Central Section – Another entertaining high school basketball season in California has come to an end with Roosevelt of Eastvale, behind the stellar play of unsigned senior, and top 10 nationally ranked, Brayden Burries winning the 2025 CIF Open Division State Championship with a win over Riordan of San Francisco on Saturday, March 15th. This article provides the final Top 15 Team Rankings for the Central Section for the 2024-2025 season. This season was loaded with headlines and milestone accomplishments, for teams and individuals. St. Joseph played a national schedule and lost only two games all season, collecting its 3rd Central Section Title in six years along the way (two Division 1 titles and one Open Division championship). The Buchanan Bears won its first TRAC Title in nearly a decade and earned a trip to the Division 1 Section Title Game behind the dominant play of Conner Sheets. The Frontier Titans won its first SYL-River title in program history and North Bakersfield won its second consecutive D3 Section Title. Fresno Christian won its first Section Title since 2020, as well as making a run to the Division 4 State Championship Game. Bakersfield Christian earned a spot in the D2 State Semifinals before falling to Chatsworth, and the TRAC League was as competitive as it has been in years with Buchanan beating Clovis North twice, Clovis North going 2-0 against Clovis West, Central beating Buchanan once, and Clovis East going .500 but nearly beating Buchanan and getting a win over Clovis West. These were the main team accomplishments from this past season.
Individually, Zach Garnett of Frontier and Loukas Jones of Clovis North became the all-time leading scorers in their school’s history. Conner Sheets was co-MVP of the TRAC and put on some sensational scoring displays to lead Buchanan to the D1 Section Title Game. Gabe Gutierrez also had some huge scoring outputs, with a 40-point game in the D2 State Quarterfinals to go along with his third straight SYL-Valley MVP. Dalen Felder of Bullard earned his 2nd consecutive CMAC MVP, as he would display his elite shooting ability all season. Although these accomplishments, along with some others, were impressive, the biggest individual accomplishment of the season was Toude Yessoufou becoming the all-time leading scorer in the history of California high school basketball, as well as the new all-time scoring leader in the Central Section. Yessoufou scored his 3,335th career-point in a league game against Arroyo Grande in the early part of the 3rd quarter on January 23rd to become the Central Section’s new all-time leading scorer. Logan Kilbert (former Sierra Chieftain) just set the new record last year on January 6th and held it for little more than a year before the future Baylor Bear eclipsed his mark of 3,334 points. Tounde wasn’t done, and with his sights set on the all-time state record, he surpassed DeMarcus Nelson’s 3,462 point mark on February 1st in a win against Weston Ranch of Stockton. Yessoufou finished his high school career with a 38-point showing in a loss to Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in the quarterfinals of the State Open Division Playoffs, and ended with a mark of 3,659 points. Jason Crowe Jr. of Inglewood is set to surpass Younde next year, assuming he plays the entire season, but Yessousou will hold the top spot in the record books for now, and will likely hold the Central Section scoring title for some time. These were the major highlights and accomplishments from the season in the Central Section.
In this article, I will provide a breakdown of each team’s ranking and how they ended up in that spot, as well as some minimal predictions for next season. For these rankings, I have taken into consideration performance in the postseason, strength of schedule, wins and losses against common opponents, and head-to-head match-ups. In particular, postseason play and how teams finished out the season were given significant weight for this final round of team rankings. I have spoken with coaches, media outlets, and others in the basketball community in the Central Section in putting these rankings together. The number in parentheses before the teams’ names is the previous ranking from my last updated ranking. We begin with a familiar face at the top for these final team rankings, which features the Knights of St. Joseph as the #1 seed from the start to finish.
