The Standard’s high school basketball Top 10

After a two-week hiatus, The Standard’s high school basketball top 10 is back. The rankings are going to resume on a bi-weekly basis, allowing for a larger sample size of games before teams move.

Please note that only schools within San Francisco are eligible. Other members of leagues that include San Francisco teams, such as the southern members of the West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL) and the Marin County members of the Bay Counties League (BCL), are not eligible.

Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Friday night upset of Mitty leaves the Crusaders alone in first place in the WCAL. A win at Mitty tomorrow night would put them in prime position for their first outright league title since 2002.

Winners of 12 consecutive games, the Red Devils won all of their BCL West contests by at least 17 points, and enter this week’s league tournament as the overwhelming favorites.

After grinding out a three-point win at St. Francis on Friday, the Wildcats will likely need to score more than 47 this week against Bellarmine and Mitty.

It was a historic weekend for the Fightin’ Irish, who secured their first win over Mitty since 2019 and won at Serra for the first time since 2014. Fed Pernell scored a career-high 28 points in the win over the Padres.

Galileo had the Mustangs on the ropes on Tuesday night, but Lincoln stayed perfect in Academic Athletic Association (AAA) play with a 29-point fourth quarter. Friday’s 78-52 win over Mission marked the Mustangs’ 32nd AAA regular season win in a row.

The Blues enter the BCL West Tournament as the second seed after escaping with a 66-59 overtime win over Lick-Wilmerding on Friday night. They’ll face third-seeded San Domenico on Wednesday; the Blues and Panthers split a pair of regular-season meetings, decided by a combined six points.

Lowell has won five straight since a Jan. 18 loss at Lincoln, the Cardinals’ only AAA loss. The Mustangs will make the short trip to Lowell on Monday, a game that will have league title implications if the Cardinals can hold serve against Marshall, Washington and Mission.

The Knights finished fourth in BCL West play. Their reward? A league semifinal against University, a team that beat them by 21 and 46 in the regular season.

The Tigers won just two BCL West games, but six of their eight losses were by single digits, including two in overtime. They’ll await their seeding in the North Coast Section (NCS) Division 4 Playoffs.

Waldorf split a pair of regular season meetings with International, but won the league championship by sweeping the rest of the BCL Central. International finished a game behind thanks to a Jan. 26 loss to third-place Drew.

SHC’s only two losses in 2023 have been to Mitty. The Fightin’ Irish are on track to finish second in the WCAL and will likely earn the second seed in the Central Coast Section (CCS) Open Division.

Defense has been the Red Devils’ calling card all season. Just five of their opponents have reached 40 points all season, and none have done so since Dec. 22.

The Wildcats will host St. Francis on Wednesday for Senior Night. They won both of their games last week, including a 40-30 victory over Valley Christian to avenge an earlier overtime loss.

The Crusaders will conclude their season on Saturday at Priory. Win or lose, they’ll finish with fewer wins than last season, but they’ve played a tougher schedule in their third varsity campaign.

Daniel Tesfai’s squad finished third in the BCL West. The Tigers will have a chance to avenge a pair of regular season losses to San Domenico in Wednesday’s semifinal, set to tip off at 6:30 p.m. at Kezar Pavilion.

How much of an impact does Brianna Nguyen make? When the Mustangs faced Riordan without her, they lost by 33. With her, they fell to the Crusaders by just four points.

The Cardinals sit in third in the AAA, but still largely control their own destiny. If they win out, they’ll do no worse than tie for first place, though Lincoln does have the tiebreaker by way of a head-to-head sweep.

Thursday’s visit to Lincoln will have a mammoth impact on the AAA title race. The Eagles won the first meeting, 48-31, back on Jan. 13. The teams are currently even in the loss column, and Washington owns the head-to-head tiebreaker.

No team has scored more than 42 points all season against the Jaguars, who won the BCL Central regular season crown. International’s opponents have averaged just 28 points per game during the regular season.

The Wolverines are the only team that gave International a scare in both BCL Central meetings. They can earn a third shot at the Jaguars if they handle Thursday’s semifinal matchup with Bay.