Jordan Bell and No. 4 Long Beach Poly dropped a spot this week to make room for new No. 2 Whitney Young. Bell and the Jackrabbits will have a head-to-head opportunity to reverse that decision over the long holiday weekend at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.
Photo by Nick Koza
1. (No. 1 last week) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 18-0The Monarchs survived another tough week in the Trinity League with wins over No. 25 St. John Bosco (Bellflower) and Orange Lutheran. Mater Dei will head to Ohio for a game against perennial state power St. Edward (Lakewood) next Monday.
2. (4) Whitney Young (Chicago), 13-1After chewing on the decision for a couple weeks, the Dolphins have accelerated past a pair of rock solid programs to take the No. 2 spot. In its last five games, Whitney Young has faced teams from Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia in addition to Illinois and won each contest by 20 points or more. The latest victim was then-No. 10 White Station (Memphis, Tenn.) on Saturday at the Penny Hardaway Hoop Fest.
3. (2) Lone Peak (Highland, Utah), 12-1Trailing at the half Saturday against Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.), the Knights rallied for a 63-59 win at the Brandon Jennings Invitational. Another important test will come over the long holiday weekend against Aaron Gordon and Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) as part of the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass.
4. (3) Long Beach Poly (Calif.), 15-1The Jackrabbits have won eight games in a row since losing to Montverde Academy (Fla.) at the City of Palms Classic. That streak will be tested Saturday at the Spalding Hoophall Classic against No. 2 Whitney Young.
5. (5) St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.), 10-0The Friars have allowed just 26.8 points per game in their last five outings, including totals of 23, 15 and most recently 25 on Saturday in a 29-point win over Christian Brothers Academy (Lincroft). St. Anthony's national-best winning streak stands at 75 games.