1. (1) St. Joseph Knights (Santa Maria CA) (31-2)
The Knights are coming off one of the most successful seasons in school history and, for the second time since I started doing team ranking over 5 years ago, held the top spot in these team rankings from the Preseason Top 15 to the Final Top 15 Rankings. St. Joseph not only held the top spot in all relevant team rankings for the Central Section all season long, the closest game against any Central Section opponent was an 18-point win in league against the eventual Section D2 Champs Mission Prep, 81-63. The Knights played a national schedule, participating in some prestigious events like the City of Palms Classic in Florida, Hoophall Classic in Massachusetts, Grind Session’s Crush in the Valley in Northern California, the MLK Classic at De La Salle, and the Classic at Tennessee High School, playing some of the top teams in the country or the state of California. The Knights walked through the Central Section D1 Playoffs, with wins over Bullard of Fresno, San Joaquin Memorial of Fresno, and Buchanan of Clovis in the title game, all wins by at least 20 points. The Knights were placed in the SoCal Open Division Regionals, which saw its dream season come to an end in the state quarterfinals with a home loss to Notre Dame Sherman Oaks, 66-64. It would have been ideal to have the Knights in the NorCal Open Regionals, as Riordan of San Francisco was defeated by Roosevelt of Eastvale by 20 points, to balance the talent between the North and South Regionals, but that was not the case. To go along with the team’s success this season, St. Joseph standout senior and Baylor commit Tounde Yessoufou set the all-time state career scoring record in California and finished with 3,659 points, with a monster 38-point showing in his final game. Despite Yessoufou’s chase to set the state record in scoring, the Knights played great team ball this season and its only two losses of the season came to teams ranked in the top 15 nationally. Although Yessoufou will be missed, St. Joseph will return a majority of this year’s roster and will be led by standout junior lead guard Julius Price and be the likely preseason #1 to start off next season.
2. (2) Buchanan Bears (Clovis CA) (27-6)
The Bears just wrapped up one of its best seasons in program history, as it would split the TRAC League Title with Clovis North, who it beat 3 times this season, and earned a trip to the D1 Section Title Game before falling to the Knights of St. Joseph by a score of 54 to 33. Buchanan earned the #2 seed in the NorCal D1 Regional playoffs, and defeated a talented Monterey Trail of Elk Grove before following to the #10 seed St. Ignatius of San Francisco. The Bears were led by standout senior guard Conner Sheets, who put on some huge scoring outputs, and got 3 impressive wins over Clovis North, went 2-1 against Clovis West, defeated Clovis East twice, a win over Bakersfield Christian in the Section playoffs, as well as non-Central Section wins over Vanden of Fairfield and Weston Ranch of Stockton. With the graduation of Sheets, as well as Dax Stout, the team’s second leading scorer, Buchanan will need to fill a majority of its offensive firepower from this season. It will return plenty of its roster from this season, but the TRAC League will be tough as always and someone will have to emerge as an offensive force in order to keep this season’s winning ways rolling into next season.
3. (5) Bakersfield Christian Eagles (CA) (24-9)
The Eagles had a strong second half of the season and have moved up to the #3 spot in these final team rankings. Although Bakersfield Christian was eliminated in the first round of the D1 Central Section playoffs, the close loss to Buchanan was one reason I decided to move the Eagles ahead of San Joaquin and Clovis North. The Eagles had a 48 to 43 lead going into the 4th quarter, but standout sophomore Jeremias Killebrew would not play in the 4th quarter due to an illness, and the Bears, behind Conner Sheets, would comeback to pull out the 61 to 56 victory. Bakersfield Christian would earn the #5 seed in the SoCal D2 Regionals and would get wins over #12 Oak Park, #4 Santa Fe Christian, and the #1 seed in Riverside Poly before falling to Chatsworth in the Division 2 State Semifinals, 66 to 51. The Eagles run to the D2 State Semifinals is the other reason I moved it into the #3 spot in this final list, as well as winning the SYL-Valley title going undefeated in league play. The Eagles were led by senior lead guard Gabe Gutierrez, who had a monster 40-point game in the win over Riverside Poly to put a stamp on a great high school career. Bakersfield Christian will look to replace the veteran and skilled backcourt of Gutierrez and fellow senior Drew Minnear, but D1 prospects Killberew and standout sophomore big man Taiwo Daramola, along with a group of quality sophomore and freshman guards, will make Bakersfield Christian one of the top teams in the Section going into next season.
