Girls hoops teams tip off new season

The San Diego Section will crown its 2025-26 girls basketball divisional champions Feb. 26-28. All the hoopla, cheers and tears are still more than a month away, but it’s time for teams to start showing they deserve to be counted among the few worthy squads to earn CIF glory.

The section will crown a total of 14 divisional champions — seven in girls basketball and seven in boys basketball. Other sports receiving the championship treatment during the current winter sports season include boys and girls soccer, boys and girls wrestling and girls water polo.

Basketball divisions include Open (eight teams), Division I (16 teams), Division II (16 teams), Division III (16 teams), Division IV (16 teams), Division V (12 teams) and Division V-AA (12 teams).

The CIF basketball playoffs tip off Feb. 17 for girls and Feb. 18 for boys in Division I through Division IV and both genders in Division V-AA. Open Division quarterfinals tip off Feb. 20 in both genders.

Finals venues include Frontwave Arena (Open Division), Cal-State San Marcos (Division I and Division III), Mira Mesa High School (Division II), Otay Ranch High School (Division IV and Division V) and MiraCosta College (Division V-AA).

The Southern California regional playoff will include all eight Open Division qualifiers, semifinalists and finalists in Division I, the champion and runner-up in both Division II and Division III and the champion in both Division IV and Division V.

Let’s go girls
The Mater Dei Catholic Lady Crusaders, Victory Christian Academy Lady Knights and Otay Ranch Lady Mustangs all advanced to the state playoffs last season.

Mater Dei Catholic played five games past section play, ending with a 48-38 loss to Marin Catholic in the Division III state final to conclude a 21-14 season.

Metro-South Bay League champion Otay Ranch, seeded third, upended top-seeded Bishop’s, 45-29, in the Division II section title game to earn a first-round berth in the Division III state regionals to cap a highly successful 26-6 hoops campaign.

Metro-Mesa League champion VCA defeated Rancho Buena Vista, 52-41, to claim the Division I section championship en route to an 18-14 final record, including a first-round 62-26 loss to Portola in the regional playoffs.

Mater Dei Catholic is pushing boundaries to start the 2025-26 season as the No. 2-ranked team in the section at 14-1 and is on an apparent route to an Open Division playoff appearance.

Early season leaders include senior Promise Martin (12.0 ppg), and juniors La’Vehya Inglehart (11.8 ppg), Jarika Chan (10.2 ppg), Awen Carrillo (7.7 ppg) and Shea Gonzalez (8.6 ppg).

Martin is averaging 10.8 rebounds per game and 5.3 steals per game to lead the team while Carrillo is averaging 7.7 boards.

The Lady Crusaders opened the season 11-0 before suffering their first loss, 48-46, to Orange Lutheran on Dec. 29 in tournament play.

Mater Dei Catholic rebounded with three consecutive wins, including a 72-21 pasting of Olympian in a non-league game on Jan. 7. Inglehart led the scoring parade with 17 points while Chan collected 16 points and Carrillo dropped in 12 points.

Carrillo had 10 rebounds while Chan sank four treys.

VCA (6-8) is ranked 11th among Division I teams this season while Montgomery (11-6) is ranked 13th and Otay Ranch (13-5) is ranked 16th. All three teams should have decent playoff seeds once the top eight teams in the division are moved over to the Open Division.

Other South County teams poised to make a run in the section playoffs include Hilltop (No. 1 ranking in Division IV), Castle Park (No. 3 ranking in Division IV) and National City’s San Diego Academy (No. 3 in Division V-AA).

Hilltop (13-3) opened the season 8-0 before dropping its first game, 62-33, to Central Union (No. 3 ranking in Division II). Other non-league losses have come against Sage Creek (No. 7 ranking in Division II) and Canyon Hills (No. 3 ranking in Division III).

Team leaders include senior Kayli Salgado (19.2 ppg), freshman Diana Herrera (12.3 ppg), senior Serina Williams (6.6 rebounds per game) and senior Alizeah Zapata (4.9 assists per game, 4.8 steals per game).

Castle Park (9-3) is off to one of its best starts in the last 10 years, according to coach Maya Lyda The Lady Trojans opened the season 7-1 before dropping recent games to Foothills Christian (No. 2 ranking in Division V-AA) and Holtville (No. 12 ranking in Division IV).

