Boys basketball has become very competitive in recent years within the San Diego Section. A look at the high school hoops rankings at the end of the 2024 calendar year appears to bear that out.
Of the 119 teams listed in the MaxPreps rankings through Dec. 26, the top 50 entries included only six teams with losing records. Four teams were undefeated while four teams had 0.500 records.
The Montgomery Aztecs (16-1) and Olympian Eagles (12-2) top South County teams in the early season rankings at No. 1 and No. 5, respectively.
There’s a lot of games yet to be played in the regular season to determine final rankings and seeding for the section playoffs. The first month of the season is usually reserved for tournament play. League play tips off in January. League champions receive automatic entry into the divisional playoffs.
Montgomery entered the 2025 portion of its schedule ranked first among Division I teams while Olympian was ranked first among Division II teams. The Aztecs, who got off to a 12-0 start, would be vying for inclusion in the elite Open Division playoffs.
Montgomery finished runner-up in last year’s Open Division championship game while Olympian captured the Division III title. Southwest was the third Metro team to make last year’s CIF championship round while placing second to Mt. Miguel in Division IV.
Senior J.J. Sanchez leads Montgomery in scoring so far with 18.5 points per game, followed on the scoresheet by senior Xair Mendez (17.9 ppg) and senior Devin Hamilton (15.7 ppg).
“We’re trying to win CIF again,” Olympian coach Marty Ellis said. “We have eight returners from last year. We kept playing over the summer in L.A. against top-notch competition. We did quite well.”
Top returners on the Eagles include: sophomore Tristan Anderson, junior Jordan Walker, junior Sammell Humphries, junior center Xavier King, junior shooting guard Matthew Huertas, junior Nigel Sherrard, junior Koa Cerdino and junior Yaseen Chemsi.
From that bunch, Anderson tops the team in scoring ar 21.2 points per game, followed by Walker (13.7 ppg) and Humphries (10.9 ppg). Chemsi is averaging 4.9 rebounds per game.
Stacking up
Among Division I teams, Victory Christian Academy (8-7) entered the week ranked 14th while Mater Dei Catholic (7-10) was ranked 19th in the division.
Among Division II teams, Bonita Vista (10-6) was ranked sixth while Eastlake (8-7) was ninth, Otay Ranch (5-12) was 19th and San Ysidro (2-13) was 21st.
Among Division III teams, Southwest (12-4) entered the week ranked fourth, followed by High Tech High Chula Vista (5-9) in 15th.
Among Division IV teams, Mar Vista (6-8) led South County teams at No. 15.
Among Division V teams, Chula Vista (12-5) keyed locals at No. 4 while Sweetwater (8-7) followed at No. 7, Bayfront Charter (7-4) at No. 11, Castle Park (5-10) at No. 12 and Hilltop (5-10) at No. 14.
Among Division V-AA teams, National City’s San Diego Academy was ranked second while CVLCC (4-4) was ranked fifth and Ocean View Christian Academy (3-5) was ranked sixth.
The Metro-Mesa League alignment for 2024-25 includes Montgomery, Olympian, Eastlake, Victory Christian Academy and Mater Dei Catholic. The Metro-South Bay League lineup features Bonita Vista, Otay Ranch, San Ysidro, Southwest and Mar Vista while the Metro-Pacific League alignment includes Hilltop, Chula Vista, Castle Park and Sweetwater.
Ocean View Christian Academy competes in the Patriot League while San Diego Academy competes in the Pioneer League. Bayfront Charter and HTH Chula Vista compete in the Summit League. CVLCC is sequestered in the Sierra League.
The Metro-Mesa League alignment for girls basketball includes Montgomery, Mater Dei Catholic, Olympian, Victory Christian Academy and Bonita Vista.
The Metro-South Bay League includes Hilltop, Eastlake, Otay Ranch and Chula Vists. The Metro-Pacific League lineup features Sweetwater, Southwest, Castle Park and San Ysidro.
