The CIF Southern Section recently released the divisions for the winter sports season, so Long Beach sports fans can get a preview of where their favorite teams will be competing for CIF championships. Because the competitive equity playoff format re-divisions teams every year, these can also serve as a preliminary “power ranking” of local teams in each sport.
The teams will be re-divisioned every year based on the previous two seasons’ worth of data. Here are the new divisions along with some analysis of each sport.
Basketball
There aren’t many surprises here–Long Beach Poly’s hoops programs made the top division for boys’ and girls’ basketball. The great news for St. Anthony fans is that so did the Saints, making them a clear top-shelf program in the city of Long Beach. Other established or rising programs will have good chances at CIF titles in lower divisions, including Compton and Wilson’s boys’ teams and Millikan’s girls’ team.
In basketball, teams were actually given power rankings numbers which are included below–teams were ranked 1-533, the number of CIF-SS schools this year that will compete on the hardwood.
Boys’ Basketball
Division 1: Long Beach Poly (12), St. Anthony (33)
Division 2A: Lakewood (94), Wilson (96), Compton (111)
Division 3AA: Millikan (132), Jordan (142)
Division 4AA: Cabrillo (231)
Division 5A: Avalon (411)
Girls’ Basketball
Division 1: Long Beach Poly (10), St. Anthony (28)
Division 2AA: Millikan (57)
Division 2A: Lakewood (106)
Division 3AA: Wilson (130)
Division 3A: Cabrillo (208)
Division 4AA: Compton (219), Avalon (228)
Division 4A: Jordan (295)
Soccer
It’s Wilson and Millikan that are the dominant programs on the pitch in Long Beach in recent years, and the Bruins and Rams’ soccer teams made the top division in both boys’ and girls’. Look for potential deep playoff runs in Division 2 on the boys’ side for Cabrillo and Jordan, both of whom were very close to qualifying for Division 1. On the girls’ side, Lakewood and Long Beach Poly look to be quality Division 2 progarms.
Boys’ Soccer
Division 1: Millikan, Wilson
Division 2: Cabrillo, Jordan, Lakewood, Long Beach Poly
Division 3: Compton
Division 6: St. Anthony
Division 7: Avalon
Girls’ Soccer
Division 1: Millikan, Wilson
Division 2: Lakewood, Long Beach Poly
Division 3: Cabrillo, Compton, Jordan
Division 5: St. Anthony
Division 7: Avalon
Girls’ Water Polo
The big question in girls’ water polo was where the CIF-SS champion Bruins and CIF-SS finalist Jackrabbits would land this year. Neither team changed positions, with Wilson in the Division 1/2 combination pool, which will be split prior to the playoffs (the Bruins are the reigning Division 2 champs). Poly remained in Division 3 after making the D3 final last year.
Division 1/2: Wilson
Division 3: Long Beach Poly
Division 4: Millikan
Division 6: Lakewood
Division 7: Cabrillo, Jordan