Team leaders include sophomore Monserrat Medrano (15.0 ppg), senior Leilani Roche (8.4 ppg) and sophomore Savannah Marks (7.6 ppg).

Montero poured in 25 points in a 55-23 non-league win over SET on Jan. 8 while Marks contributed 15 points.

San Pasqual (11-3) and Logan Memorial (11-6) both ranked ahead of CP in the division. Metro-Pacific League opponents include Chula Vista, San Ysidro, Mar Vista and Sweetwater.

“I expect us to be competitive to set us up for the CIF playoffs, but Chula Vista is in our league and they will be tough,” Lyda said.
Chula Vista (8-8) is led on the court by senior Perez Isis (13.9 ppg) and sophomore Echoku Tracy (12.6 ppg).

Senior Harmony Santos paces SDA (3-4) with an 11.6 scoring average and 5.8 steals per game while senior Promesse Muhrabale is averaging 8.3 rebounds per game.

Bonita Vista (9-6) is ranked sixth among Division II teams while Olympian (7-10) is ranked ninth. Eastlake (7-9) is ranked 11th among Division III teams while Chula Vista is ranked 11th among Division IV squads.

The Lady Spartans improved to 9-8 on the season, 1-0 in league, following Wednesday’s 55-19 win at Mar Vista.

Castle Park matched Chula Vista’s 1-0 league start with a 31-16 win over visiting Sweetwater on Wednesday.

Eastern exposure
The Grossmont Lady Foothilers advanced to the state championship game in 2023, dropping a 47-29 decision to St. Bernard’s in Sacramento en route to a 27-9 finish. The team was nearly as successful last season with a 22-5 overall record, undefeated Grossmont Hills League championship aand a return trip to the state tournament as an Open Division qualifier.

The Lady Foothillers appear to still have their sights set high after pushing to a 12-4 record to start this season with a No. 6 section ranking. An Open Division playoff berth and automatic regional playoff berth appear within reach for this group.
But they have to earn it.

Scoring leaders through 16 games include junior Aakash Price at 15.1 points per game, junior Jaliyah Fleming at 11.9 ppg, freshman Maya Shehee (8.5 ppg), sophomore Esther Agoh (8.5 ppg), freshman Azuri Nottingham (6.8 ppg), freshman Tiann Carpenter (6.0 ppg), freshman Kallie McKenzie (5.7 ppg) and sophomore Arionna Simpson (4.6 ppg).

Rebounding leaders include Price (11.1 per game), Agoh (8.7 rpg), Nottingham (5.0 rpg), Simpson (5.0 rpg) and sophomore Sharline Charles (5.0 rpg). Assist leaders include Price (3.9 per game) and Carpenter (3.8 per game). An all-around playmaker, Price is averaging 5.1 steals per game.

The Lady Foothillers will look to ride their talented freshmen recruits and veteran returners as far as they can.
El Capitan (14-5) entered the week ranked 12th overall among section teams (10th in Division I) and look to challenge Grossmont for this year’s Grossmont Hills League title. An Open Division playoff berth is not out of the question with a strong regular season finish.

Top scorers for the Lady Vaqueros include senior Keira Heinrichy (19.5 ppg), junior Sasha Parker (10.3 ppg), junior Madison Zarzan (8.5 ppg), sophomore Elena Seeno (6.5 ppg), sophomore Kennedy O’Neil (5.9 ppg) and freshman Haelyn Libby (4.4 ppg). Parker (7.7 rpg), Heinrichy (6.8 rpg) and Zarzan (5.0 rpg) key the team in rebounds while Seeno is the clear assist leader (4.1 per game). Parker tops the team in steals (3.7 per game).

Christian (11-4) is ranked 22nd among the 114 section teams (fourth in Division II) following a strong start. The Lady Patriots, who compete in the top-flight City Western League, entered the week ranked behind No. 1 La Costa Canyon (13-4), No. 2 San Diego (11-6) and No. 3 Central Union (9-5) among Division II teams.

