Sac High and Salesian of Richmond grab new No. 1 status as frenzied week of section playoffs is underway. Rapid risers include Fairfield, Inglewood and Chaminade of West Hills.

By Steve Brand & Mark Tennis

While there certainly seems to be some dominant teams in CIF Division I basketball this year, after last week it's becoming more and more evident that most of the rest of the races for CIF state titles are going to be as wide open as ever before.

In this week's divisional boys rankings, two new teams moved to the top of the heap in their divisions with Sacramento going to No. 1 in Division III and Salesian of Richmond doing the same in Division IV. Neither one of those two teams, however, looks like a huge favorite in the upcoming NorCal playoffs.

If Sac High wins the Sac-Joaquin Section crown, the Dragons will have to likely contend with teams like Sacred Heart Cathedral of Central Coast Section and Miramonte of the North Coast Section. For Salesian, it's going to be tough getting out of its own section with St. Mary's of Berkeley and Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa also in the NCS semis.

Previous Division III state leader Diamond Ranch of Pomona went out stunningly in the quarterfinals of its Southern Section division. The Panthers fell to Gahr of Cerritos, 63-62, despite standout Garrett Johnson scoring 25 points. He had a chance to win it with a 12-footer at the buzzer but missed.

Previous Division IV state leader Bishop Montgomery of Torrance lost in perhaps the best game in the entire state last week. The Knights went up against South Bay rival Inglewood in their CIFSS divisional semifinal and lost, 97-93, in overtime. The Sentinels forced overtime on a 3-pointer from senior guard Dashawn Gomez with three seconds left in regulation. They spoiled a sensational outing from Bishop Montgomery four-year starter Justin Cobbs, who pumped in 47 points.

Unlike Diamond Ranch, which lost in an earlier round, Bishop Montgomery still could get selected to play in the upcoming CIF Southern Regional Division IV playoffs. It all has to do with which other teams with Div. IV enrollments win CIFSS titles this weekend.

(Rankings based on results through Saturday, Feb. 28; previous ranking in parentheses; *indicates season complete; **indicates team has lost in its section playoffs but could still be placed in regional bracket.)

Division 1
1.   (1)   Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 30-0
2.   (2)   De La Salle (Concord) 26-1
3.   (4)   Westchester (Los Angeles) 29-2
4.   (5)   McClymonds (Oakland) 25-1
5.   (6)   M.L. King (Riverside) 26-2
6.   (9)   Taft (Woodland Hills) 25-3
7.   (7)   Dominguez (Compton) 25-5
8.   (8)   Etiwanda (Rancho Cucamonga) 25-5
9.   (3)   Fairfax (Los Angeles) 25-4
10. (10)  Folsom  27-1
11. (11)  San Leandro  24-3
12. (nr)   El Camino (Oceanside) 28-3
13. (nr)   Monte Vista (Danville) 24-3
14. (nr)   Tesoro (Las Flores) 26-4
15. (nr)   Ventura  26-4
Bubble: Berkeley 25-4*, Castro Valley 23-5*, Centennial (Corona) 24-4*, Clovis East (Clovis) 25-5*, Colony (Ontario) 22-7*, Los Alamitos 27-2*,  Murrieta Valley (Murrieta) 25-2*, Poly (Long Beach) 23-6*, Rodriguez (Fairfield) 25-3, Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley) 24-6*.

Division II
1.   (1)  Rocklin  27-2
2.   (2)  Leuzinger (Lawndale) 25-5
3.   (3)  Eisenhower (Rialto)  27-3
4.   (5)  St. Francis (Mountain View) 26-2
5.   (4)  Thousand Oaks  26-2
6.   (8)  Loyola (Los Angeles) 24-5
7.   (7)  Liberty (Bakersfield)  25-3
8.  (10) Hoover (San Diego)  26-7
9.  (nr)  Fairfield 23-6
10. (6)  La Mirada  27-4*
Bubble: Bella Vista (Fair Oaks) 25-4, Garces (Bakersfield) 20-7, Glendora 22-8*, Gunn (Palo Alto) 22-5, Marina (Huntington Beach) 21-7*, Oceanside 22-3.

Division III
1.   (2)   Sacramento  21-6
2.   (3)   Sacred Heart Cathedral (SF) 23-4
3.   (5)   Harvard-Westlake (N. Hollywood)     25-6
4.   (6)   Ocean View (Huntington Beach) 23-7
5.   (9)   Santa Margarita (Rancho S.M.) 22-8
6.   (7)   Miramonte (Orinda) 23-4
7.   (8)   Burlingame  25-4
8.   (nr)  Inglewood  24-7
9.   (nr)  Morningside (Inglewood) 23-8
10. (1)   Diamond Ranch (Pomona) 24-5*
Bubble: Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 20-7, Campbell Hall (N. Hollywood) 19-9*, Del Oro (Loomis) 20-7, Gahr (Cerritos) 18-14, Golden Valley (Santa Clarita) 27-4*, Ridgeview (Bakersfield) 19-8, Sonora (La Habra) 27-4*, University City (San Diego) 23-5.

Division IV
1.   (2)  Salesian (Richmond) 25-4
2.   (1)  Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) 25-4**
3.   (5)  St. Mary's (Berkeley) 25-4
4.   (6)  Bishop's (La Jolla) 23-4
5.   (7)  Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 28-1
6.   (8)  Modesto Christian  20-8
7.   (9)  Price (Los Angeles) 24-5
8.   (10) San Juan (Fair Oaks) 25-4
9    (3)  Serra (Gardena) 22-8**
10. (nr) Chaminade (West Hills) 20-11
Bubble: Bakersfield Christian 17-7, Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 20-6, Crespi (Encino) 21-8, LACES (Los Angeles) 15-17, Lutheran (Orange) 26-6**, Piner (Santa Rosa) 21-7, Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 16-9.

Division V
1.   (1)   Windward (Los Angeles) 24-6
2.   (2)   Foothills Christian (El Cajon) 24-5
3.   (3)   Maranatha Christian (San Diego) 23-3
4.   (4)   Central Valley Christian (Visalia) 25-4
5.   (5)   Branson (Ross) 27-3
6.   (6)   Pacific Hills (Los Angeles) 25-6
7.   (7)   Head-Royce (Oakland) 27-2
8.   (8)   Lutheran (La Verne) 24-6
9.  (nr)  St. Joseph's (Alameda) 21-8
10. (10) Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) 21-6
Bubble: Brethren Christian (Huntington Beach) 23-6*, Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo) 18-10, Redding Christian 23-5, View Park Prep (Los Angeles) 16-18.

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