worst time. The girls basketball powerhouse was beaten by 24 points in the Open Division state championship game.
A painful defeat, no doubt. Mitty coach Sue Phillips said as much.
But Phillips, the longtime leader of the storied San Jose program, also chose another word to describe how she felt after Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth’s 85-61 victory Saturday night at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
“Grateful.”
After two years without state finals in California because of the pandemic, the kids were back. From fun and colorful student sections to dancing coaches, from emotional postgame news conferences to hoisting championship trophies, the season at last ended as it should.
Winning obviously was great for the six boys and six girls teams that claimed championships. But just being there was something nobody took for granted.
“Our total team thing is just being grateful,” Stuart Hall boys coach Charley Johnson said after the San Francisco school won the Division V title Friday. “Grateful to be able to play after last year.”
For some teams, the weekend was an opportunity to complete unfinished business.
Mitty, Oakland Tech and Branson were scheduled to play for girls championships in 2020 when California Interscholastic Federation officials canceled the state finals a day before they were to start because of the oncoming coronavirus.
Branson won Division IV on Saturday and Oakland Tech captured Division III on Friday after claiming Division IV the last time the state finals were held.
“We haven’t lost a CIF game since 2018,” Oakland Tech coach Leroy Hurt said after his team’s 39-33 victory over La Salle of Pasadena. “Not too many schools can say that.”
Northern region teams won the first five games Friday and went 7-5 overall.
Southern region teams won both Open Division titles (Centennial-Corona boys, Sierra Canyon girls) and Division I boys (Damien-La Verne).
Salesian captured the Division I girls championship, the Richmond program’s first state crown after three previous losses.
“This is better,” said longtime coach Stephen Pezzola, who showed off his dance moves after the final buzzer, making good on a promise he made to his players in December.
Won’t forget ’em
Even though the Campolindo boys fell short of reaching the Open Division state title game, losing to Modesto Christian 56-53 in a regional final, the Moraga school deserves a salute for an amazing four-year run.
The Cougars won 47 of 49 games over two calendar years, two regional titles (Division I and II) and a state championship (Division II).
They also set a school record with 25 consecutive victories.
Campo would have been a heavy underdog against Centennial. But given the fight put up Saturday night by Modesto Christian — 59-50 loss, tied in the fourth quarter — we’ll always wonder how Campo would have done had it made the state final.
Clock strikes midnight
Three Bay Area schools don’t want to hear about Clovis North, the 13th-seeded Cinderella team in boys Division I that went on the road and knocked off No. 4 seed Miramonte, No. 1 seed Sacred Heart Prep and No. 3 seed St. Ignatius — along with No. 5 seed Folsom — by a total of 12 points on its way to playing for the Division I state title.
Well, Clovis North finally met its match.
Despite 25 points from its coach’s son, sophomore Connor Amundsen, the Fresno-area school lost to Damien 65-57 in the D-I state final.
“What a journey we went on,” coach Tony Amundsen said in the postgame news conference. “How hard they play and how much they give to their teammates is a victory in and of itself. I couldn’t be more proud of them for that.”
Early No. 1s for next season?
Of course, a lot can change between now and when the new season starts in November. But if we had to pick, here would be our No. 1 teams in the Bay Area News Group Top 20 going into 2022-23: Archbishop Riordan boys and Archbishop Mitty girls. King-Njhsanni Wilhite (Class of 2023) is expected to be back for Riordan and Morgan Cheli (Class of 2024) is slated to return for Mitty.
On to the season-ending rankings …
Boys basketball
Bay Area News Group Top 20
No. 1 CAMPOLINDO (28-2)
Previous ranking: 1
How it finished: Beat Riordan in Open Division regional semifinal, lost to Modesto Christian in a regional final.
No. 2 ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN (21-9)
Previous ranking: 3
How it finished: Beat De La Salle in Open Division regional quarterfinal, lost to Campolindo in a regional semifinal.
No. 3 DE LA SALLE (22-6)
Previous ranking: 2
How it finished: Lost to Riordan in Open Division regional quarterfinal.
No. 4 ARCHBISHOP MITTY (23-6)
Previous ranking: 4
How it finished: Lost to Modesto Christian in Open Division regional quarterfinal.
No. 5 ST. IGNATIUS (23-8)
Previous ranking: 7
How it finished: Lost to Clovis North in Division I regional final.
No. 6 SACRED HEART PREP (25-5)
Previous ranking: 5
How it finished: Lost to Clovis North in Division I regional semifinal.
No. 7 MIRAMONTE (24-6)
Previous ranking: 6
How it finished: Lost to Clovis North in Division I regional first-round game
No. 8 OAKLAND TECH (23-5)
Previous ranking: 9
How it finished: Lost to Sacred Heart Prep in Division I regional quarterfinal.
