With games starting tonight, here are my quick picks on the winners:

Open: Mitty. Overwhelming favorite, but think they might get some pushes if they aren't full strength

D1: Carondelet. Pretty wide open field. Not calling it, but wouldn't be surprised if McClatchy beats Pinewood in round 1

D2: Oakland Tech. Seedings are pretty wonky in this bracket. Bottom half of the bracket looks much tougher

D3: Central. Lot of Central Section teams in this bracket. Grant could go on a run too

D4: St. Bernard's. I'll go with the top seed and teams having to travel up there.

D5: Lynrbook. Their schedule will pay dividends in this lower division

HMB lost 3 games by 26, 19, and 24
Branham played nobody all year
Lost in open by 16 and 17 and beat HMB and got #1 seed in D2

Bellarmine 10-17 lost 6 of 7, 11 of last 15, 7 of those by double digits. 0-3 in open including 47 point lost to Riordan .
The reward is a #5 seed home game a 28-4 montgomery. Larry gotta be heated

With non-league and Holiday tournaments now concluded, the WCAL starts this week. Good to see so many of the teams play some of the top teams in the State and even Country. To kick things off, Riordan visits St. Francis on Jan 2nd as this is the lone game of the night in order accommodate Riordan's Jan 6th game against Bishop Gorman-NV in the inaugural Coastal Catholic Classic at Crypto.com in LA. The rest of the WCAL kicks off Jan 4th with games closing out the week on the 6th. Here's my predicted order of finish.

1. Archbishop Riordan
   • Top Returning Players - 6-4 So Andrew Hillman, 6-6 Jr Jasir Rencher, 6-4 Sr Kaia Berridge, 6-5 Sr Nate Tshamala
   • New Players - 6-8 Sr Zion Sensley (returns from Prolific Prep), 6-10 Jr Steve Emeneke, 6-6 Jr John Tofi Jr, 6-3 Sr Jordy MacKenzie, 6-8 So Tommy Tofi, 6-4 Sr Durde Curcic, 6-2 Ryder Bush, 6-0 Fr Cole White
   • Top Games Non-league - Roosevelt (75-70 loss); University (73-63 loss); SRV (70-59 win), Branson 63-51 loss), Clovis North (74-65 win) - Upcoming Non-League Games: Bishop Gorman-NV (Coastal Catholic Classic @ Crypto.com-LA), Salesian (MLK@DLS), Centennial-Corona (Crush in the Valley)
   • Notes: Crusaders have not played as a full team yet due to injuries, transfer SOP, CIF suspension carryover from Inderkum incident, but should be at full strength this week. Team still needs to gel, but based on Coach Curtin's track record, they should be in sync come playoffs. Playing hard, sharing the ball, be quick - but don’t hurry (thanks Coach Wooden) and tough defense are the keys for their success. Riordan is a NorCal open contender.
2. Archbishop Mitty
   • Top Returning Players - 6-8 Sr Gavin Ripp, 6-3 Sr Tyler Jones, 6-3 Sr Kai Grouleau, 6-2 Sr Nathan Noronha
   • New Players - 6-4 So Caeden Hutcherson (from SI)
   • Top Games Non-league - Branson, Salesian, Carlsbad and St. Augustine (losses):Strake, Brophy (AZ) Santa Margarita, Montgomery (wins)
   • Notes: Mitty and Riordan shared the WCAL title last year. The Monarchs look to have another strong campaign and will be the top challenger to Riordan for the WCAL and CCS Open title. Mitty is a NorCal Open contender.
3. St. Ignatius
   • Top Returning Players- 6-8 Sr Theo Lamb, 6-2 So Raymond Whitley, 6-2 So Steele Laubagh
   • Top Games Non-league - University(2), Dublin, Sacred Heart Prep (wins); Redwood (loss)
   • Notes: The "Cats concluded an impressive non-league in spite of losing arguably its best player in Mitty transfer Caeden Hutcherson. SI the darkhorse for the WCAL crown
4. Serra
   • Top Returning Players - 6-3 Sr Ryan Pettis, G Sr. Alex Naber, G Jr Mikey Ballout (best name btw!)
   • Top Games Non-league - Sacred Heart Prep (win); Central Catholic, Granada (losses)
   • Never count out the scrappy Padres and coach Rapp. The Jungle always provides challenges to visiting teams.
5. Sacred Heart Cathedral
   • Top Returning Players - 6-1 Sr, Fedrick Pernell, 6- Jr Mykel Patton, 6-0 Sr Zemaury Erfe
   • Top Non-league games - Albany, Lincoln (wins); University, St. Marys-Berkeley (losses_
   • Notes: The luck of the Irish hit again as SHC captured the CCS Open Title last year despite a 7-7 WCAL finish. The Irish are fast and have good guard play that will keep them competitive in all their games..
6. Bellarmine
   • Top Returning Players - 6-7Sr Nick Corbett 6-2 So Will Corbett
   • Top Non League Games - Heady Royce, Clayton Valley, Jesuit (wins); Brophy, Cathedral Catholic, SHP, Canyon View (losses)
   • The Bells look to take the next step up as this squad vastly improved at the end of last season. Non-league slate was challenging and should help this team this season.
7. St. Francis
   • Top Players - 6-11 Jr Alexeander Gklaros-Stavopoulos, 6-2 Sr Charles Withers
   • Top Non-league Games - Hayward (win); St Josephs-Santa Maria, SHP, Bishop Manogue, Berkeley, Spanish Springs (losses)
   • Notes; Former USF Don Rodney Tention takes over from longtime coach Motil. The Lancers are a young squad.
8. Valley Christian
   • Top Players - 6-4 Sr Tzhahari Trevino
   • Top Non-league games - Piedmont Hills, Acalanes (wins); Ygnacio Valley, Menlo Atherton (losses)
   • The Warriors lost its big man to Modesto Christian this year and will need to rely on its senior guard and underclassmen to lead them through the tough WCAL gauntlet.