4. (4) San Joaquin Memorial Panthers (Fresno CA) (25-7)
The Panthers started the year at the #3 spot in these preseason rankings and remained in the top 4 all season long and end up at #4. In the first year of the newly structured CMAC League, the Panthers were co-Champs with Bullard of Fresno in the CMAC 1 League. The Panthers defeated Clovis West in the first round of the D1 Central Section Playoffs before falling to eventual Section Champs St. Joseph, 61-38. San Joaquin was placed in the NorCal D1 Regionals with the #12 seed and fell short to San Ramon Valley of Danville, 61 to 56. Although Clovis North did earn wins over San Ramon Valley and Bullard, which the Panthers lost to SRV and split a pair of league games against Buallard, those wins came before the new calendar year and, as the season came to an end, I had San Joaquin playing better basketball with its second 15-point win over Clovis West in the opening round of the D1 Sectional Playoffs, which Clovis North only beat by 5 points a week before in TRAC League play. The Panthers were led by seniors Julius Olanrewaju and Fresno Pacific commit Ab Potts, as well as standout juniors Parker Spees and Sajjin Sidhu. Although San Joaquin will miss the offensive fire power of its two seniors, the returning juniors mentioned, as well as sophomores Ty Schalk and Jaxson Silverstrom and freshman Dominick Olanrewaju, the Panthers will be one of the teams to beat next season. I would not be surprised if the Panthers were to add to its roster, which could make it a true title contender in the Section.
5. (3) Clovis North Broncos (Fresno CA) (24-8)
The Broncos had an outstanding preseason and earned some big wins over San Ramon Valley, Weston Ranch, Dougherty Valley, Santa Barbara, Clayton Valley Charter, Los Alamitos, and Bullard. The losses suffered at the Classic at Damien were against some of the state’s top teams, including Open Division State Champs Roosevelt of Eastvale, and I am not holding those against the Broncos, as most teams besides St. Joseph would have had the same outcomes. Clovis North would split the TRAC League Title with Buchanan, but suffered 3 losses, two in league, to the Bears, and the costly one for these final team rankings came in the semifinals of the D1 Section playoffs. The Broncos trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half and lost by a score of 58-44. Clovis North had a chance to bounce back and finish higher in this final list, as it would earn the #4 seed in the NorCal D1 Regional Playoffs. However, despite the favorable seed and home court advantage, the Broncos would fall to Liberty of Brentwood by a score of 71-67 to end its season. The last two losses of the season, along with the play of Bakersfield Christian in the state playoffs, along with what I already stated above about San Joaquin, is the reason I moved the Broncos down a few spots to #5. Clovis North was led by Fresno Pacific commit Loukas Jones, as well as juniors McKae Amundsen and Elias Gish, and the team earned quality wins in league play against Clovis West and Clovis East, sweeping both and another win over the T-Wolves in the opening round of the D1 Sectional Playoffs. The season sweep over Clovis West is one that the Broncos have not been able to obtain and a key milestone in that rivalry. Clovis North will return Amundsen and Gish, along with sophomore Jahlil Montgomery. However, the graduation of the program’s all-time leading scorer and 3-point leader Jones will be tough to replace, but what the Broncos have shown over the past 6-7 years is that it will play the best of the best and will be one of the better “teams” in the Section next year. However, I see the TRAC being competitive again next year and winning another TRAC Title will rely on someone stepping up offensively to add a scoring punch.
6. (8) Clovis East Timberwolves (CA) (21-11)
The Timberwolves had an up and down year that ended on a high note with a run to the D2 State Quarterfinals before falling to eventual D2 State Champs Jesuit, 63 to 60, which was the closest anyone came to defeating the Marauders in the state playoffs. The T-Wolves got a win over Bullard at the Clovis West NIke Invite, and went 1-2 against Clovis West. The reason I put them above Clovis West in this final list of team rankings is because it won the 3rd match-up against the Golden Eagles (second meeting in TRAC play), along with its run in the D2 State Playoffs. Both teams were defeated in the opening round of the D1 Section Playoffs and the Golden Eagles did not make it out of the first round of the D1 State Playoffs. Despite losing standout sophomore Asher Thompson midway through the season, Clovis East was able to rally together and will return a majority of its roster from this season. The T-Wolves were led by standout freshman Tristan Beechler, as well as seniors Harold Duval, DJ Booker and Brayden Fowler, and juniors Lydell Farmer and Adain Beechler. If Clovis East returns all its roster minus the seniors, the T-Wolves could be the team to beat in the TRAC next season. Next year is the year the coaching staff has been looking forward to but the TRAC will be competitive and a gauntlet for anyone to win.
