Rating the Central Section’s top boys and girls basketball teams as season gets started
High school basketball season got underway Nov. 15 and many teams are a game or two into the season.
Defending Central Section boys and girls champions are:
Division I: Clovis West boys and girls.
Division II: San Joaquin Memorial boys and Bakersfield girls.
Division III: Immanuel boys and Selma girls.
Division IV: Foothill boys and San Joaquin Memorial girls.
Division V: Liberty-Madera Ranchos boys and Caruthers girls. (Caruthers went on to win the state title.)
The road to the 2020 section D-I championships figures to go through Clovis West again. The Golden Eagles boys have a neutral-site game against Windward-Los Angeles on Saturday in the Bay Area and host their own Nike Invitational Dec. 10-14 (including a matchup with perennial power Modesto Christian on Wednesday night, Dec. 11).
The Clovis West girls host their own Nike Central Valley Showdown Dec. 5-7. The Golden Eagles travel to tournaments before and after Christmas, hitting Myrtle Beach, S.C., first and then San Diego.
Here are The Bee’s preseason Top 25s for boys and girls with last season’s records:
Boys
1. Clovis West 30-4
2. Bullard 26-6
3. Clovis North 21-10
4. Clovis East 21-9
5. Foothill 24-11
6. San Joaquin Memorial 22-11
7. Arroyo Grande 23-6
8. Bakersfield 20-8
9. Edison 19-12
10. Bakersfield Christian 22-8
11. St. Joseph 23-8
12. Independence 21-8
13. Immanuel 26-9
14. Dinuba 27-9
15. Central Valley Christian 20-9
16. Sanger 15-10
17. Mt. Whitney 24-6
18. Lemoore 19-9
19. San Luis Obispo 21-12
20. Mission Prep 15-14
21. Hanford 15-11
22. Porterville 22-8
23. Hanford West 21-10
24. Liberty-Bakersfeild 16-13
25. North 18-13
Girls
1. Clovis West 31-4
2. Clovis North 25-6
3. Clovis 22-11
4. Central 20-10
5. San Joaquin Memorial 27-6
6. Buchanan 19-10
7. Bakersfield 24-4
8. Arroyo Grande 21-8
9. Yosemite 26-6
10. McFarland 31-6
11. Caruthers 32-4
12. Garces 23-5
13. Selma 28-4
14. San Luis Obispo 24-6
15. Sierra Pacific 27-7
16. Porterville 27-6
17. Fresno 22-10
18. Hanford (22-7)
19. Righetti 13-10
20. Bakersfield Christian 19-7
21. Tehachapi 23-8
22. Roosevelt 18-8
23. Mission Prep 18-10
24. Kerman 19-7
25. Redwood 22-8
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 4:34 PM.