On face value, it looks like a competitive spread. And yes, it’s no less competitive on the girls side.
Otay Ranch, Montgomery and Victory Christian Academy all appear teams to watch after entering the 2025 calendar year ranked among the section’s top 20 teams. Otay Ranch (14-3) is 12th, Montgomery (11-4) is 16th and VCA (5-10) is 19th.
Victory Christian and Mater Dei Catholic (6-7) are ranked 12th and 13th, respectively, among Division I teams while Otay Ranch and Montgomery are ranked third and fourth, respectively, among Division II teams. Eastlake (4-11) is 18th among Division II teams.
Hilltop (11-4) holds down the No. 4 ranking among Division IV teams while Chula Vista (5-10), Sweetwater (2-5) and Mar Vista (1-9) are ranked 14th through 16th in the division. Bayfront Charter (2-4) and San Ysidro (1-10) bring up the rear at No. 18 and No. 19.
Southwest (8-5) is ranked fifth among Division V teams while Castle Park (4-8) is ranked ninth. San Diego Academy (5-2) is top-ranked in Division V-AA.
Playoffs in Division I through Division V-AA feature a first round, quarterfinal round, semifinal round and championship round. The Open Division features eight teams and three rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals, finals).
Overall, champions will be crowned in seven divisions.
Play-in games are scheduled Feb. 17. Division finals are scheduled Feb. 27 to March 1, followed by regional and state playoffs March 4-14.
Holiday hoops
Mater Dei Catholic, Southwest, Bonita Vista, San Ysidro, Sweetwater, Eastlake and Otay Ranch competed in the Frank Pekarek Sweetwater Host Lions Club Classic Dec. 14-21 in National City.
Mater Dei Catholic defeated Helix, 83-63, in the third-place game while Mission Bay topped Madison, 62-54, in the championship game.
This is Selland’s 39th year coaching the Raiders and 43rd year coaching the sport overall. “It’s been my life as a teacher and a coach,” he said.
Selland has some experience to work with after a runner-up finish in the CIF final as the team moves up to Division III in 2024-25. The Raiders competed in the state playoffs in 2017-18/2018-19.
Top players this season include junior forward Noah Soltero, who the coach describes as a hard worker. senior point guard Brandon Borja and senior center Kalib Deiranieh.
“We lost our leading scorer and leading rebounder from last year, so we’re trying to do it by committee,” Selland said. “We have much more balanced scoring this year.”
Mater Dei Cathollic is bolstered by six transfers who became eligible on Dec. 31.
“We’re still a pretty young team,” Crusaders coach Jason Bryant said. “Once we’re filled out, we should be pretty good. We want to win the Mesa League. Hopefully, we can win CIF and keep playing into March.”
Players to watch include senior Devaughn Hueitt, junior Jonathan Hawthorne and sophomore Donovan Bryant.
Hueitt, who stands 6-10, keys Mater Dei Catholic in the early going with a 19.0 scoring average, followed by Hawthorne with 10.6 points per game. Hueitt is averaging 7.3 rebounds per game.
Bonita Vista is off to a strong start this season behind the play of sophomore Jerry Stokes (16.5 ppg) and senior Aaron Owens (15.4 ppg). Owens leads rebounders at 6.2 per game while junior Adam Mitchell is averaging 4.8 boards per game.
“One of the goals is for the kids to be as coachable as possible and work as hard as possible and the rest will take care of itself,” first-year BV coach Stevon Curry said.
Bonita Vista’s Stokes, MDC’s Hueitt and Southwest’s Soltero all earned selection to the all-tournament team.
“Our tournament is pretty competitive,” Sweetwater coach Jesse Aguirre said. “We have top 10 and top 20 teams every year.”
The Red Devils, who defeated Southwest El Centro, 50-45, to end tourney play, hope to find success at the Division V level this year. Sweetwater lost one game in overtime and another by four points.