7. (7) Bullard Knights (Fresno CA) (18-12)
The Knights dealt with its share of obstacles throughout the season, as standout junior lead guard Ja’Vance Coleman Jr. would go down with a foot injury at the Mission Prep Christmas Classic. This led to a rough 7-game stretch in the middle of the season, and serious questions about Bullard’s ability to defend its CMAC Title from last year. Despite the concern, Coleman returned to play much quicker than the expected injury timeline and the Knights would finish the regular season strong, going 7-2 in its final 9 games. The Knights capped the regular season off with a huge overtime win at San Joaquin Memorial, 86-84, and earned a share of the newly formed CMAC 1 League Title with the Panthers. This is the main reason that I placed Bullard ahead of Clovis West in these final rankings, as the Golden Eagles would lose to San Joaquin a week later in the opening round of the D1 Sectional Playoffs. Although Clovis West did earn the head-to-head win over the Knights in late December at the Modesto Christian Holiday Hoop Classic, this was when Bullard was without Coleman and not at full strength. The Knights were led by league co-MVP and junior Dalen Felder, Coleman, Sean Smith-Sharkey, and senior James Miranda. Despite a solid end to the regular season, Bullard was eliminated from the opening rounds of the D1 Section and D2 NorCal Regionals, which has not been the norm for the Knights, who typically have a run in the State Playoffs. Although Bullard did not have the playoff success of some of the teams below it in this final list, the Knights were still a top 8 team in the Section, and, if it returns all its players still in high school next season, will be one of the top teams again next year.
8. (13) Fresno Christian Eagles (CA) (30-7)
The Eagles had the best season in program history and it nearly captured the ultimate prize, as it would fall short in the Division 4 State Championship to the Priory Panthers, 60 to 48. Fresno Christian would go undefeated in league play and won the Northwest Sequoia League. The Eagles then earned the top seed in the D4 Section Playoffs, which it would walk through to win the championship, winning every game by double-digits. Fresno Christian would get the top seed in the SoCal D4 State Regionals, winning the Regional Title for a spot in the D4 State Championship Game. The Eagles postseason dominance in the Section and run in the state playoffs is why I moved Fresno Christian into the top 10 for this final list, as it advanced the furthest of any team this year in the state playoffs. The Eagles were led by senior Aden Millwee, juniors Noah Coulton and Devin Gaines, and a team with size and pieces at every position. Fresno Christian is graduating its leading scorer, but if it returns the rest of the roster next year, with some likely additions, the Eagles would be the team to beat in Division 4 again.
9. (9) North Bakersfield Stars (CA) (28-7)
The Stars had another successful season, as it would win another South Yosemite League-Horizon title, which it split with South Bakersfield. The Stars carried that momentum into the postseason, as it would earn the #1 seed in the Division 3 Section Playoffs. North would get two relatively easy wins before facing off against league rival, and SYL-Horizon co-champs, South Bakersfield, in the semifinals. The Stars would win the rubber match game and get back to the D3 Section Title Game, which it won last year in overtime against Sierra of Tollhouse. The Stars were tested in the first half against a good shooting Righetti Warriors squad, but the elite play of sophomore guard Ethan Saenz would propel North Bakersfield to a 71 to 59 win and 2nd consecutive D3 Trophy. Unlike last year, where the Stars were placed in the D5 State Playoffs, this year it would stay in Division 3 and were given the #8 seed in the SoCal D3 Regionals. After getting a first round win over Aquinas, the Stars would fall to top seed Palisades High School. The Stars were led by Saenz, seniors Elias Griffin, Dylan Taylor, and Wyatt Haner, sophomore Caden Haner, and freshman Cam Saenz. Despite the loss of the senior bigs, the Stars will return league co-MVP Ethan Saenz and his younger brother Cam, the younger Haner and a good freshman class from this year that got some varsity experience. North Bakersfield is no longer a reality good lower division school, but has become one of the top programs in the Section.