2024 CIF State Basketball Championships Information​

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Brackets will be released in the afternoon on Sunday, February 25​

Regional Championships Information February 27 - March 5​

Schedule​

Round I (Divisions I-V) - Tue., February 27 at Host Sites @ 7:00 pm
Round I (Divisions Open, VI) - Wed., February 28 at Host Sites @ 7:00 pm
Round II (Divisions I-V) - Thu., February 29 at Host Sites @ 7:00 pm
Regional Semifinals - Sat., March 2 at Host Sites @ 7:00 pm
Regional Finals - Tue., March 5 at Host Sites @ 7:00 pm



Goodluck NorCal Teams in your Brackets!! first to four wins is the State Champion!!

Central section abolished its open and now awards top 8 D1 teams with Norcal bid. D2 D3 D4 all get 4 just like the old way of the Section playoffs pre open. D5 gets 2 and D6 1.

West Valley 28-0 and the top seed. Has players from Clayton Valley and Las Lomas.

Is that correct?

Halftime at Mitty.

Monarchs lead Riordan 50-17. Lots of Riordan turnovers leading to easy Mitty buckets.

The confusion lies because everyone compares division to division. Section divisions are close to what they should be.

In state it’s a rank not a school division size
For example Santa Theresa and Palo alto were Central coast D1.
Santa Theresa got a 1 seed in D4 and Palo Alto a D4 8., This means Santa Theresa is basically the #55 seed and PA is.the 62 seed.
Should change names to Gold , Silver, Bronze etc because that’s what it is

Open - https://cifstate.org/sports/basketball/B_brkts_2024/open

Division I - https://cifstate.org/sports/basketball/B_brkts_2024/d1

Division II - https://cifstate.org/sports/basketball/B_brkts_2024/d2

Division III - https://cifstate.org/sports/basketball/B_brkts_2024/d3

Division IV - https://cifstate.org/sports/basketball/B_brkts_2024/d4

Division V - https://cifstate.org/sports/basketball/B_brkts_2024/d5

NorCal Division VI - https://cifstate.org/sports/basketball/B_brkts_2024/d6

D3:Vista del Lago beat Manteca 68-49. Skrzyniarz had 24 points for VDL

D2: Whitney beat Vanden 64-53. Back-to-Back D2 titles for Whitney

Does SJ handle business against North? Are we sure the CIF wouldn’t send them back south?

Does Branson need to win to make Open or is their bid already secured?

To the surprise of no one, Archbishop Mitty rolled to another CCS Open title, whipping St. Ignatius in the finals 84-44 despite missing two stars in Morgan Cheli and Belle Bramer. Mitty simply had too much talent, playing too well. McKenna Woliczko was at a different level, notching 30 points in the final. Elana Weisman continued to be an offensive force and both Emma Cook ‘26 and Tee Mccarthy ‘27 stepped in to make up for their missing teammates. All that said, the Monarchs need their starters back and healthy to win through at the next level.

St. Ignatius earns a shout out for making the final after going 3-0 in pool play with wins over Priory, Los Gatos and WBAL rival Sacred Heart Cathedral. The gritty Wildcats just don’t have the size or skill to compete with the #1 team in the country. See them as a #6 or #7 seed in Norcal D1.

Sacred Heart Cathedral has been strong all season, and was solid again in pool play as the #2 seed. The loss to SI can be forgiven, as it was the teams’ third meeting of the year, and it’s always hard to sweep in those circumstances. Now at 22-4, it’s theoretically possible that they’ll get bumped to play in Norcal Open to fill out an eight team bracket. But they deserve better. Maybe a #3 seed in D1.

