West LA, Yuba jump; Cerritos, Folsom Lake make appearances in CCCMBCA rankings

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RIVERSIDE - San Francisco City, winners of 17 consecutive games, strengthened its hold on the No. 1 ranking and the north’s top seed as Columbia struggles. Columbia has lost twice in its last four games. After a shocking 80-78 loss to Merced, the Claim Jumpers, only five days after beating Fresno City, 82-71, lost to the Rams, 71-69. The loss dropped Columbia to No. 6 this week and into third place in the race for the Central Valley Conference title race.

Fullerton, winners of 10 straight, retained its No. 2 ranking after escaping a few close games, including needing overtime to turn back Santa Ana, 71-70 at home. Cypress, which is ranked for the first time this season thanks to its upset of Santiago Canyon, also pushed the Hornets, eventually losing 57-52.

Las Positas remains No. 3 after giving No. 1 San Francisco City its greatest challenge since losing to West Valley 73-70 on November 19. The Hawks led for the majority of the first half, taking a 41-39 lead into halftime. But behind a late 11-2 run San Francisco City pulled away for a 10-point victory. San Francisco last lost a Coast Conference North division game in 2017.

Interestingly, West LA, No. 6 this week, jumped No. 7 San Diego City (by a point). Perhaps it was the fact that the Western State-South is currently the second strongest conference in the south as opposed to the Pacific Coast Conference which currently sits sixth, second to last in this week’s Winning Percentage Index report. The Knights, winners of eight straight conference games, already hold a three-game lead on MiraCosta with eight games to play. San Diego City is on pace to be the first team to secure a conference title this season.

West LA, winners of eight straight, hold a half-game lead on Citrus headed into Wednesday’s road contest at Antelope Valley. There is a lot going on in this conference this week as No. 6 West LA and No. 13 Citrus will meet for its second meeting. West LA won the first meeting on January 12, 70-67. But first, Citrus, winners of six straight, will have to get by No. 30 Santa Monica tonight on the road and then unranked Bakersfield on Wednesday, also on the road. The Owls are 4-3 on the road (10-1 at home), so (successful) back-to-back road contests may be a challenge. In fact, Citrus hasn’t won consecutive away games this season. And, four of the Owls remaining games are — you guessed it — on the road. Tough way, too, to finish a three-game week, squaring off against West LA. 

Santiago Canyon falls to No. 5 after a surprising 9-point loss to Cypress, winners of four of its last five games. The Chargers, who moved into the top 30 this week, visit No. 19 Irvine Valley tonight. Cypress currently holds a half-game lead on Irvine Valley for fourth place in the Orange Empire Conference race, and perhaps the conference’s last playoff spot. Santiago Canyon’s loss dropped the Hawks to 3 ½ games behind Fullerton, and just a half game ahead of third-place Riverside, which is No. 15.

East Los Angeles moves to No. 8. The Huskies, winners of nine straight, begin the week tied with Mt. San Antonio for the South Coast-North lead. Mt. San Antonio, which climbed inside the top 25 this week, has won six straight. East Los Angeles plays four of its next five games at home where the Huskies are undefeated. Clearly the favorite for the conference title, the Huskies will play just two of its final games against an opponent above .500 (Mt. San Antonio twice). The rest of the South Coast-North is a combined 3-45 as of today, which will affect the Huskies’ final power index ranking.

Sequoias was edged out by East Los Angeles at No. 8, so the Giants, winners of four straight, settle in at No. 9. Sequoias begins the week with a 1-game lead on Fresno City and a 1 ½ lead on Columbia for the conference title. With seven games remaining, Sequoias will take on Fresno City twice, including tonight in Visalia and Columbia (February 12) once. West Valley retains the No. 10 ranking. Riding a five-game win streak, the Vikings hold a 2 1/2 -game lead on Cabrillo and a three-game lead on San Jose City with seven games remaining. West Valley has two games remaining against Cabrillo and visit San Jose City on February 18.

Yuba, previously No. 26 in last week’s poll, soared to No. 16 this week as the 49’ers assembled a seven-game win streak to take the lead in the race for the Bay Valley Conference. But it will be a challenge to stay there as Yuba will need to hold off No. 17 and conference preseason favorite Contra Costa. The two teams meet tonight (at Yuba) in the first of two meetings.

Meanwhile, Cerritos, which lost six of 10 games to fall out of the rankings, has re-emerged at No. 24. Cerritos has won five straight, including three consecutive conference games to open the South Coast-South play. Folsom, unranked and riding a seven-game win streak, broke into the poll at No. 26 and currently is undefeated in Big Eight play. Folsom Lake has 10 games remaining, including two against Santa Rosa and Diablo Valley, which just rocked Santa Rosa, 90-77.

(Robert Schmidt, CCCMBCA)