No. 9 CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER (21-10)
Previous ranking: 10
How it finished: Lost to St. Ignatius in Division I regional first-round game
No. 10 NORTHGATE (20-9)
Previous ranking: 8
How it finished: Lost to Lincoln-Stockton in Division I regional first-round game
No. 11 GRANADA (17-9)
Previous ranking: 12
How it finished: Lost to Inderkum-Sacramento in Division I regional quarterfinal.
No. 12 DOUGHERTY VALLEY (21-7)
Previous ranking: 11
How it finished: Lost to Sacred Heart Prep in Division I regional first-round game,
No. 13 ST. PATRICK-ST. VINCENT (24-3)
Previous ranking: 13
How it finished: Lost to Branson in Division II regional semifinal.
No. 14 OAKLAND (27-4)
Previous ranking: 16
How it finished: Lost to Bullard-Fresno in Division III regional semifinal.
No. 15 DUBLIN (16-8)
Previous ranking: 15
How it finished: Lost to Folsom in Division I regional first-round game.
No. 16 BISHOP O’DOWD (18-7)
Previous ranking: 17
How it finished: Lost to Vanden-Fairfield in Division II regional quarterfinal.
No. 17 SAN RAMON VALLEY (18-10)
Previous ranking: 18
How it finished: Lost to Elk Grove in Division II regional quarterfinal.
No. 18 SALESIAN (13-9)
Previous ranking: 14
How it finished: Lost to Central-Fresno in Division II regional first-round game.
No. 19 MOREAU CATHOLIC (24-5)
Previous ranking: 20
How it finished: Lost to Dougherty Valley in semifinals of NCS Division I playoffs, an outcome that eliminated the team from NorCal consideration.
No. 20 SERRA (16-11)
Previous ranking: 19
How it finished: Lost to Inderkum-Sacramento in Division I regional first-round game.
Girls basketball
Bay Area News Group Top 20
No. 1 ARCHBISHOP MITTY (30-2)
Previous ranking: 2
How it finished: Lost to Sierra Canyon in Open Division state final.
No. 2 CARONDELET (26-3)
Previous ranking: 1
How it finished: Lost to Mitty in Open Division regional final.
No. 3 PINEWOOD (22-3)
Previous ranking: 3
How it finished: Lost to Oak Ridge in Open Division regional quarterfinal.
No. 4 SAN RAMON VALLEY (26-5)
Previous ranking: 4
How it finished: Lost to Mitty in Open Division regional quarterfinal.
No. 5 SALESIAN (20-5)
Previous ranking: 5
How it finished: Beat Windward-Los Angeles in Division I state final.
No. 6 ST. IGNATIUS (21-9)
Previous ranking: 7
How it finished: Lost to Salesian in Division I regional final.
No. 7 BISHOP O’DOWD (17-9)
Previous ranking: 8
How it finished: Lost to Salesian in Division I regional semifinal.
No. 8 VALLEY CHRISTIAN (21-8)
Previous ranking: 6
How it finished: Lost to Bishop O’Dowd in Division I regional quarterfinal.
No. 9 ST. FRANCIS (17-9)
Previous ranking: 9
How it finished: Lost to Laguna Creek-Elk Grove in Division I regional first-round game.
No. 10 PALO ALTO (22-5)
Previous ranking: 10
How it finished: Lost to Cardinal Newman in Division I regional first-round game.
No. 11 MONTE VISTA (21-10)
Previous ranking: 11
How it finished: Lost to Valley Christian in Division I regional first-round game.
No. 12 MOREAU CATHOLIC (25-6)
Previous ranking: 13
How it finished: Lost to St. Mary’s-Stockton in Division I regional first-round game.
No. 13 LOS GATOS (25-4)
Previous ranking: 12
How it finished: Lost to San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno in Division II regional quarterfinal.
No. 14 HERITAGE (17-8)
Previous ranking: 14
How it finished: Lost to Vanden-Fairfield in Division I regional first-round game.
No. 15 ACALANES (25-4)
Previous ranking: 15
How it finished: Lost to Salesian in Division I regional first-round game.
No. 16 MENLO SCHOOL (18-8)
Previous ranking: 17
How it finished: Lost to Antelope in Division II regional semifinal.
No. 17 PIEDMONT (24-7)
Previous ranking: 16
How it finished: Lost to Lincoln-Stockton in Division II regional quarterfinal.
No. 18 JAMES LOGAN (19-9)
Previous ranking: 18
How it finished: Lost to Antelope in Division II regional first-round game.
No. 19 OAKLAND TECH (21-11)
Previous ranking: Not ranked
How it finished: Beat La Salle-Pasadena in Division III state final.
No. 20 SAN LEANDRO (22-6)
Previous ranking: 19
How it finished: Lost to James Logan in semifinals of NCS Division I playoffs, an outcome that eliminated the team from NorCal consideration.