2024-25 Basketball Girls Playoffs Week 1: Oh, my! Number 14 and Number 13 Win

There were five so-called surprises (highlighted below) in the first round, but one of those reversals was an upset. No, it was a lot more than that,

Chula Vista, a No. 14 seed with a 9-17 record, shocked third-ranked Horizon Prep, which entered the game with a 16-4 record, 44-35, in Division IV. La Costa Canyon, a 13 seed, outlasted No. 4 Torrey Pines, 61-51, in overtime in D-I.

DIVISION I

16 Bonita Vista (5-22) 28. @1 Rancho Buena Vista 62.

8 Morse (15-12) 37, @9 Oceanside 62.

12 Poway (9-20) 37, @5 Carlsbad 75.

13 La Costa Canyon 61, @4 Torrey Pines 51, OT (20-9).

11 Fallbrook (11-18) 38, @6 Mater Dei 67.

14 Olympian (11-18) 50, @3 Scripps Ranch 64.

10 Helix (11-13) 32, @7 San Marcos 60.

15 Del Norte (7-22) 28, @2 Victory Christian 56.

D-II

16 Calexico (7-18) 37, @1 The Bishop’s 56.

9 San Diego (13-14) 51, @8 University City 54.

12 Mt. Carmel (16-13) 48, @5 Montgomery 74.

13 Steele Canyon (9-20) 38, @4 Calexico Vincent Memorial 58.

11 Granite Hills (11-16) 21, @6 West Hills 48.

14 Vista (10-17) 23, @3 Otay Ranch 63.

10 Mira Mesa (15-12) 40, @7 St. Joseph 44.

15 Eastlake (8-19) 17, @2 Imperial 56.

D-III

16 Canyon Crest (3-22) 26, @1 Christian 74.

9 Santa Fe Christian (13-16) 49, @8 Mission Vista 56.

10 Classical (11-12) 40, @7 Hoover 57.

15 Valhalla (4-18) 34, @2 Escondido Charter 83.

12 Madison (11-14) 19, @5 San Dieguito 38.

13 El Camino (10-13) 34, @4 La Jolla 39.

14 Point Loma (5-19) 14, @3 El Centro Central 64.

11 High Tech San Diego (14-14) 49, @6 Valley Center 58.

D-IV.

16 Calipatria (9-14) 11, @1 Patrick Henry 72.

8 Escondido Adventist 38, @9 Escondido 64.

12 Hilltop (12-14) 37, @5 Canyon Hills 39.

13 Rock (7-11) 41, @4 El Cajon Valley 60.

14 Chula Vista 44, @3 Horizon Prep (16-5), 35.

11 The Cambridge (12-7) 21, @6 Brawley 57.

10 Kearny (14-15) 38, @7 Crawford 52.

15 Mission Bay (4-19) 22, @2 Tri-City 42.

D-V

8 Mountain Empire (9-7) 30, @9 High Tech North County 39.

12 High Tech Mesa (10-5) 25, @5 San Diego Southwest 56.

6 Orange Glen (6-16) 27, 11 Coastal 33, @Guajome Park.

10 Castle Park (11-15) 24, @7 San Pasqual 65.

D-VAA

Eleven-team field byed into quarterfinals.

2024-25 Basketball Boys Playoffs Week 1: Few Surprises in First Round

80 teams and 40 games opened the San Diego Section Boys playoffs last night. Girls first-round competition is tonight.

Surprises, the polite term for upsets, were few. Six that are highlighted below.

Most significant was Helix (12-17) a 14 seed but with a long tradition of success, defeating No. 3 and 21-6 Christian, 43-41, in Division II.