Christian’s scoring leaders include sophomore Leah Speers (18.8 ppg), freshman Rebekah Montero (10.5 ppg), senior Sierra Weckback (10.5 ppg) and junior Jazmyn Bugg (7.4 ppg). The Lady Patriots are a rebounding force behind Weckback (8.9 rpg), Bugg (6.9 rpg), Speers (5.9 rpg), freshman Kirra Schellenberg (4.7 rpg) and junior Brigette Nickerson 93.6 rpg). Bugg leads in assists (6-3 per game) while Speers is next up (3.1 per game). Steals leaders include Speers (3.1 per game), Bugg (2.9 per game), Nickerson (2.8 per game) and Montero (2.1 per game).

Helix (5-10) is ranked 10th among Division II teams while Steele Canyon (8-10) is ranked 14th.

El Cajon Valley (5-8) is ranked 14th among Division III teams while Santana (8-8) is ranked eighth among Division IV teams.

Mountain Empire (3-8) is ranked 14th among Division V teams while Alpine’s Liberty Charter (7-0) and El Cajon’s Foothills Christian (9-4) provide a one-two punch at the Division V-AA level.

San Diego Section Girls Basketball Rankings

Top 60 Teams
(Through Jan. 10)

1. Francis Parker 11-5
2. Mater Dei Catholic 14-1
3. Cathedral Catholic 12-5
4. Mission Hills 7-7
5. La Jolla Country Day 10-8
6. Grossmont 12-4
7. Westview 8-6
8. La Costa Canyon 13=4
9. Imperial 12-4
10. Rancho Bernardo 15-3
11. Patrick Henry 17-1
12. El Capitan 14-5
13. Victory Christian Academy 6-8
14. Scripps Ranch 12-6
15. Montgomery 11-6
16. San Diego 11-6
17. Our Lady of Peace 14-3
18. Central Union 9-5
19. Canyon Hills 14-3
20. Carlsbad 8-12
21. Torrey Pines 8-10
22. Christian 11-4
23. Otay Ranch 13-5
24. Lincoln 3-8
25. Escondido 8-5
26. Bishop’s 8-7
27. Rancho Buena Vista 9-6
28. Calexico 12-5
29. Fallbrook 8-8
30. San Marcos 6-10
31. Mt. Carmel 8-8
32. Bonita Vista 9-6
33. Hilltop 13-3
34. Sage Creek 10-10
35. Oceanside 5-5
36. Valley Center 11-3
37. Morse 10-8
38. Santa Fe Christian 8-5
39. High Tech High San Diego 8-5
40. Cambridge School 4-1
41. Del Norte 8-10
42. Vista 7-9
43. Olympian 7-10
44. San Pasqual 11-3
45. Eastlake 7-9
46. Helix 5-10
47. Mission Vista 8-7
48. Pt. Loma 9-7
49. Liberty Charter 7-0
50. Mira Mesa 10-8
51. Palo Verde Valley 7-4
52. Kearny 7-5
53. El Camino 6-8
54. Coronado 6-6
55. Escondido Adventist 8-5
56. Escondido Charter 5-9
57. San Dieguito Academy 5-7
58. Steele Canyon 8-10
59. La Jolla 4-14
60. Santana 8-8
    Others: 64. Foothills Christian 9-4, 66. El Cajon Valley 5-8, 77. Mt. Miguel 5-9, 82. Granite Hills 4-12, 85. West Hills 3-12, 97. Valhalla 0-10, 101. Monte Vista 0-9, 105. Mountain Empire 3-83-6

Division I Rankings
1. Francis Parker 11-5, 2. Mater Dei Catholic 14-1, 3. Cathedral Catholic 12-5, 4. Mission Hills 7-7, 5. La Jolla Country Day 10-8, 6. Grossmont 12-4, 7. Westview 8-6, 8. Imperial 12-4, 9. Rancho Bernardo 15-3, 10. El Capitan 14-5, 11. Victory Christian Academy 6-8, 12. Scripps Ranch 12-6, 13. Montgomery 11-6, 14. Carlsbad 8-12, 15. Torrey Pines 8-10, 16. Otay Ranch 13-5, 17. Bishop’s 8-7, 18. Rancho Buena Vista 9-6, 19. Fallbrook 8-8, 20. San Marcos 6-10, 21. Oceanside 5-5, 22. Morse 10-8, 23. Poway 4-12, 24. Vincent Memorial 1-6

