National No. 2 Centennial boys, girls MaxPreps National Player of the Year candidate Juju Watkins are focal points heading into the weekend.
It's been three years since California high school basketball players took the court at Golden 1 Center to play for a state championship.
At last the 40th modern games of the CIF California State Championships are upon us starting Friday in Sacramento. Twelve champions — six boys and six girls — will be crowned over two days of hoops action.
In 2020, 23 regional championship teams had qualified for the crown jewel event of the CIF, only to be canceled 24 hours prior to the finals due to concerns of what would become the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were no state championships at all in 2021, so Friday's opening tip-off at 10 a.m. between Division V girls teams
Shalhevet (Los Angeles) and
San Domenico (San Anselmo) will be a celebration unto itself, even if only a few hundred will be in attendance.
Fittingly it will be the first appearance for either squad. Considering what we've been through over the last two years, the novelty might not wear off all weekend.
Here are 10 more storylines to consider:
1. Centennial to make its caseIn 2016, Chino Hills finished a 35-0 season with a 70-50 win over De La Salle (Concord) to claim the Open Division championship, the first public school team ever to do so. They were also crowned MaxPreps National Champions.
With three future NBA lottery picks on the starting squad — Lonzo Ball, LaMello Ball and Onyeka Okongwu — the Huskies have been considered one of the greatest high school teams, public or private, ever assembled.
Centennial (Corona), which enters with a 32-1 record, is gaining fast traction as one of the state's best, thanks to its talent, shooting, cohesion, size and guard play. Against Southern California's finest, the Huskies' average margin of victory was 30 points.
They just polished off perhaps the most talented team in the country, Sierra Canyon, 83-59 on Tuesday when all five starters scored in double figures led by
Ramsey Huff with 20 points, power forward
Devin Williams had 19,
Donovan Dent (18),
Aaron McBride (13) and
Jared McCain (10).
Ramsey Huff, Centennial
File photo by Louis Lopez
They've won 29 straight, are ranked second in the MaxPreps Top 25, but have only an outside shot, at best, of a national crown because of a loss to No. 1 Duncanville 75-70 on Nov. 26.
Longtime Los Angeles Times columnist Eric Sondheimer tweeted Wednesday that Centennial "is the best basketball team in Southern California since Chino Hills (35-0) in 2016. Who would win the matchup? It would be closer than people think."
Though their opponent
Modesto Christian (Modesto) is impressive, especially high-scoring sophomore guard
Jamari Phillips (23.8 points per game), they appear no match. Then again, stranger things have happened in the state finals.
2. Good Juju
Although the boys team, riding 2018 and 2019 state titles, is out,
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) still possesses plenty of star power on the girls side, led by
Juju Watkins. The 6-2 shooting range is considered the top junior in the country. She has great skill, shooting range and style points. Her 29-2 squad is No. 3 nationally in the MaxPreps Top 25 and 6 p.m. Saturday they take on No. 24
Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) (30-1) in the Open Division game.
Mitty is winners of 21 straight, making its state record 13th appearance and led by one of the state's top sophomores in
Morgan Cheli. Besides Watkins, the Trailblazers should attract interest with the play of a pair of sophomores,
Izela Arenas and
MacKenly Randolph, the daughters of former NBA players Gilbert Arenas and Zach Randolph.
Morgan Cheli, Mitty
File photo by Scott Dinn
Three Northern California girls teams that won regional titles in 2020, only to be turned away due to COVID-19, clawed and battled to earn spots again in 2022. In addition to Mitty,
Oakland Tech (Division III) battles
La Salle (Pasadena) at 2 p.m. Friday and
Branson (Ross, Calif.), behind the terrific tandem of Wiggins and Gowar, takes on Imperial in the Division IV championship 10 a.m. Saturday.
Oakland Tech junior forward
Sophia Askew-Goncalves told Nick Lozito of the
San Francisco Chronicle: "Some of us had a few tears. (We) had three seniors who missed out. It was devastating for us. We've been carrying that on our back the last two years and we're getting an opportunity to finish it out."
"It's going to be special," said Mitty coach Sue Phillips, winner of 751 games and six state titles. "It was really difficult two years ago, but it was the right decision. (On Saturday), it's going to be, 'lets try this again.' "
Branson senior
Jaliyah Wiggins told the
Marin Independent-Journal: "My sophomore year we got to the State title game and it was taken away from us. To be back to this point, is amazing, it's almost hard to believe. But it's good to know the team is this good. We can win the state title."
4. Black Mamba lives on
5. David Jr. vs. Goliath
There's been much
banter about the disparity of enrollments between
Stuart Hall (San Francisco) at about 200 (all boys) and
Chaffey (Ontario) at roughly 3,200. The
teams battle for the Division V boys championship at noon Friday.
Stuart Hall coach Charley Johnson is hearing none of banter: "You show
up, don't complain and play to win," said the school's only head coach
for 22 years. "That's how we do it at The Hall." They also bring its community, shutting down the school and its sister school Convent of the Sacred Heart. Ten buses will transport 500 kids, fans and faculty, donned in white Stuart Hall T-shirts. Just like in 2018.
Stuart Hall plans to bring more than 500 fans to Friday's Division V title game like it did in 2018, when it lost 74-62 to View Park (Los Angeles).
File photo by Anthony Brunsman
The term normally carries negative connotations in basketball but not for the
Clovis North (Fresno) boys (22-11), who went on the road to beat the Nos. 4, 5, 1 and 3 seeds in Northern Division I regional play to earn a state finals berth against
Damien (La Verne) (31-4), the No. 1 seed out of the South. The Broncos, recently re-nicknamed the "Road Warriors," make their fifth round-trip of at least 350 miles in two weeks for the 8 p.m. Friday game. They won the four regional games by a combined total of 10 points.
7. Three cheers from Aaron RodgersPleasant Valley (Chico) may be best known for being the alma mater of recent $200-million man Aaron Rodgers, but if the Vikings (31-3) beat
Venice (Los Angeles) at 4 p.m. Friday in the Division III title game, they will win their second state boys basketball title since 2018. Venice is trying to become the first from the Los Angeles Unified School District to win a title since Westchester in 2010. Pleasant Valley also owns a pair of state football titles.
8. Home boys
The
Elk Grove boys (27-6), led by
Ameere Britton (18.2 points per game), are the lone Sacramento-area squad in the two-day event. The Thundering Herd host
Foothill (Santa Ana) at 4 p.m. Saturday for the Division II crown.
All-State quarterback
Jax Leatherwood not only possesses one of the coolest names around, but he's trying to help
Scripps Ranch (San Diego) (25-11) to its first state title when it takes on
Justin-Siena (Napa) in the Division IV boys championship at noon Saturday. He also led the Falcons to a state 2-A football title by throwing for more than 3,900 yards and 52 touchdowns.
10. Midseason adjustmentThe
Windward (Los Angeles) girls, playing their usual rigorous schedule, not only lost more games than normal but also lost Vanessa Nygaard, who maybe the first high school coach to jump to the professional ranks in the middle of a season. Nygaard, a former Stanford and WNBA player who led Windward to three state titles, took over the Phoenix Mercury in January. The Wildcats play
Salesian College Preparatory (Richmond), in the Division I title game at 6 p.m. Friday.
