In Texas, they call it the “Two Step.” In California, it’s tabbed “The Shuffle.”
St. Mary's guard Chelsea Gray had 23 points against Mitty.
File photo by David Steutel
Whatever dance you like, the Xcellent 25 took many twists last week but had little monumental movement. Indeed, we have a new No. 1 squad, St. Mary’s (Stockton, Calif.), which moved from No. 2 following a 100-point outing and an impressive 24-point victory over perennial national power Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.).
The Rams moved up because previous No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) was knocked off by arch-nemesis and No. 3 Brea Olinda (Calif.), which knocked it from the perch and undefeated ranks last season. SEE STORY.
We would move Brea right to the top, but it lost to St. Mary’s 67-66 in the semifinals of the Nike Tournament of Champions last month (thank goodness for the TOC to unravel all these tight calls).
Fourth-ranked Poly stays right in that spot but probably can’t ever move up because it has losses, though narrowly, to Brea Olinda (48-46) and Mater Dei (56-51).
In Texas, previous No. 5 MacArthur (27-1) lost to unranked Cedar Hill (64-58), which would seem catastrophic. But Cedar Hill also came in to beat previous No. 16 Duncanville (63-60).
So where does Cedar Hill rank now? Well, at 17-3, the Longhorns move into No. 24 and would be higher, but they’ve lost already to MacArthur by 18 and twice to No. 15 Timberview (Mansfield), which has lost to Duncanville (56-52).
The one team to drop out this week is No. 13 St. Michael Academy (New York), which lost 48-45 to unranked and two-loss Bishop Ford.
Two other Xcellent squads lost this week, but to other Top 25 teams. Previous No. 19 Neptune (N.J.) lost a tough 54-51 game to No. 9 Bergtraum (N.Y.), and previous No. 20 Incarnate Word (St. Louis) lost another tough match-up 52-49 with No. 7 Whitney Young (Chicago).
No shame in either of those defeats and kudos for scheduling Grade A opponents.
Xcellent 25 National High School Girls Basketball Rankings
1. (No. 2 last week) St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.), 17-1
Despite severe match-up problems with gigantic Mitty, the Rams recorded a 43-26 edge on the boards. Mitty has six players 6-foot or taller. St. Mary's has none. Duke-bound Chelsea Gray had 23 points and Cal-bound Afure Jemerigbe added 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Brea Olinda's Breana Buczek had a breakout game vs. Mater Dei.
File photo by Mitchell Reibel
If Mater Dei game didn't benefit his late friend Tony Matson, Brea Olinda coach wanted no part of Monday's game with the Monarchs.
3. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 17-1
The 43 points the Monarchs managed Monday was 32 points below their season average of 75.2.
4. (4) Long Beach Poly (Calif.), 13-2
Good luck trying to figure out who to slow down for the Jackrabbits. Their leading scorer is Sheila Boykin at 10.3 and four other girls average 7.3 or more.
5. (6) Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.), 16-0
The Giants make their mark on defense: They have allowed more than 40 points only once this season, in a 90-44 victory over Lawrence North (Indianpolis) on Dec. 3.
6. (7) Cy-Fair (Cypress, Texas), 21-1
As expected, Chiney Ogwumike leads team at 24.2 points per game but it's the play of Cassie Peoples (13.5 ppg) and Arika Reyna (12.5) that have turned the Bobcats into a Top-10 team.
7. (8) Whitney Young (Chicago), 15-0
The Dolphins used a remarkable 20-6 run in the fourth quarter to sprint past Incarnate Word Academy. Sinclair Cunningham led Young with 14 points and Linnae Harper 13.
8. (9) Bolingbrook (Bolingbrook, Ill.), 14-1
Coach Tony Smith did something gutty. He wasn't happy with his starters so he pulled them out and sat them after the first 2:11 of a 43-30 win over Joliet. Falon Edwards led the reserves with 16 points.
9. (10) Murry Bergtraum (New York), 14-0
The trio of Shukurah Washington (13 points, 17 rebounds), Doris Ortega (14 points) and CeCe Dixon (11 points) were too much for New Jersey's Neptune.
10. (5) MacArthur (Irving, Texas), 27-1
The Cardinals were outscored 20-13 in the fourth quarter by host Cedar Hill and got a pedestrian 33 points combined from All-American candidates Odyssey Sims and Alexis Jones.
11. (11) Shabazz (Newark, N.J.), 11-0
Sophomore Aliyyah Handford made 11 of 14 shots and tied a career high with 24 points leading the Bulldogs to a 56-47 double-overtime win over Colts Neck.
12. (12) Mount Lebanon (Pittsburgh), 13-2
Have won eight straight since a 61-52 loss to top-ranked St. Mary's at Nike TOC. Toughest win was 41-37 squeaker over perennial state power Archbishop Carroll on Saturday.
13. (14) Redan (Stone Mountain, Ga.), 14-0
Scored three battle-tested victories last week, including 48-44 triumph at Newton.
14. (15) Hoover (Birmingham, Ala.), 22-1
Hasn't had much competition since 50-44 loss to top-ranked St. Mary's at Nike TOC. Has won consecutive games by 54, 40, 41, 62 and 49.
15. (17) Timberview (Mansfield, Texas), 24-2
Maegan Conwright had 18 points and Alysse Barlow added 13 as Timbeview doubled up Everman 64-32. Camille Redmon added eight points and five blocks.
16. (18) South Broward (Hollywood, Fla.), 16-0
Krystal Saunders and Danielle Robinson had 18 points apiece in 64-44 win over Palm Beach Gardens, which was a much more competitive game than the Bulldogs' last two outings, wins of 63-11 and 79-9.
17. (21) Oregon City (Ore.), 14-0
Another pretty display of balance in an 80-40 win over Milwaukie as Brittany Knightson had 16 points, Taylor Ward and Alisa Griggs 13 apiece and Ashleigh Anderson with 10. Point guard Taylor Belmont had seven assists and the Pioneers turned the ball over just nine times. They had 26 assists.
18. (22) Potter's House Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.), 19-3
The Lions have responded to a 78-66 loss to No. 2 Brea Olinda in the finals of the West Coast Jamboree with wins over West Oaks (72-47) and Hiland (77-54).
19. (23) Detroit Country Day (Beverly Hills, Mich.), 10-0
In an unusually high-scoring games by the Yellowjackets, they outscored previously unbeaten East Lansing 73-55 on Thursday. Country Day is after its third straight state title behind 6-8 post Madison Williams who is averaging 9.0 blocks per game.
20. (24) Midwest City (Okla.), 10-1
Won games last week over Southmoore (52-22) and Norman (56-36) and now travels to Westmoore on Jan. 29.
21. (25) Norcross (Ga.), 14-2
22. (19) Neptune (N.J), 9-1
23. (20) Incarnate Word (St. Louis), 14-1
Led for the first 29 minutes, 28 seconds of the game with Young before letting it slip away. Brittany Carter led the way for the Red Knights with 16 points including four 3-pointers.
24. (NR) Cedar Hill (Texas), 18-4
25. (16) Duncanville (Texas) 25-2
Dropped out: No. 13 St. Michael Academy (New York)