10. (12) Mission College Prep Royals (San Luis Obispo CA) (26-9)
The Royals had one of its best seasons in the history of its program, as it would earn a trip back to the Division 2 Section Championship Game. Last year the Royals had a below .500 record but were awarded the #2 seed in the D2 Section Playoffs, before turning up its level of play and making it to the Section Title Game, which it lost to Dinuba 46 to 42. This year the Royals were healthy and ended up 2nd place in the Central Coast Mountain League, which has been dominated by top seed in these rankings, St. Joseph of Santa Maria. Their strength of schedule, along with the D1 Section Playoffs only having 8 teams this year, earned Mission Prep the top seed in this year’s Division 2 Section Playoffs. The Royals got wins over Hoover and Roosevelt of Fresno, and Frontier of Bakersfield before getting back to the D2 Title Game, which would be against the athletic and lengthy Central Grizzlies of Fresno. It turned out to be the best championship game on the Boys side of the Central Section Playoffs. Despite a monster performance from Central’s senior Gerald Perry’s 32-point game, the balanced attack from the Royals, led by senior Roman Benedetti, gave Mission Prep the fire power needed to edge out a double-overtime win, and D2 Section Title, by a score of 63 to 59. Mission Prep would get the #4 seed in the SoCal D3 State Regional Playoffs and first round win over Venice, before losing to eventual D3 State Champs San Gabriel Academy in the second round. The Royals will be graduating some key pieces from this year’s roster and I am not sure where the team will be going into next season, but this one was special and earned the Royals a top 10 spot in this final list of team rankings.
11. (6) Clovis West Golden Eagles (Fresno CA) (13-18)
The Golden Eagles played one of the toughest schedules in the Section this season, and one of the toughest in the program’s last 10 years, which led to more losses than usual for Clovis West and a record below .500. Despite the losses, the Golden Eagles still earned some quality wins this season over Monterey Trail of Elk Grove, Bullard of Fresno, and Sheldon of Sacramento. Against TRAC League opponents, Clovis West went 2-1 against Clovis East, got a win over Buchanan, and ended up 2nd place in the TRAC League. However, given that the criteria for the final team rankings does place more emphasis on league titles, postseason success, and how the team played during the last few weeks of the season and postseason, I decided to move the Golden Eagles out of the top 10, as its only brightspot down the stretch of the season was a win over Buchanan. The team seemed to take a turn in the wrong direction after the school announced that first year head coach Podesta would not be returning next year before the end of league play. Not sure why this could not have waited until the season was over but it did appear to have a negative impact on the team’s focus and buy in the last few weeks of the play. The Golden Eagles lost in the opening round of the D1 Section Playoffs to San Joaquin, 81 to 66, as well as the first round of the NorCal D1 State Regionals to the eventual D1 runner-up Lincoln of Stockton, 57 to 46. The Golden Eagles were led by senior and Fresno State commit DJ Stickman and standout junior Jace Kellogg, but the team lacked the depth and perimeter shooting it has been known for, which was necessary in a year when the TRAC was as evenly matched as I’ve seen. Clovis West will bring in a new staff, or what will most likely be a majority of the staff that was under former head coach and current Fresno State head coach Vance Walberg, next season and I anticipate that the Golden Eagles will ease the schedule a bit to get back to its winning ways, but it will not be easy as the TRAC looks to be competitive again next season.
