MaxPreps Girls Basketball Xcellent 25

Two slight upsets in California sent the Xcellent 25 reeling at the top as Ben Davis (Indianapolis) is now assured of a mythical national championship.

Following previous No. 4 Brea Olinda’s 44-38 win over previous No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) in the CIF South Region Division II finals, previous No. 2 Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) moved into the top spot, just ahead of Washington (South Bend) which lost on a buzzer beater to Davis in the Indiana 4A state championship the previous week.

For Brea Olinda, a win over the nation's No. 1 team deserved a monumental celebration.

Photo by Dirk Dewachter

Speaking of buzzer beaters, previous No. 8 St. Mary’s got a last-second leaner from Player of the Year nominee Chelsea Gray to edge previous No. 7 Sacred Heart Cathedral 62-60 in the CIF North Region Division III finals.

 

The two teams flip-flopped spots. See all CIF state results.

 

Another upset out of California saw No. 10 Cajon, coming off an upset win over three-time state Division I champion Long Beach Poly, defeated by unranked Colony in the South Region semifinals.

 

Poly, after losing to Cajon in the Southern Section finals, went on to win four straight games to claim another Southern California region championship. The No. 17 Jackrabbits now go for an unprecedented fourth straight title on Saturday.

 

About the Rankings: MaxPreps already provides the most comprehensive high school sports ratings with the MaxPreps National Rankings presented by the National Guard, a computer model developed by Ned Freeman. Now, it’s time to get the human element involved.

 

Each Monday, Mitch Stephens will run down the top 25 girls basketball teams in the country – weighing record, quality wins and losses and other factors to determine the best of the best.

 

MaxPreps Girls Basketball Xcellent 25

1. Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) 30-0 (0-0) – This isn’t backing in. At least one national poll had Davis No. 1 most of the year.

 

2. Washington (South Bend, Ind.) 26-1 (0-0) – Season ended with buzzer-beating loss to Davis.

 

3. Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.) 32-2 (3-0) – Team has won 26 straight and hopes to win its first state title since 2000. Leads all California schools with eight state crowns already in 10 finals appearances. Faces a very capable Carondelet squad, which won a state title with Stanford All American Jayne Appel.

 

4. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 32-1 (2-1) – The perfect season went poof as did a mythical national championship. Probably for the better. Too much too soon can ruin a program. Look for this team to be right at the top for the next two seasons at least.

 

5. Mount Notre Dame (Cincinnati, Ohio) 25-1 (2-0) — Beat Brea Mason (56-32) and Fairmont (52-35); face McKinley in state semifinals on Friday.

 

6. Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 24-2.

 

7. St. Mary’s (Stockton, Calif.) 30-3 (2-0) – The Rams better not think their season is done or 19-16 Inglewood could beat them in the state Division III finals at Arco Arena. Don’t be fooled by the record. Inglewood had to forfeit 12 games due to an ineligible record.

 

8. Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 28-2 (2-1) – Fantastic four-year run for Tierra Rogers and Kiki Moore ends with combined record of 124-6 with three state titles.

 

9. Bolingbrook (Ill.) 25-4 (0-0) – Season is over and now all the 2009-10 national tournaments want them.

 

10. Heritage Christian (Indianapolis, Ind.) 26-1 – A fourth straight state-title season is over.

 

11. Whitney Young (Chicago, Ill.) 33-2 - Season over.

 

12. Westbury Christian (Houston) 43-1 - Season over.

 

13. Kentwood (Covington, Wash.) 28-1 - Season over.

 

14. Archbishop Carroll (Radnor, Pa) 28-1 (1-0) - Beat Mt. St. Joseph 56-36 and now faces Trinity (22-8) in 3A state semifinals. The winner of that plays the winner of Lampeter (28-3) versus General McLane (26-1).

 

15. Cardinal O’Hara (Springfield, Pa.) 25-2 (0-0) — Plays in state 4A semifinals Tuesday against Downtown East (28-2). The winner of that plays winner between Cheltenham (28-2) and Mt. Lebanon (29-0).

 

16. Cajon (San Bernardino, Calif.) 32-3 (2-1) – A crushing South Region semifinal loss to Colony prevented a much-anticipated rematch with Long Beach Poly.

 

17. Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) 30-3 (3-0) – Tries to become the first Division I team ever to win four straight state titles Saturday against tough Monte Vista team. The Jackrabbits would have liked to got a rematch with Cajon.

 

18. Summit (Mansfield, Texas) 34-4 - Season over.

 

19. Nimitz (Houston) 37-2 - Season over

 

20. Germantown Academy (Fort Washington, Pa.) 32-0 - Season over.

 

21. Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.) 24-4 (2-0) - Before more than 8,000 fans at the Coors Events Center, Regis finally broke through with its first Colorado state title with a 44-37 win over upstart Monarch, which drilled previous No. 21 Highlands Ranch 78-63 in the semifinals. Mary Bokenkamp had 18 points and Diana Rolniak added nine points, nine rebounds and four blocks for Regis in the finals. It’s been a long haul for Regis which had reached the final four five straight years and the finals two other times but never achieved the ultimate prize. See story.

 

22. East Lansing (Mich.) 26-0 (2-0) – Playoff time is supposed to be tougher as you get deeper. East Lansing rolled to wins by 28 and 23 points. Plays Benton Harbor in state quarterfinals on Tuesday.

 

23. Dulles (Sugar Land, Texas) 36-3 - Season over.

 

24. Detroit Country Day (Mich.) 24-1 (2-0) – Like East Lansing, breezed to two playoff wins over Fitzgerald (69-35) and St. Clair (63-38).

 

25. Cy-Fair (Cypress, Texas) 32-4 - Season over.

 

On the Bubble: Detroit Community (Detroit, Mich.) 22-0; Fargo South (Fargo, N.D.) 24-1; Fayetteville (Ark) 31-0; Foothill (Santa Ana, Calif.) 30-2; Highlands Ranch (Colo.) 24-3; Jones (Madison, Ala.) 33-3; Lakota West (West Chester, Ohio).24-2; Murry Bergtraum (New York, N.Y.) 23-1; St. Michael Academy (New York, N.Y.) 20-3; Westlake (Atlanta) 27-2.  

 

Past Weeks: Jan. 5, Jan. 12, Jan. 20, Jan. 26, Feb. 2, Feb. 10, Feb. 17, Feb. 23. March 2. and March 9.

Click Here for MaxPreps National Rankings presented by the National Guard.