National Player of the Year candidate Shabazz Muhammad (center) and his Bishop Gorman teammates will look to become the first ranked team to win a state title this season.
File photo by Lonnie Webb
Postseason play is underway or begins in the coming days for 20 of the 25 teams featured in this week's Xcellent 25 presented by the Army National Guard.
MaxPreps will track state tournament brackets across the country
here.
No. 8
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) will be the first ranked team to get a crack at winning a state title. The Gaels face Douglas (Minden) on Thursday at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno. The Nevada Class 4A state championship game is scheduled for the following night.
Of the teams in serious national championship contention, No. 2
Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas), No. 3
Milton (Ga.) and No. 4
Simeon (Chicago) have all reached the win-or-go-home stage of their respective seasons.
Read on for a complete look at this week's rankings.
Xcellent 25 High School Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard1. (No. 1 last week) St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) (23-0)The Friars beat Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) on Saturday 48-39, but the big story to emerge from that game was a DNPCD (did not play coach's decision) for star senior
Kyle Anderson – a leading candidate for MaxPreps National Player of the Year honors. Not a lot of details have emerged as to why Anderson didn't play, but the situation bears watching closely as St. Anthony takes on NYC powerhouse Lincoln (Brooklyn) on Tuesday.
2. (2) Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas) (31-2)The Marauders open play in Texas' brutal, 128-team Class 5A state bracket Tuesday against Northwest (Justin).
3. (3) Milton (Ga.) (23-4)The Eagles begin Class AAAAA state tournament play Saturday against Walton (Marietta). Milton scored 197 points in a pair of regional tournament wins over Alpharetta and Centennial (Roswell) last week.
4. (4) Simeon (Chicago) (26-1)The Wolverines had a busy weekend, beating Curie 53-49 on Friday to win the Chicago Public League title and
De La Salle (Chicago) on Saturday at the City-Suburban Showdown.
5. (5) Chester (Pa.) (23-0)The Clippers had no problem in the opening round of District 1 Class AAAA play, dominating Downingtown West 65-27. Chester continues its postseason quest Tuesday against Methacton (Norristown).
