Girls hoops teams feel pinch in section seedings

Turlock High's girls are in control of the Central California Conference race, and a couple of more wins will all but clinch the title.

That Sac-Joaquin Section isn't impressed by the possibility of a fifth straight title, though. If the playoffs started today, Turlock would be told that it's not welcome.

The top 16 in Division 1 go on, but Turlock 17th — buried so deep in the power ratings it might not reach 16th.

The section has held "outbracket" games for championship teams such as Turlock (11-10, 8-1 in the CCC), so the 'Dogs would have to play their way into the field.

Turlock's problem is the CCC is one of the worst conferences in the section, according to section officials, so the 'Dogs get little credit despite their glossy record.

That's just one of the oddities in the first set of ratings released. The ratings decide who is worthy of the postseason, as well as their seeding:

• Beyer's girls (18-2) are a distant No. 9 in Division 1, buried behind teams with six, seven and eight losses.

• Central Valley's girls are 14-5 and second place in the Western Athletic Conference, yet seeded No. 16 in D2 behind three 10-loss teams.

• The girls from Modesto Christian were promoted to D3 after winning three D3 titles in a row. Because MC is in a small-school league, it's penalized in the power ratings and is No. 5 with little hope of going up — despite beating the top-ranked D1 program in Sacramento.Today's onlineexclusives

• The section releases its first power ratings of the season, and it doesn't promising for many of the district's large-school teams.

• Monday's prep basketball results and top scorers.

For the boys rankings, click here. For the girls rankings, click here.