Top 25 California High School boys basketball rankings (1-8-2024)
The landscape of high school basketball can change quickly. Like a fastbreak.
A few weeks ago, St. John Bosco looked pretty invincible but has hit a minor skid, losing two of four, including a resounding 83-52 decision to streaking Mater Dei at Crypto.com Arena, home of the Lakers and Clippers, site of the the Coastal Catholic Classic on Saturday night.
Suddenly, Mater Dei, lifted by an 9 of 10 shooting performance by Brandon Benjamin on the big stage, looks like a possible Open Division state-title contender. Winners of 10 straight, the Monarchs have won three straight Trinity League games by 21, 11 and 21.
Top-ranked Eastvale Roosevelt had quite a tussle before finally upending eighth-ranked St. Joseph-Santa Maria, 62-61 on Saturday and Tuesday travel to very dangerous Corona Centennial, the 2022 CIF State Open Division champion.
Up North, Salesian-Richmond is the top dog now, but in a week they face off with perhaps the most talented team in the upper half, Riordan (7-3) in the 26th Martin Luther King Jr. Classic at De La Salle, presented by SBLive Sports.
Riordan, with the health of a few rotational players and eligibility of a couple of transfers, has upward of eight players who have received Division 1 offers. After a slow start, "something clicked," according to coach Joey Curtin, in wins last week of St. Francis-Mountain View (88-40), St. Ignatius (68-51) and finally, Las Vegas and national power Bishop Gorman (82-81), also at Crypto.
In the finale at Crypto, defending CIF Division 1 champion Notre Dame Sherman Oaks remained unbeaten with a double-overtime win over De La Salle.
Riordan is still climbing up the charts into the rankings. Check out how the rest of California's top teams fared and where they are playing this week.