12. (HM) Central East Grizzlies (Fresno CA) (20-14)
The Grizzlies had a great bounce back year after one of the rougher seasons in recent memory last year, and made it to the D2 Section Title Game against Mission Prep of San Luis Obispo. The Grizzlies had a solid preseason before entering TRAC play, where it would struggle against the Clovis directional schools, but would get a huge win over TRAC League co-Champs Buchanan, which is why the Bears did not get the outright league title. The Grizzlies got big wins over Tulare Western and Porteville in the opening round and semifinals of the D2 Playoffs, but were tested against the Bakersfield Drillers in the 2nd round of the Sectional playoffs. Central earned a spot in the D2 Section Championship Game against Mission Prep, which would be the best title game of the Section Championship weekend. The Grizzlies had the lead with less than a minute left and it looked like it would be able to hold on for the win, but Brody Miller for the Royals got fouled on a 3-point attempt and sank all three to tie it up and take it to overtime. Senior Gerald Perry, as mentioned above, was sensational with 32 points but Central fell short in double overtime, 63 to 59. Despite graduating its top two scorers in Perry and Na’Jae Stevenson, there is room for optimism with a really good underclass group, led by sophomore Sier Harbin and freshman Josiah Perry, as well as several juniors from this year’s roster.
13. (NR) Righetti Warriors (Santa Maria CA) (20-13)
The Warriors had one of the more magical runs in the D3 Sectional Playoffs, as it would earn wins over Dinuba, Tulare Union, and a one point win over Tri-County-Kings Canyon League champs Central Valley Christian of Visalia to earn a spot in the title game against defending D3 Section Champs North Bakersfield. What was the most impressive about Righetti’s run was they did it as the #10 seed and had to hit the road for all three games leading up to the title game, which is no short drive from Santa Maria to the three cities it had to play. The Warriors, the 2nd place team from the Sunset League, played a great first half against the Stars but could not contain Ethan Saenz, who would go for 33 points in the North Bakersfield win. The Warriors will return two of its top 3 scorers from this season and really shoot the 3-ball well, which can keep any team in the game. The experience of this year’s postseason run should do the Warriors some good for next season.
14. (10 ) Frontier Titans (Bakersfield CA) (19-13)
The Titans had the best season in program history, as it would win its first SYL-River Title, going undefeated in the process, and, despite the low seed given in the D2 Sectional Playoffs at #12, Frontier would make a run to the D2 Sectional Semifinals before falling to eventual D2 Section Champs Mission Prep. The Titans went on the road and defeated the CMAC 2 League Champs Sanger, then went to Fresno and defeated a gritty and athletic Sunnyside squad, which earned Frontier a spot in the semifinals. Frontier had a lead over the Royals at the half, but ran out of gas in the 3rd quarter, as Mission Prep would pull away. Despite the loss in the semifinals of the D2 Section Playoffs, the undefeated run in league for its first league title and its run in the D2 Section playoffs is why I have Frontier in the final top 15. Although this season led to a lot of success for the Titans, it will be graduating the school’s all-time leading scorer Zach Garnett and other key seniors so not sure how the team will fare next season.
15. (NR) South Bakersfield Spartans (Bakersfield CA) (19-11)
Rounding out the final top 15 team rankings is the Spartans of South Bakersfield. The Spartans won the final game of the regular season against rival North Bakersfield to split the SYL-Horizon Championship with the Stars. The Spartans won its first two rounds in the D3 Sectional Playoffs, with wins over Paso Robles and Kingsburg to set up the rubber match game against the North Stars in the D3 Semifinals. Despite a valiant effort, the Spartans fell to the Stars by a score of 51 to 46, which was the closest any team came to knocking off the defending D3 Section Champs in the D3 playoffs. The Spartans will graduate one of its starters in Chauncey Carter, but will return the core of its roster and will look to win its league again next season, with the goal to win it outright.
Honorable Mention:
Bakersfield Drillers (CA) (20-11)
Chowchilla Tribe (CA) (20-13) – Division 6 Section Champs
Central Valley Christian Cavaliers (21-10) – Tri-County – Kings Canyon League Champs
Monache Marauders (Porterville CA) (20-13) – Co-East Yosemite League Champs and D4 Runner-up
Sanger Apaches (CA) (19-10) – CMAC 2 Champs
Strathmore Spartans (CA) (22-12) – Division 5 Section Champs
Tulare Union The Tribe (CA) (24-6) – West Yosemite League Champs