DIVISION I

16 Hoover 54 (7-22), @1 La Jolla Country Day 80.

9 University City 66 (12-16), @8 Rancho Buena Vista 76.

13 Del Norte 51 (15-14), @4 Victory Christian 64.

11 Vista 47 (10-18), @6 Sage Creek 61.

14 Scripps Ranch 48 (8-20), @3 San Diego 52.

10 La Costa Canyon 55 (13-16), @7 El Camino 62.

15 Lincoln 39 (8-18), @2 St. Augustine 80.

12 Mater Dei 49 (7-20), @5 Mission Hills 52.

D-II

14 Helix 43, @3 Christian 41 (21-6).

16 Ramona 63 (13-15), @1 Olympian 86.

9 La Jolla 44 (17-12), @8 Poway 56, OT.

12 Calexico Vincent Memorial 35 (14-9), @5 Madison 56.

13 Patrick Henry 35 (9-20), @4 Bonita Vista 73.

11 Westview 49 (14-15), @6 The Bishop’s 59.

7 Eastlake 67 (10-17), @10 Steele Canyon 75.

15 Canyon Crest 54 (14-15), @2 Mira Mesa 73.

D-III

16 Valley Center 55 (9-20), @1 San Diego Southwest 75.

9 Valhalla 67 (18-11), @8 Fallbrook 81.

12 Mount Miguel 50, @5 Calexico 48 (16-10).

13 Oceanside 41 (12-15), @4 Rancho Bernardo 66.

11 Canyon Hills 58, @6 El Centro Central 57 (15-11).

14 Clairemont 47 (13-16), @3 Maranatha 54.

10 Imperial 58 (11-13), @7 Coronado 81.

15 High Tech Chula Vista 41 (15-11), @2 Point Loma 73.

D-IV

16 San Diego Jewish 52 (9-15), @1 Tri-City 80.

9 Kearny 66 (19-10), @8 Foothills Christian 74.

12 Mar Vista 59 (11-15), @5 Escondido Charter 74.

11 Morse 50 (15-14), @6 Del Lago 56.

10 Calipatria 57 (10-13), @7 Granite Hills 65.

14 Calvin Christian 46 (12-12), @3 Brawley 59.

13 West Hills 55 (12-17), @4 Army-Navy 80.

15 Blythe Palo Verde Valley 57 (10-17), @2 Crawford 74.

D-V

9 Bayfront Charter 42 (13-10), @8 Santana 80.

12 Holtville 35 (7-16), @5 Mabel O’Farrell 62.

11 Classical 54, @6 Preuss 48 (19-8).

10 High Tech North County 19 (14-8), @7 Escondido 62.

D-VAA

8 Horizon Prep 51 (13-12), @9 Logan-Memorial 53.

6 Chula Vista Community Learning Center 36 (9-11), 11 Cristo Rey 41, @Mar Vista.

12 Ocean View 33 (6-17), @5 Warner Springs Warner 39.

10 Monarch 31 (4-16), @7 Liberty Charter 65.

2024-25 End of Regular Season: Girls Champions Set Sights on Playoffs

Twenty-eight teams won or shared 24 league championships, according to Max Preps, which provides editorial content as supplied by respondents.

Lincoln was the competitive champion in the Central League but was suspended from the playoffs, giving a league co-title to Canyon Hills and Coronado. There were no signs of life in the Manzanita League; its teams competed in a so-named Southern League.