Division II Rankings
1. La Costa Canyon 13-4, 2. San Diego 11-6, 3. Central Union 9-5, 4. Christian 11-4, 5. Lincoln 3-8, 6. Bonita Vista 9-6, 7. Sage Creek 10-10, 8. Del Norte 8-10, 9. Olympian 7-10 10. Helix 5-10, 11. Mira Mesa 10-8, 12. Escondido Charter 5-9, 13, San Dieguito Academy 5-7, 14. Steele Canyon 8-10, 15. La Jolla 4-14, 16. University City 5-11, 17. St. Joseph Academy 2-13, 18. Granite Hills 4-12, 19. West hills 3-12, 20. Hoover 4-14

Division III Rankings
1. Patrick Henry 17-1, 2. Our Lady of Peace 14-3, 3. Canyon Hills 14-3, 4. Escondido 8-5, 5. Calexico 12-5, 6. Mt. Carmel 8-8, 7. Valley Center 11-3, 8. Santa Fe Christian 8-5, 9. High Tech High San Diego 8-5, 10. Vista 7-9, 11. Eastlake 7-9, 12. Mission Vista 8-7, 13. Palo Verde Valley 7-4, 14. El Cajon Valley 5-8, 15. Crawford 8-9, 16. Mt. Miguel 5-9, 17. Maison 4-6, 18. Pacific Ridge 2-12, 19. Classical Academy 3-9, 20. Horizon Prep 5-6, 21. Brawley 0-12

Division IV Rankings
1. Hilltop 13-3, 2. Cambridge School 4-1, 3. Pt. Loma 9-7, 4. Kearny 7-5, 5. El Camino 6-8, 6. Coronado 6-6, 7. Escondido Adventist Academy 8-5, 8. Santana 8-8, 9. Del Lago Academy 10-5, 10. Canyon Crest Academy 7-8, 11. Chula Vista 8-8, 12. Holtville 7-6, 13. Southwest 6-7, 14. Warner 7-3, 15. O’Farrell Charter 5-8, 16. Rock Academy 4-4, 17. Valhalla 0-10, 18. Ramona 2-10, 19. Monte Vista 0-9, 20. Maranatha Christian 0-9

Division V Rankings
1. San Pasqual 11-3, 2. Logan Memorial 11-6, 3. Castle Park 9-3, 4. Southwest El Centro 6-5, 5. Coastal Academy 8-2, 6. Mar Vista 3-7, 7. Sweetwater 0-8, 8. San Ysidro 5-8, 9. Orange Glen 4-9, 10. High Tech High Chula Vista 0-5, 11. Clairemont 2-6, 12. Mission Bay 2-11, 13. Bayfront Charter 2-5, 14. Mountain Empire 3-8, 15. Guajome Park Academy 2-9, 16. Preuss UCSD 2-5, 17. Gompers Prep Academy 0-5

Division V-AA Rankings
1. Liberty Charter 7-0, 2. Foothills Christian 9-4, 3. San Diego Academy 3-4, 4. Calipatria 2-6, 5. West Shores 3-3, 6. Ocean View Christian Academy 2-5, 7. Bonsall 3-5, 8. CVLCC 3-6, 9. High Tech High North County 1-8, 10. Borrego Springs 1-5, 11. Calexico Mission 0-5

San Diego Section Boys Basketball Rankings

Division I
1.Santa Fe Christian 17-1, 2. Victory Christian Academy 13-4, 3. La Costa Canyon 14-5, 4. Olympian 14-4, 5. Mission Bay 11-7, 6. Madison 13-3, 7. San Marcos 11-5, 8. Francis Parker 8-8, 9. Cathedral Catholic 12-6, 10. Mira Mesa 13-5, 11. St. Augustine 9-8, 12. Torrey Pines 9-8, 13. Bonita Vista 12-5, 14. Carlsbad 8-10, 15. Montgomery 13-5, 16. Christian 9-8, 17. Mission Hills 9-9, 18. La Jolla Country Day 7-10, 19. Sage Creek 8-10, 2-0 San Diego 10-10, 21. Rancho Buena Vista 9-9, 22. Del Norte 8-8, 23. University City 5-13, 24. El Camino 5-12

