MaxPreps Northern California Top 25 high school basketball rankings

The rankings held steady as league play heated up with no change in the top five. The showdown of the week in a season full of them is Saturday when No. 1 Bishop O'Dowd visits No. 7 Sacramento as young centers meet (Ivan Rabb for O'Dowd and Solomon Young for Sacramento).

St. Joseph Notre Dame's Temidayo Yussuf provided the highlight of the week, and maybe the season, by banking in a full-court shot with 0.6 seconds remaining to tie the game against El Cerrito.


1. (Last week 1) Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) (12-4)
The Dragons roar on, beating San Leandro 74-64 and a good Castro Valley team, 82-42. A showdown looms Saturday at No. 7 Sacramento. O'Dowd owns an earlier win over then-No. 1 and now No. 3 Capital Christian with losses only to state/national powers.

2. (2) Monte Vista (Danville) 18-0
Spencer Rust leads the way for the Mustangs, who muscled past Amador Valley and then blasted Granada (Livermore) setting up a showdown with No. 20 San Ramon Valley this week. This is a superbly coached team big on cohesion and fundamentals, right on down the bench.

3. (3) Capital Christian (Sacramento) (17-3)
The Cougars roll on and should roll the Golden Empire League as the top team in the Sac-Joaquin Section. Lone NorCal loss was to No. 1 Bishop O'Dowd.

4. (4) El Cerrito (20-1)
The Gauchos avenged their only loss with a 71-64 overtime victory over No. 13 St. Joseph (Alameda). Anthony Sullen had 22.

5. (5) Jesuit (Carmichael) (19-1)
The Marauders beat Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) in Delta River League play and cap first-half league play with a game at No. 8 Folsom on Friday.

6. (7) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) (14-3)
The Monarchs beat Bellarmine (San Jose) 62-48 and Valley Christian (San Jose) 64-37 in the West Catholic Athletic League. J.P. Rindfleisch has played well.

7. (8) Sacramento (16-3)
The Dragons are alone in first place in the Metropolitan Conference thanks to the efforts of guards such as Tre Finch. Showdown looms Saturday at home against No. 1 Bishop O'Dowd.

8. (9) Folsom (18-2)
The Bulldogs target No. 5 Jesuit on Friday for a Delta River League showdown of surging teams. Guard Jordan Ford is one of the Sac-Joaquin Section's leading scorers.

9. (10) Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove) (19-1)
The Wolfpack tasted bad news this week as they must forfeit 16 victories because of an athletically motivated transfer from Stockton. Cosumnes Oaks can still get into the playoffs if it runs the table in the Sierra Valley Conference, which seems likely. The Wolfpack will remain in these rankings based on on-court performance.

10. (11) St. Mary's (Stockton) (18-2)
Gabriel Vincent continues to torch teams, going for 23 to beat West (Tracy) 78-69. One loss was to No. 9 Cosumnes Oaks.

11. (13) Serra (San Mateo) (12-4)
The Padres remain in the thick of the West Catholic Athletic League behind the efforts of Danny Mahoney after two wins, including Sacred Heart Cathedral.

12. (6) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) (13-4)
A close loss to No. 11 Serra was followed by a 72-48 rout of St. Francis (Mountain View) within the rigors of the WCAL as Trevor Dunbar led the way. He had 40 points against Serra.

13. (12) St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) (16-5)
The Pilots lost to No. 4 El Cerrito in league play despite an 80-foot prayer by Temidayo Yussuf to force overtime. He had 30 against El Cerrito.

14. (14) Rodriguez (Fairfield) (17-1)
The Mustangs are rolling the Monticello Empire League after beating Vintage (Napa) 72-66 and Wood (Vacaville) 62-53.

15. (15) De La Salle (Concord) (12-5)
The Spartans beat No. 20 San Ramon Valley 36-31 and then showed it can indeed score in bunches with a 70-55 win over Livermore with Nikhil Peters leading the way.

16. (16) Campolindo (Moraga) (14-5)
The Cougars were idle. They last fell to No. 10 St. Mary's 87-76, halting a seven-game winning streak.

17. (17) Newark Memorial (Newark) (12-7)
This is the most misleading record in these rankings with a brutal early schedule, a lot of close losses and quality wins, including handing No. 5 Jesuit its lone setback. The winning streak is at nine with Matthew Thomas leading the way.

18. (18) Freedom (Oakley) (14-4)
The front-runners of the Bay Valley Athletic League are led by Elliot Smith and Rodney Pope.

19. (19) Montgomery (Santa Rosa) (14-4)
The Vikings beat Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 55-35 and applied more defensive muscle in beating Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) 42-39 behind Alec Raven.

20. (20) San Ramon Valley (Danville) (15-3)
The Wolves bounced back from a close loss to No. 15 De La Salle with a 51-36 victory over Amador Valley (Pleasanton), setting up a showdown with No. 2 Monte Vista on Tuesday.

21. (21) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) (12-5)
The Irish eye a rematch with St. Ignatius in WCAL play this week after falling to No. 4 El Cerrito and No. 11 Serra. Freshman Alfred Hollins had 15 against Serra.

22. (22) Moreau Catholic (Hayward) (14-4)
The Mariners posted three wins behind sophomore standout Oscar Frayer, playing beyond his years.

23. (24) Burlingame (15-3)
The Panthers have a six-game winning streak with Frankie Ferrari scoring at will against Aragon (San Mateo) and San Mateo.

24. (25) Del Oro (Loomis) (21-1)
The Golden Eagles are the class of the ultra-competitive Sierra Foothill League with a host of seniors and a veteran coach in Geoff Broyles.

25. (NR) Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) (11-6)
It's crowded in the WCAL, and here's a team back in the rankings with some big wins and some tough losses. Suddenly hot again, Jiday Ugbaja leads the way against Serra and Mitty this week.

The Sacramento Bee details the sanctions levied on Sheldon High School basketball, including players ruled ineligible for an entire calendar year, effective immediately

The Sacramento Bee story on Cosumnes Oaks forfeiting 16 games due to a transfer

Joe Davidson has covered high school sports at The Sacramento Bee since 1988. Follow him on Twitter @SacBee_JoeD and on www.sacbee.com.