(We would love to run more details about these championships (see the California section), and if anyone would like to supply us with it, we'd be glad to print it. We'd love game stories, but we'd be happy just to run scores. Also, we'd like to run the champions from largest division to smallest, but for most of the states, we're just not sure which category should go first. Send an e-mail to clayk@fullcourt.com and we'll take it from there. By the way, this information comes courtesy of the Womens' Baksetball Coaches' Association, a group worthy of your support. The WBCA can be contacted at 770 279-8027.)

1996 State High School Champions.

ALABAMA

1A: Mars Hill

2A: Fyffe

3A: Sulligent

4A: TR Miller

5A: Eufaula

6A: Central-Tuscaloosa

ALASKA

1A: Clawock

2A: Ninilchik

3A: Nikiski

4A: Juneau

ARIZONA

1A: Northwest Community Christian

2A: Alchesay-White River

3A: Window Rock

4A: Chaparral-Scottsdale

5A: Chandler

ARKANSAS

1A: County Line

2A: Pocahantas

3A: Greene County Tech

4A: Fort Smith Southside

B: Van-Cove

CALIFORNIA

Division I:

Mater Dei-Santa Ana (29-3) humbled favored Archbishop Mitty-San Jose (26-3) with a 20-0 run in the middle of a 30-4 first-half explosion. The final score was 59-48, but only because Mitty put eight points on the board in the last 1:02.

Ronnie Gondringer had 16 of her 20 in that burst and Lori Hurlbut made three threes in a row on her way to 11 points. Melody Peterson, who will play at Stanford next year, had 13.

Mitty did have a bit of an excuse, though. 6-3 center Kerri Walsh, who will play volleyball at Stanford, picked up some ticky-tack fouls and finished with just 11 points.

But fouls or no fouls, Mater Dei made its case for being the best team in the state - though Buena probably would have won it all if star guard Eboni Conley hadn't blown out her knee earlier in the year. Buena had beaten both these teams with Conley in the lineup but lost to Mater Dei in the Southern California finals without her.

Division II:

In one of the ugliest games you'd ever want to see, Woodbridge-Irvine knocked off El Camino-Sacramento 51-44. There were 61 turnovers, 58 fouls and 76 free throw attempts in a poorly officiated, very physical struggle.

That physical play contributed to Woodbridge's dismal 28 percent shooting - but El Camino made just 19.4 percent, including a one-for-19 effort from the three-point line.

Look at this way: Woodbridge, the top-ranked team in the state going in, shot 28 percent, turned the ball over 36 times, made no three-pointers, and still beat one of the best in California. The Warriors will say it was defense, and they might be right, but Melanie Pearson (at UCLA next fall) and Erin Stovall made the big plays offensively to seal the win.

Division III:

Bishop Montgomery-Torrance officially finished with an 18-17 record, but lost only seven games on the floor. The others came as a result of two ineligible players finding their way to the floor.

Bear River-Lake of the Pines lost only twice, but one was to the Knights in the state championship. The smaller Bruins just couldn't shoot, with leading scorer Michelle St. Clair going three-for-18 from the field, while USC-bound Tiffany Washington scored two big hoops in the last two minutes to seal the 46-42 win.

Jamilah Jones and Danielle Graham had 11 each for the winners while Mary Volmer and St. Clair had the same amount for Bear River (34-2).

Division IV:

In 1995, Campolindo-Moraga beat Valley Christian-Cerritos 62-37 for the Division IV title, primarily by pressuring the Crusader guards so effectively that the inside tandem of Jodi Parriott (now at USC) and Tandee Taylor was ineffective.

So Coach Eleanor Dykstra went to the free agent market, and picked up Kiyoko Miller (to USC in the fall) from Brea-Olinda and Monique Toney from Esperanza to shore up the backcourt. (These things seem to happen more and more frequently. De La Salle-Concord, made it to the boys Division I final in California by a similar route, picking up Gary Payton's younger brother from another Catholic school. Two coaches called the Spartans `the best team money can buy,' but Crenshaw-Los Angeles still beat them in the finals.)

Dykstra's ploy didn't work. The Cougars, led by 6-2 center Tracy Morris's three-point barrage, rolled to a 77-60 win. Morris finished with 26 points and a Division IV record 21 rebounds, and will take her multi-faceted game to St. Mary's in Moraga. There, she'll join her sister, Kelly Parkinen, and former Campo teammate Carey Schueler, who transferred from DePaul, in the fall.

But Morris wasn't alone. Super sophomore Allyson Keener went for 20 on seven-of-11 shooting and senior Anik Clemens had 13. Campolindo (34-1) lost only to Mitty, in December, and was the most impressive team at the two-day extravaganza at Arco Arena.

Miller had 25 for Valley Christian (which presumably will recruit at UCLA this time) and Toney had 16. Taylor had 10 before fouling out on some shaky calls.

Division V:

Renee Robinson played for Mike Ciardella for four years, and in that time, the pair rang up four state titles at Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton - two at Division I and two at Division V.

The 5-6 Robinson carried the load this year (Jenny Circle went to USC and Kobie Kennon played at Cal) and finished her remarkable career with 15 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds. She'll be at Virginia next fall while Ciardella will be in the stands. He's retiring due to high blood pressure.

This year's victim was Mission Prep-San Luis Obispo, which got 28 points from three-point bomber Mary Mott but turned the ball over 27 times. The Royals finished 25-2, but their record was built against a much weaker schedule than Sacred Heart, which wound up 28-8. That showed up in the finals, as the Gators' toughness won out in the end.