Division II
1. Rancho Bernardo 10-6, 2. Poway 12-6, 3. Westview 14-3, 4. Scripps Ranch 9-10, 5. Pt. Loma 11-5, 6. Coronado 10-7, 7. Patrick Henry 12-6, 8. Helix 10-9, 9. Bishop’s 13-3, 10. Mater Dei Catholic 7-5, 11. Southwest 13-5, 12. Steele Canyon 10-8, 13. Maranatha Christian 7-10, 14. Mt. Miguel 10-8, 15. Monte Vista 11-7, 16. Hoover 7-7. 17. Lincoln 8-9, 18. La Jolla 5-13, 19. Eastlake 3-15, 20. Vincent Memorial 3-6, 21. Vista 1-16

Division III
1. Calexico 12-3, 2. Army-Navy Academy 11-7, 3. Del Lago Academy 10-2, 4. Ramona 10-7, 5. Brawley 12-4, 5. Tri-City Christian 4-5, 7. Imperial 7-5, 8. Canyon Hills 7-7, 9. Mt. Carmel 6-11, 10. Fallbrook 7-8, 11. Canyon Crest Academy 6-11, 12. Crawford 6-8, 13. Otay Ranch 6-13, 14. Central Union 5-6, 15. Granite Hills 7-9, 16. Oceanside 4-13, 17. St. Joseph Academy 8-8, 18. Escondido Charter 5-14, 19. San Ysidro 2-11, 20. Foothills Christian 1-13, 21. Calipatria 1-9

Division IV
1.Morse 15-0, 2. Pacific Ridge 13-4, 3. West Hills 11-6, 4. Valhalla 12-4, 5. Clairemont 12-4, 6. Kearny 9-6, 7. High Tech High San Diego 9-8, 8. High Tech High Chula Vista 8-6, 9. Sweetwater 7-5, 10. San Dieguito Academy 7-9, 11. Mission Vista 7-8, 12. Santana 7-8, 13. Mar Vista 5-12, 14. El Capitan 5-12, 15. Chula Vista 5-12, 16. Cambridge 3-5, 17. O’Farrell Charter 4-16, 18. Valley Center 2-13, 19. Escondido 3-12, 20. High Tech Mesa 0-8, 21. Orange Glen 2-17

Division V
1. High Tech North County 12-0, 2. Preuss UCSD 13-7, 3. Coastal Academy 8-2, 4. San Diego Jewish Academy 8-3, 5. El Cajon Valley 8-5, 6. Grossmont 6-7, 7. Palo Verde Valley 9-10, 8. Hilltop 11-6, 9. San Pasqual 6-9, 10. Logan Memorial 10-7, 11. CVLCC 3-6, 12. Southwest El Centro 7-10, 13. Castle Park 5-9, 14. Holtville 5-13, 15. Mountain Empire 6-5, 16. Guajome Park Academy 3-6, 17. Bayfront Charter 2-7, 18. Classical Academy 3-16, 19. Health Sciences 0-6, 20. Gompers Prep Academy 0-6

Division V-AA
1.Liberty Charter 8-4, 2. Warner 12-3, 3. San Diego Academy 5-5, 4. Calvin Christian 8-4, 5. Horizon Prep 12-4, 6. Southern California Yeshiva 4-5, 7. Escondido Adventist Academy 2-7, 8. Monarch 2-5, 9. Rock Academy 3-9, 10. Bonsall 5-8, 11. SET 2-9, 12. West Shores 1-4, 13. Ocean View Christian Academy 2-6, 14. Calexico Mission 0-5, 15. Borrego Springs 1-8, 16. Julian 0-10

Boys Basketball Scoreboard:
Mater Dei Catholic 62, Lincoln 53
Bonita Vista 84, Imperial 69
Bonita Vista 61, Monte Vista 57
Bonita Vista 76, Steele Canyon 54
Bonita Vista 66, Calexico 37
Olympian 79, Eastlake 58
Olympian 72, Monte Vista 63
Montgomery 60, Steele Canyon 57
Montgomery 61, University City 48
VCA 74, Cornerstone Christian 53
CVLCC 47, Castle Park 36