2015-16: Foothills 3rd, Cathedral 14th in Cal-Hi Sports’ Final Top 40.
There were no state championships, but it was a solid season in San Diego Section basketball.
Foothills Christian, behind McDonald’s all-star T.J. Leaf, was third in the state in Cal-Hi Sports‘ final boys Top 40 rankings.
Cathedral ranked 14th and St. Augustine 23rd.
The 2015-16 finish showed marked improvement over the 2014-15 Cal-Hi rankings, in which St. Augustine was 23rd, Torrey Pines 24th, and Foothills Christian 36th.
Foothills gained currency when it defeated Santa Ana Mater Dei, 50-44, in the Southern California quarterfinals before bowing to Chino Hills, 82-62.
Chino Hills (35-0) won the state championship and is national champion, according to all major polls.
Foothills lost its first game to the San Bernardino County squad in December, 106-86, but came closer than any California school when it dropped an 85-83 decision to the Huskies in January.
A basket by Leaf had put the Knights ahead, 83-82, with 13.3 seconds remaining.
3 IN TOP 20
Mission Hills was seventh in the girls, followed by La Jolla Country Day at No. 10 and Bishop at No. 19.
La Jolla Country Day was 15th and Mission Hills 30th in the final 2014-15 rankings.
The last state champions were in St. Augustine boys and Horizon girls in 2013-14.
RECORD LITTLETON’S DESTINY?
A highlight of next season is expected to be The Bishop’s Destiny Littleton’s pursuit of the state career scoring record.
Littleton averaged 35.7 and scored 1,178 points this season, giving her a three-season total of 2,934. San Diego’s Charde Houston set the California record with 3,837 from 2000 to 2004.
HOOPLA
Cathedral rose as high as 10th in the Cal-Hi poll after an 82-80, overtime win against Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, but fell following a 72-56, semifinals loss to Torrance Bishop Montgomery…St. Augustine was 17th before dropping a 68-55, semifinals game at Encino Crespi…Charde Houston played four seasons at Connecticut and is in her ninth WNBA season as a member of the New York Mercury…despite the CIF’s desired “competitive equity,” the Southern Section dominated the regionals…the San Diego, Los Angeles, and Central came up short, as all 12 boys and girls division winners were from the Southern Section….
How Cal-Hi Sports viewed San Diego Section squads:
BOYS
| DIVISION | TEAM | RECORD | RANK |
| Top 40 | Foothills Christian | 25-5 | 3 |
| Cathedral | 21-7 | 14 | |
| St. Augustine | 24-8 | 23 | |
| Torrey Pines | 26-5 | 37 | |
| I | St. Augustine | 8 | |
| Torrey Pines | 15 | ||
| II | Mission Bay | 21-9 | 17 |
| Army-Navy | 21-11 | 19 | |
| III | Kearny | 31-4 | 9 |
| IV | El Camino | 29-7 | 4 |
| *Grossmont | 23-8 | ||
| *San Marcos | 22-8 | ||
| V | Bonita Vista | 21-13 | 12 |
| *Mission Vista | 16-13 |
GIRLS
| DIVISION | TEAM | RECORD | RANK |
| Top 20 | Mission Hills | 29-4 | 7 |
| La Jolla Country Day | 24-6 | 10 | |
| The Bishop’s | 25-8 | 19 | |
| I | The Bishop’s | 6 | |
| Torrey Pines | 22-9 | 15 | |
| II | Mount Miguel | 21-12 | 17 |
| III | Eastlake | 26-7 | 13 |
| *Horizon | 19-13 | ||
| IV | *La Costa Canyon | 23-10 | |
| V | Grossmont | 25-6 | 13 |
| *Escondido Adventist | 23-5 |
*Honorable Mention.