The San Diego Section will crown its 2025-26 girls basketball divisional champions Feb. 26-28. All the hoopla, cheers and tears are still more than a month away, but it’s time for teams to start showing they deserve to be counted among the few worthy squads to earn CIF glory.
The section will crown a total of 14 divisional champions — seven in girls basketball and seven in boys basketball. Other sports receiving the championship treatment during the current winter sports season include boys and girls soccer, boys and girls wrestling and girls water polo.
Basketball divisions include Open (eight teams), Division I (16 teams), Division II (16 teams), Division III (16 teams), Division IV (16 teams), Division V (12 teams) and Division V-AA (12 teams).
The CIF basketball playoffs tip off Feb. 17 for girls and Feb. 18 for boys in Division I through Division IV and both genders in Division V-AA. Open Division quarterfinals tip off Feb. 20 in both genders.
Finals venues include Frontwave Arena (Open Division), Cal-State San Marcos (Division I and Division III), Mira Mesa High School (Division II), Otay Ranch High School (Division IV and Division V) and MiraCosta College (Division V-AA).
The Southern California regional playoff will include all eight Open Division qualifiers, semifinalists and finalists in Division I, the champion and runner- up in both Division II and Division III and the champion only in both Division IV and Division V.
The Grossmont Lady Foothilers advanced to the state championship game in 2023, dropping a 47-29 decision to St. Bernard’s in Sacramento en route to a 27-9 finish. The team was nearly as successful last season with a 22-5 overall record, undefeated Grossmont Hills League championship and a return trip to the state tournament as an Open Division qualifier.
The Lady Foothillers appear to still have their sights set high after pushing to a 12-4 record to start this season with a No. 6 section ranking. An Open Division playoff berth and automatic regional playoff berth appear within reach for this group.
But they have to earn it.
Scoring leaders through 16 games include junior Aakash Price at 15.12 points per game, junior Jaliyah Fleming at 11.9 ppg, freshman Maya Shehee (8.5 ppg), sophomore Esther Agoh (8.5 ppg), freshman Azuri Nottingham (6.8 ppg), freshman Tiann Carpenter (6.0 ppg), freshman Kallie McKenzie (5.7 ppg) and sophomore Arionna Simpson (4.6 ppg).
Rebounding leaders include Price (11.1 per game), Agoh (8.7 rpg), Nottingham (5.0 rpg), Simpson (5.0 rpg) and sophomore Sharline Charles (5.0 rpg). Assist leaders include Price (3.9 per game) and Carpenter (3.8 per game). An all-around playmaker, Price is averaging 5.1 steals per game.
The Lady Foothillers will look to ride their talented freshmen recruits and veteran returners as far as they can. El Capitan (14-5) entered the week ranked 12th overall among section teams (10th in Division I) and look to challenge Grossmont for this year’s Grossmont Hills League title. An Open Division playoff berth is not out of the question with a strong regular season finish.
Top scorers for the Lady Vaqueros include senior Keira Heinrichy (19.5 ppg), junior Sasha Parker (10.3 ppg), junior Madison Zarzan (8.5 ppg), sophomore Elena Seeno (6.5 ppg), sophomore Kennedy O’Neil (5.9 ppg) and freshman Haelyn Libby (4.4 ppg). Parker (7.7 rpg), Heinrichy (6.8 rpg) and Zarzan (5.0 rpg) key the team in rebounds while Seeno is the clear assist leader (4.1 per game). Parker tops the team in steals (3.7 per game).
Christian (11-4) is ranked 22nd among the 114 section teams (fourth in Division II) following a strong start. The Lady Patriots, who compete in the top-flight City Western League, entered the week ranked behind No. 1 La Costa Canyon (13-4), No. 2 San Diego (11-6) and No. 3 Central Union (9-5) among Division II teams.
Christian’s scoring leaders include sophomore Leah Speers (18.8 ppg), freshman Rebekah Montero (10.5 ppg), senior Sierra Weckback (10.5 ppg) and junior Jazmyn Bugg (7.4 ppg). The Lady Patriots are a rebounding force behind Weckback (8.9 rpg), Bugg (6.9 rpg), Speers (5.9 rpg), freshman Kirra Schellenberg (4.7 rpg) and junior Brigette Nickerson 93.6 rpg).