LEAGUE	TEAM	W-L	OVERALL	AVERAGE SCORE
Avocado	Mission Vista	8-0	13-12	44-40.5
Central	Canyon Hills	7-3	17-10	34,5-32.3
	Coronado	7-3	16-3	37.3-33.5
City	Christian	8-0	20.4	64.8-35.5
Coastal	Francis Parker	6-0	18-8	53.1-46
North County Coastal	Rancho Bernardo	10-0	20-8	54.2-46.4
Desert	Brawley	9-0	16-11	46.8-40.4
Eastern	La Jolla	6-2	19-9	50.6-41.8
	San Diego	6-2	13-13	49.4-44
Grossmont Hills	Grossmont	8-0	22-3	55.4-37-7
Grossmont Valley	West Hills	10-0	20-6	50.2-33.1
Imperial Valley	Imperial	8-0	23-4	50.4-35.8
Metropolitan Mesa	Victory	8-0	15-4	46.8-29.7
Metropolitan Pacific	San Diego Southwest	8-0	16-9	42.2-32.8
Metropolitan South Bay	Otay Ranch	6-0	22-5	50.9-34.9
Ocean	Tri-City	12-0	18-10	64.1-46.5
Pacific	Escondido Charter	10-0	20-8	55.7-39.5
Palomar	Mission Hills	9-1	20-8	68.9-48.3
	Westview	9-1	19-8	56.7-44.1
Patriot	High Tech North County	8-0	11-6	28.8-26.5
Pioneer	High Tech Mesa	4-0	9-4	37.8-21.4
Sierra	San Diego Academy	6-0	12-5	37.9-28.4
Southern	Warner Springs Warner	9-0	19-2	29.5-13.1
Summit	Mabel O’Farrell	6-0	16-7	37-30.1
Sunset	Coastal Academy	5-1	14-6	26.9-24.4
	Foothills Christian	5-1	11-5	33.3-27.4
Valley	San Marcos	10-0	19-9	56.1-37.9
Western	Scripps Ranch	7-1	17-7	55.9-48.5

2024-25 Week 7: Boys League Champions Gear for Second Season

What’s in a league championship?

Especially in this era of power ratings and strengths of schedules and what they mean in playoff pairings and postseason division assignments, which were to be announced today.

A league title represents essentially just bragging rights, but ask the players and coaches who achieved it and what they think when banners are hoisted in gymnasium rafters.

Nineteen league champions and four co-champions were crowned last night, according to Max Preps, and began preparing for the second season and playoffs that start Tuesday.

LEAGUE	TEAM(S)	W-L	OVERALL	AVERAGE/TOTAL PF-PA*
Avocado	Sage Creek	8-0	19-8	65.7-53.8 (1773-1453)
Central	Crawford	10-0	24-4	59.7-46.2 (1671-1296
City	Madison	9-1	20-8	62.4-50.8 (1748-1423)
Coastal	Santa Fe Christian	7-1	22-6	65.8-53.4 (1804-1494)
North County Coastal	Torrey Pines	10-0	23-5	66.3-53.4 (1858-1494)
Desert	Brawley	9-0	20-8	58.5-48.8 (1632-1369)
Eastern	San Diego	7-1	23-5	61.1-49.4 (1710-1383)
	Christian	7-1	21-5	59.1-48.3 (1654-1257)
Frontier-Patriot	High Tech Mesa	10-0	17-5	57.1-37.5 (1256-825)
Grossmont Hills	Steele Canyon	8-0	18-9	58.6-56.7 (1583-1530)
Grossmont Valley	Granite Hills	10-0	16-10	58.5-56.2 (1542-1462)
Imperial Valley	El Centro Central Calexico Vincent Memorial	5-3	15-10 14-8	59.9-52.4 (1497-1305) 52.2-53.6 (1305-1340)
Metropolitan Mesa	Bonita Vista	8-0	20-8	62.8-51.9 (1759-1454)
Metropolitan Pacific	Chula Vista	5-1	21-6	58.7-46.2 (1585-1247)
	Sweetwater	5-1	15-13	52.6-52.5 (1474-1470)
Metropolitan South Bay	Montgomery	7-1	26-2	69.0-57.1 (1931-1260)
Ocean	Foothills Christian	8-0	18-10	57.2-47.8 (1600-1338)
Pacific	Tri-City	7-1	15-9	56.8-50.3 (1362-1207)
Palomar	San Marcos	10-0	25-3	70.3-52.8 (1970-1477)
Sierra	Preuss	8-0	19-7	60.4-43.3 (1570-1100)
Southern	Warner Springs Warner	8-0	13-5	46.1-28.5 (830-513)

2024-25 Week 6: First 4 Separates From Next 6

John Maffei’s weekly The San Diego Union poll. First place votes in parenthesis. First place votes in parenthesis.
Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Bold entries in columns are up-to-date rankings, followed by previous.
Cal-Hi Sports’ and Max-Preps’ represent state rankings. NR—Not ranked.
Records as of Feb 9.