Pinewood showed best against Mitty, giving them a competitive game until late in the third quarter (they were down 14 with the ball with about 2 mins left). The Panthers handled Mitty’s pressure well, had some beautiful drives to the bucket, and got their typical three-point shooting. But they fell well short on the glass, where Mitty got a bunch of easy putbacks. Pinewood also knocked off Riordan and St. Francis in pool play. Would not be surprised to see them get a high (#4?) seed in Norcal D1 and compete for the title.

Priory qualified for CCS open with a surprising late season win against Pinewood, but then inexplicably got the #3 seed. That made no sense, and Priory proved as much, going 0-3 in open pool play, losing to SI and Los Gatos at home, as well as to SHC. I suspect they’ll be “rewarded” with a low seed and tough game in Norcal D1.

Riordan, the #5 seed, got blown out by Mitty, competed well against Pinewood before falling by 15, and then topped St. Francis for the third time this season. At 16-10, with a win over SI, I’m guessing an 11-13 seed in Norcal D1.

As predicted, Los Gatos got a win in pool play against a private school. Unfortunately that may bump them ahead of Priory in NorCal seedings making them a low seed in D1. Ashley Childers and Nicole Steiner are bigs that create matchup problems. It would be nice of the committee to give them a chance in D2.

St. Francis was outmatched in every game. Junior point guard Maia Jiminez is their best threat. They are probably a low D2 seed.

Salesian defeats California for title. Was anyone at the game?

Clovis north 69-60 final over St Joes

ET a bigger more athletic version of SRV.
Proud of SRV they do more with what they have

Good crowd on hand at Dublin high. Game was tied at 21 after two Avery Knapp bombs. CN then nailed three straight threes to lead by nine. San Ramon is having a hard time keeping Newman off the glass and they need Sophia Bowes to get untracked.

Bishop O'Dowd leads Dougherty Valley 19-18 end Q1

Notre Dame San Jose 52 Mills 47 in OT

Very competitive game. ND SJ led most of the way. Mills clawed to tie with a late free throw. But ND's point guard hit several free throws in OT to put it away.

Shout out to young Justin Matsu for taking Mills to the divisional final after his father's untimely passing.

ND is now 14-12 (3-7 in the competitive WBAL). Mills moves to 19-8 (8-2 in the Peninsula Bay League). Both teams will advance to Norcals.

Dear NorCalPreps Community,

It's time to take a closer look at the transfer policies affecting high school sports across the North Coast Section (NCS), Central Coast Section (CCS), Oakland Section, San Francisco Section, and San-Joaquin Section. These policies impact all our student-athletes, boys and girls alike, creating barriers that limit their ability to compete, grow, and achieve their full potential.

A United Effort for Change

The restrictive nature of these policies doesn't just affect individual athletes; it challenges the very essence of high school sports. Our goal is to ensure every student-athlete, regardless of their sport or background, has equitable opportunities to succeed and showcase their talents.

Your Stories Are Key

The power of personal experience cannot be overstated. Whether you've been directly impacted by these policies or have seen their effects on others, your story is a vital piece of the puzzle. By sharing your journey, you highlight the need for a more supportive and fair system for all.

How to Help

We're looking to gather experiences from across the board — missed opportunities, navigating complex rules, or any other challenges these policies have presented. Your insight is crucial in painting a comprehensive picture of how these rules affect our student-athletes on and off the field.

Let's unite our voices for a cause that matters. Share your experience, and let's work towards creating a more inclusive and fair environment for high school sports.

Share your story, and be part of the change we all wish to see.
Email : Letkidshoop@gmail.com
Twitter : @Letkidshoop

Sac Joaquin Section

Division I
Division II
Division III
Division IV
Division V
Division VI

North Coast Section

Open
Division I
Division II
Division III
Division IV
Division V
Division VI

Central Coast Section

Open Division
Division I
Division II
Division III
Division IV
Division V

Northern Section

So far this is how I would have it shaking out, remember these are just projections.

1) Salesians (NCS Open Champ) BYE

2) St Josephs (Santa Maria) (Central Champ) BYE

3) DLS (NCS Open Runner up) vs. 6) Modesto Christian (SJS Champs)

4) Branson (NCS Open 3rd place) vs. 5) Riordan (CCS Open Champs)

There is a chance they could take Branson and put them in D1, but I think this year they will take 6 teams, since the above six I feel have earned a crack at the Open Division.

I think the lower seeds in D2 have a much better chance tonight than the lower seeds in D4. With Tam beating St Pats a few weeks ago the 10 seeding for St Pats is probably correct but that is not a favorable match up for Cardinal Newman. Newman will defend 100x better than American Canyon but it will need to be low scoring for CN to win in my opinion. Thoughts?

Final

Justin-Siena 76 Ygnacio Valkey 69

First section championship for Justin-Siena in 50 years.