COLORADO

A: Granada

2A: Simla

3A: Lutheran

4A: Lamar

5A: Heritage

CONNECTICUT

LL: Norwich Free Academcy

L: Mercy

M: Morgan

S: Northwest Catholic

DELAWARE

St. Mark

FLORIDA

1A: Paxton

2A: Jay

3A: Academy of Holy Names

4A: Palmetto

5A: Boca Ciega

6A: Taravella

GEORGIA

1A: Manchester

2A: Randolph Clay

3A: Woodward

4A: Sequoyah

IDAHO

1A: Centennial

2A: Moscow

3A: Grangeville

4A: Troy

ILLINOIS

1A: Carlyle

2A: Lincolnshire-Stevenson

INDIANA

Center Grove

IOWA

1A: Winfield-Mt. Union

2A: Sibley

3A: Carroll

4A: West Des Moines Dowling

KANSAS

1A: Little River

2A: Moundridge

3A: Hillsboro

4A: Baldwin

5A: Shawnee Mission Miege

6A: Topeka Washburn Rural

KENTUCKY

Union County

LOUISIANA

1A: Ridgewood

2A: Loranger

3A: Ferriday

4A: Salmen

5A: Denham Springs

B: Holden

C: Pineview

MAINE

A: Cony

B: Orono

C: Dirigo

D: Jonesport-Beals

MARYLAND

1A: Brunswick

2A: Linganore-Frederick

3A: Montgomery-Rockville

4A: Gambrills-Arundel

MASSACHUSETTS

1: Haverhill

2: Masconomet Regional

3: Archbishop Williams

4: Marian

MICHIGAN

A: Flint Northern

B: Detroit Country Day

C: Lansing Catholic

D: Portland St. Patrick

MINNESOTA

1A: Tracy-Milroy

2A: Hastings

MISSISSIPPI

1A: Durant

2A: Choctaw Central

3A: Coldwater

4A: Oxford

5A: Harrison Central

MISSOURI

4A: Springfield Glendale

3A: Marshfield

2A: Hickery County

1A: Drexel

MONTANA

2A: Bozeman

A: Dillon

B: Malta

C: Winifred

NEBRASKA

A: Millard South

B: South Sioux City

C1: Scotus

C2: Sandy Creek

D1: Leigh

D2: Chambers

NEVADA

A: Pahranagat Valley

2A: Mineral County

3A: McQueen

NEW HAMPSHIRE

L: Nashua

I: Souaggan

M: Littleton

S: Wilton

NEW JERSEY

Red Bank Cathlic

NEW MEXICO

1A: Fort Sumner

2A: Navajo Prep

3A: Kirtland Central 4A: Sandia

NEW YORK

A: Bishop Maginn B: John Jay

C: Westhill

D: Haldane

NORTH CAROLINA

1A: Cherokee

2A: Mitchell

3A: Southwest Edgecombe

4A: Hillside

NORTH DAKOTA

Not available, but feel free to let us know

NEVADA

A: Mandan

B: Midkota

OHIO

1: Brookhaven

2: Trinity

3: Wyoming

4: South Charleston

OKLAHOMA

6A: Norman

5A: Carl Albert

4A: Sallisaw

3A: Inola

2A: Indianola

A: Webbers Fall

B: Washita Heights

OREGON

4A: Oregon City

3A: Marist

2A: Enterprise 58, Santiam Christian 54

A: Ione

PENNSYLVANIA

4A: Altoona

3A: Lancaster Catholic

2A: Pine Grove

A: Elkland

RHODE ISLAND

A: Ponaganset

B: Pilgrim

C: Cranston East

SOUTH CAROLINA

A: 2A: Columbia

3A: Battery Creek

4A: Greenwod

SOUTH DAKOTA

2A: Sioux Falls O'Gorman

A: Belle Fourche

b: Baltic

TENNESSEE

3A: Jackson Cental Merry

2A: Martin Westview

A: Bradford

TEXAS

5A: Austin Westlake

4A: Canyon

3A: Groesbeck

2A: Ozona

A: Nazareth

TEXAS ASSOCIATION of PRIVATE and PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS 3A: Dallas Bishop Lynch (13 state titles, 8 consecutive)

2A: Lubbock Christian (top player, Emily Berry to Abilene Christian)

1A: Cedar Park Hilltop Baptist (look out for junior Carol Hamilton, Division 1 material)

UTAH

5A: Mountain View

4A: Ogden

3A: Wasatch

2A: Beaver

A: Enterprise

VERMONT

Division I: Essex (No. 1 seed) 55, Champlain Valley Union (2) 37

Division II: Montpelier (3) 53, Mount Abraham (1) 50

Division III: Windsor (1) 78, Oxbow (2) 68

Division IV: Whitcomb (1) 66, Danville (2) 60

VIRGINA

3A: James Robinson

2A: Lord Botetourt

A: Wilson Memorial

WASHINGTON

A: Lynden Christian

2A: Blanchet

3A: Mead

B: St. John-Endicott

WEST VIRGINA

3A: Parkersburg

2A: Tucker County

A: Mercer Christian

WISCONSIN

1: Milwaukee Washington

2: Kimberly

3: Fall Creek

4: Augusta

WYOMING

4A: Gillette

3A: Lander Valley

2A: Lusk

2A: Encampment

8/30/96