Compiled By Jason Hickman/Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
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, staff writers Jason Hickman and 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 Xcellent 25
1. Cardinal O’Hara (Springfield, Pa.) 10-0 – Great resume with wins over Dallas Lincoln, Stockton St. Mary’s, Bolingbrook, Archbishop Carroll, Regis Jesuit.
2. Mount Notre Dame (Cincinnati, Ohio) 9-0 – Soft schedule thus far but feature hard-line players like USC-bound Kendall Hackney and Vanderbilt-signee Gabby Smith.
3. Murry Bergtraum (New York, N.Y.) 10-0 – Coming off Lady Blazer Tournament title; No team has come within 14 as of yet.
4. Washington (South Bend, Ind.) 14-0 – T-Mobile champ; Skylar Diggins early national POY leader (PG averages 30.2 points, 7.6 assists, 7.0 rebounds, 7.0 steals, 1.9 blocks).
5. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 13-0 – And you thought Mater Dei’s boys team was stout? Impressive blowouts over Highlands Ranch (Colo.) and Bishop Gorman (Nev.).
6. Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) 14-0 – Only eye-opening victory over Bolingbrook (42-28); Defense drives Giants – 10 times have allowed less than 40.
7. Heritage Christian (Indianapolis, Ind.) 12-0 – Indiana basketball still striving among the girls; Balance is key for Eagles, who handed No. 9 Whitney Young only defeat.
8. Whitney Young (Chicago, Ill.) 16-1 – The Dolphins do it with defense, allowing just 37.4 points per game. Helps to have one of country’s top freshmen in 6-2 Mariah King.
9. Cajon (San Bernardino, Calif.) 13-0 – Big wins thus far over Hanford (62-55) and Brea Olinda (53-46), the Cowboys led by one of country’s top guards Layshia Clarendon.
10. Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.) 11-2 – Coming off championship of massive West Coast Jamboree, Wildcats seek revenge over Cajon on Jan. 24.
11. Kentwood (Covington, Wash.) 6-0 – Back-to-back wins over Calif. powers Sacramento (69-43) and St. Mary’s (74-67) have put Kentwood firmly on national map.
12. St. Michael Academy (New York, N.Y.) 10-2 – Waves of injuries, including season-ender to Shenneika Smith, didn't prevent big win Saturday over Bolingbrook.
13. Bolingbrook (Ill.) 8-3 – Brutal schedule thus far with losses to Cardinal O’Hara, St. Michael and Ben Davis, but wins over Riverdale Baptist and Oak Ridge.
14. Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 9-2 – Have tight wins over Long Beach Poly and Clovis West, but close losses to Bolingbrook and Brea Olinda.
15. Long Beach Poly (Calif.) 10-2 – Beat defending national champ Sacred Heart Cathedral by 15, let down with two Nike TOC defeats before stomping two national foes by 77.
16. Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco, Calif.) 8-1 – Loss to Poly was humbling, but defending national champs have won three straight by combined average margin of 22.
17. Horizon (Thornton, Colo.) 9-0 – Big win at in-state and national power Regis Jesuit (77-65) have vaulted Hawks into national spotlight.
18. St. Mary’s (Stockton, Calif.) 11-3 – Our preseason No. 1 has taken some lumps, but responded with three impressive wins.
19. Westbury Christian (Houston, Texas) 29-1 – How do you play 30 games by Jan. 3? Wildcats scored more than 70 19 times including 78-58 over Kelsey Bone and Dulles.
20. Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.) 7-3 – The Raiders have lost as many games as it did all last year but led by UCLA-bound Mariah Williams they’ve played rigorous schedule.
21. Oak Ridge (Tenn.) 12-2 – Only two losses have been to Bolingbrook (62-50) and Regis Jesuit (52-44).
22. Dulles (Sugar Land, Texas) 20-2 – Get set for a Texas swing; Kelsey Bone is averaging modest 18.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.
23. Fayetteville (Ark.) 14-0 – The Bulldogs don’t have a 6-footer but they’ve found ways to win close ones, the last three over tough Texas squads by 10 points combined.
24. Bob Jones (Madison, Ala.) 17-2 – The Patriots hung tough with Skylar Diggins and Washington before losing 64-55; All five starters return from last year’s state title 6A team.
25. University (Newark, N.J.) 2-2 – A 75-73 loss to Washington (South Bend) at T-Mobile shows that The Phoenix is dangerous. Also lost to St. Michael 58-49.
10 on the bubble: Archbishop Carroll (Radnor, Pa) 7-1, Central Dauphin (Harrisburg, Pa.) 10-0, Clovis West (Fresno, Calif.) 9-4, Detroit Community (Detroit, Mich.) 6-0, Detroit Country Day (Beverly Hills, Mich.) 4-0, Fargo South (Fargo, N.D.) 6-0, Foothill (Santa Ana, Calif.) 13-0, Irving MacArthur (Irving, Texas) 22-1, Nimitz (Houston, Texas) 20-1, Wichita Heights (Wichita, Kan.) 4-0.
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