	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS	*MAXPREPS*	*CAL-HI SPORTS*
1	Montgomery	24-2 (18)	180	1	11/11	15/15
2	San Marcos	23-3	161	2	31/25	On Bubble/Bubble
3	Torrey Pines	21-5	143	3	41/41	On Bubble/Bubble
4	Carlsbad	20-5	128	4	23/30	On Bubble/Bubble
5	Cathedral	16-9	75	7	87/85	NR-NR
6	Olympian	20-5	72	5	52/54	NR-NR
7	Mission Bay	19-7	70	6	50/49	NR-NR
8	St. Augustine	12-14	69	10	144/164	NR-NR
9	Santa Fe Christian	20-5	34	8	60/57	NR-NR
10	San Diego	21-5	22	9	119/132	NR-NR

Others receiving votes
Francis Parker (17-10, 15 points), Christian (20-5, 11), Victory Christian (14-12, 7), La Jolla Country Day (14-11, 3 points.
Voting panel: 18 sportswriters, sportscasters, and administrators who cover the San Diego Section, plus MaxPreps:

John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
Aaron Burgin (Full-time hoops).
Steve Brand, Bodie DeSilva (Union-Tribune freelance correspondents).
Todd Cassen (CIF office).
Rick Smith (Partletonsports.com).
Joe Evangelist (Coaching Legends).
Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference).
Rex Johnson (CIF Advisory Committee).
Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
Braden Surprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
John Kentera, Dennis Ackerman, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Eric Williams, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (freelance contributors).

2024-25 Basketball Week 5: No 1 Montgomery Makes it Unanimous

John Maffei’s weekly The San Diego Union poll. First-place votes in parenthesis.
Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Bold entries in columns are up-to-date rankings, followed by previous.
Cal-Hi Sports’ and Max-Preps’ represent state rankings. NR—Not ranked.
Records as of Feb 2.

	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS	*MAXPREPS*	*CAL-HI SPORTS*
1	Montgomery	22-2 (18)	180	1	11/13	16/15
2	San Marcos	21-3	160	2	25/30	On Bubble/Bubble
3	Torrey Pines	19-5	137	4	41/51	On Bubble/27
4	Carlsbad	17-5	128	3	30/26	On Bubble/NR
5	Olympian	17-2	113	5	52/40	NR-NR
6	Mission Bay	17-6	87	7	49/53	NR-NR
7	Cathedral	15-8	66	6	85/77	NR-NR
8	Santa Fe Christian	19-4	65	8	57/61	NR-NR
9	San Diego	19-4	25	10	119/130	NR-NR
10	St. Augustine	10-14	21	9	164/171	NR-NR

Others receiving votes
La Jolla Country Day (14-10, 8 points), Christian (17-5, 6), Sage Creek (15-7, 6), Francis Parker (15-10, 2), Mission Hills (16-8, 2), Crawford (20-4, 1), Mira Mesa (18-4, 1), Madison (16-7, 1).

Voting panel: 18 sportswriters, sportscasters, and administrators who cover the San Diego Section, plus MaxPreps:

John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
Aaron Burgin (Full-time hoops).
Steve Brand, Bodie DeSilva (Union-Tribune freelance correspondents).
Todd Cassen (CIF office).
Rick Smith (Partletonsports.com).
Joe Evangelist (Coaching Legends).
Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference).
Rex Johnson (CIF Advisory Committee).
Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
Braden Surprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
John Kentera, Dennis Ackerman, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Eric Williams, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (freelance contributors).