SBLive's L.A. City Section girls basketball rankings (1/11/2024): Sun Valley Poly, San Pedro, LACES take leaps
Here are SBLive's L.A. City Section girls basketball rankings for the week of Jan. 11. Rankings will be released every week throughout the season.
(Team names are followed by record and previous ranking.)
1. Birmingham (10-5 – 1st)
After taking its worst loss of the season, 66-37 against Mira Costa, Birmingham responded with one of its most impressive wins. In a 92-38 demolition of Chatsworth, Zoee Mitchell had 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in her Birmingham debut, and fellow sophomore Kamora Coleman had a career-high 16 points as well.
READ: BIRMINGHAM IN NEW ROLE AS "TEAM TO BEAT"
2. Hamilton (15-3 – 2nd)
The Lady Yankees are currently on a six-game tear in which they've outscored opponents 424-171. One of them was an 82-41 statement win against LACES. Hamilton will be the favorite in a non-league test on Saturday at Harvard-Westlake, and takes on unofficial rival Palisades after that.
3. Westchester (11-4 – 3rd)
One of a few City Section contenders testing themselves against Southern Section heavyweights this week, Westchester heads to Long Beach Poly on Saturday.
4. King/Drew (9-4 – 4th)
The game of the week is part one of the Coliseum League championship, with this round taking place at Crenshaw. King/Drew won that meeting last year but fell to Crenshaw at home later on for a league title split. Coming off double-digit wins over Beckman, Redondo Union, and GALA, the Golden Eagles certainly have a head of steam.
5. Palisades (12-6 – 5th)
Bounced back from a loss to Southern Section heavyweight South Pasadena to hold off upset-minded LACES in league play. Palisades has a big non-league test on Saturday at Redondo Union, which recently lost by 10 points to King/Drew.
6. Crenshaw (11-4 – 7th)
In the span of eight days, Crenshaw played five City Section foes and blew out every one. Among them were statement wins over Eagle Rock (65-19), Arleta (65-42), and Sylmar (86-33).
7. El Camino Real (9-5 – 6th)
Despite dropping a spot due to Crenshaw's big week, El Camino Real stayed hot with a 50-22 rout of Cleveland in its only game. With junior transfer Laila Bowens (Sierra Canyon) only becoming eligible after Christmas and averaging 24.8 points and 3.3 steals per game in her first four games, ECR has plenty of staying power and remaining upside.
8. Granada Hills Charter (8-8 – 8th)
Sitting at eighth at 8-8, Granada Hills Charter snapped a three-game skid to cruise past Taft in its West Valley League opener. Friday brings a big one at Chatsworth.
9. Sun Valley Poly (7-6 – 12th)
Unsurprisingly, the reigning Division 1 champs are on their way back up, with some of their peers struggling to sustain hot stretches of play. Their last East Valley League loss came in 2021 against Verdugo Hills, and they'll be the favorite in their quest for their third consecutive sweep.
10. Chatsworth (13-6 – 9th)
Tough week for the Chancellors. Their only game was against Birmingham, and it got out of hand quickly as they fell 92-38. However, the bigger hit to Chatsworth's stock was Kennedy's upset loss against San Fernando just a few days after Kennedy upset Chatsworth by 13 points. For now, Chatsworth still has some leeway because of its Dec. 16 win against Crenshaw.
11. San Pedro (8-8 – 14th)
While some other teams in this cluster of the rankings endured tough weeks, San Pedro picked back up again with a 50-point rout of Rancho Dominguez. Shalia Coleman and Noelani Raigans led the way with 23 points and 20 points, respectively.
12. Los Angeles CES (5-9 – Bubble)
LACES returns to the top 15 for giving Palisades a run for its money, coming up just short in a 53-50 effort. The Unicorns' record is abysmal, but that's because they've played arguably the most relentless schedule in the section. With wins including Crossroads and Santa Monica (twice), LACES has a fairly clean slate to rise with if it can pick up some big wins.
13. Cleveland (10-7 – 13th)
Despite failing to give El Camino Real a game in its only game of the week, Cleveland holds its spot. Its only other in-section loss came early on against Kennedy, and the Cavaliers have since avenged that loss and defeated both Eagle Rock and Verdugo Hills.
14. Van Nuys (9-1 – 10th)
Pending the result of Wednesday's battle with Sylmar, Van Nuys drops four spots despite not playing a game. And not for any fault of its own, but transitively from Kennedy sliding. Nonetheless, Van Nuys still hasn't lost since getting routed at Eagle Rock in its second game, and is the team to beat in Division 2 if the divisions stay as they are.
15. Kennedy-Granada Hills (15-4 – 11th)
After turning heads with an upset of Chatsworth last Tuesday, Kennedy got a taste of its own medicine on Saturday against a team it's about to play in the Valley Mission League circuit – San Fernando. The good news for the Cougars is that the loss didn't come in conference play, and also that a pair of league wins against San Fernando would bury that loss in the past rankings-wise.
ON THE BUBBLE:
Eagle Rock, Arleta, Verdugo Hills, Franklin, Sylmar, San Fernando, Harbor Teacher
– Lance Smith | lance@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveca
