The invitationals and shootouts are  complete, league play is winding down, and the CIF Power Ratings are coming to the forefront.
As happened last season and will  again, the eight leading teams in the power ratings  in the San Diego Section will make for competitive Open Division playoffs.
The team that wins the Open Division here likely then will be pitted against superior Open Division teams from the Los Angeles area, the “NBA” high school teams of the state.
The San Diego Section Open Division participant figures to  be eliminated  in the Southern California regionals and miss the opportunity to compete for a state championship.
The San Diego team that loses in the Section Open  finals probably will be slotted into a lower division bracket in the extended postseason and have a better chance for success.
That’s what the Power Ratings have wrought.
As of today’s power ratings, San Diego’s best team is St. Augustine, which trailed by 19 points last week in the Nike Extravaganza and was outrebounded, 46-31 in a 74-62 loss to Santa Ana Mater Dei.
Mater Dei has  7-foot, 1-inch Bol Bol, the  son of former NBA player Manute Bol, plus assorted other standouts from farflung locations.
DESTINY LEADS U.S.
St. Augustine’s loss dropped the Saints from 10th to 12th in the weekly Cal-Hi Sports state top 20 ratings. Â Torrey Pines got off the bubble and is 20th. Â Foothills Christian and Vista are on the bubble.
Mission Hills (22-2) moved from fifth to fourth in the girls’ top 20. Â The Bishop’s (24-1) climbed to 18th.
The Knights’ Destiny Littleton flew past the 4,000-career-points mark and led the nation with a 48.1 average before last night’s game, a 92-60 win over Horizon  in which Littleton blew up for 61 points.
Mikayla Boykin of Clinton, North Carolina, is second to Littleton  with a 40.1 average.
Union-Tribune Boys’ poll through Monday, Feb. 6:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Last Poll |
| 1 | St. Augustine 9) | 21-4 | 99 | 1 |
| 2 | Torrey Pines | 21-3 | 89 | 2 |
| 3 | Foothills Christian | 18-5 | 79 | 3 |
| 4 | Vista | 21-3 | 66 | 5 |
| 5 | Mission Hills | 17-6 | 49 | 4 |
| 6 | Helix | 20-5 | 43 | 6 |
| 7 | Mater Dei | 18-4 | 41 | 7 |
| 8 | La Jolla Country Day | 17-7 | 30 | 9 |
| 9 | Poway | 19-5 | 11 | 10 |
| 10 | Serra | 21-3 | 9 | NR |
NR–Not rated.
Others receiving votes: Olympian (21-2, 8 points), Orange Glen (15-7, 8), Coronado (24-2, 6), Rancho Bernardo (17-5, 4), Canyon Crest (17-6, 4), La Cota Canyon (17-6, 3, Granite Hills 918-6, 1).
Poll participants include John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions), Terry Monahan, Union-Tribune correspondent),  Bill Dickens, Adam Paul, EastCountySports.com; Rick Willis, KUSI-TV; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com; Chris Davis, freelance;  Aaron Burgin, fulltimehoops.com.
