MaxPreps Top 25 high school boys basketball rankings

Xcellent 25 National Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard

1. (No. 1 last week) Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), 10-0
It didn't come easy, but the Eagles repeated at the prestigious City of Palms Classic on Monday night with a 58-53 win over No. 3 Paul VI. Montverde's path to the final included wins over Milton (Ga.), No. 9 Lincoln and No. 22 Providence.

2. (2) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 10-0
The Monarchs needed overtime to beat Ivan Rabb and No. 13 Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) in the final of the Tarkanian Classic but won their first nine outings by an average of 33 points per game. Stanley Johnson gets all the pub for Mater Dei, but Rex Pflueger, M.J. Cage, La'vette Parker and Isaiah Juarez were big factors in Las Vegas as well.

3. (4) Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), 8-1
The Panthers had an impressive week in Fort Myers. Even the 58-53 loss in the championship game to No. 1 Montverde Academy has to be taken favorably after the game was delayed and moved to another venue after issues with a slick floor. Paul VI notched wins over Norland (Miami, Fla.), Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) and Whitney Young (Chicago) to reach the City of Palms final.



4. (15) Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), 19-1
Oak Hill's early loss to Quality Education Academy (Winston-Salem) is looking like a bit of a fluke at this point. The Warriors have won 17 in a row since and captured one of two tournament crowns at the Chick-fil-A Classic in South Carolina on Monday night. OHA knocked off Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.), Keenan (Columbia, S.C.) and No. 16 Archbishop Carroll (Radnor, Pa.) at Chick-fil-A.

5. (7) White Station (Memphis, Tenn.), 10-0
The Spartans went to Hawaii for the Iolani Classic as the favorite to win and held serve, crushing Westchester (Los Angeles) in the final 65-41. White Station will join No. 1 Montverde Academy and No. 3 Paul VI at the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in mid-January.{PAGEBREAK}

6. (8) Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.), 7-1
The Buffaloes knocked off post-graduate powerhouse Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.) 58-43 to cap a 2-0 run at the City of Palms Classic Signature Series. Yet another attention-grabbing win for the upstart program.

7. (9) Curie (Chicago), 6-0
The Condors will head to the Pontiac Holiday Tournament after Christmas. A potential matchup with Simeon (Chicago) could materialize there.

8. (NR) Our Savior New American (Centereach, N.Y.), 9-0
The Pioneers came away as the big winner in the prep division of the Tarkanian Classic. OSNA knocked off No. 17 Prime Prep (Dallas) on opening night, then followed up with a win over Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) on the big stage at Orleans Arena. That win looked even sweeter the next night when Montrose stunned Findlay Prep on an alley-oop buzzer beater. Head coach Rev. Ron Stelzer has a difference maker in the paint with 6-9 junior forward Cheick Diallo and the addition of Kobie Eubanks and Damon Wilson in the backcourt was huge.

9. (NR) Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 8-1
No way around saying it – we whiffed on the Railsplitters big time. New York City teams haven't held up well when stepping out against the national elite in recent years but Lincoln bucked that trend at the City of Palms Classic. Isaiah Whitehead helped the Brooklyn outfit record wins over Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) and Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) while taking eventual champ Montverde to overtime.



10. (10) Germantown (Wis.), 9-0
The Warhawks have won six in a row by 20 points or more this season and a state record 65 consecutive overall. Germantown takes the floor next at the WBY Shootout against Milwaukee Vincent.{PAGEBREAK} 11. (12) Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.), 2-0
When it was learned that star junior guard Isaiah Briscoe would have to sit 30 days after transferring over the summer, we cringed a bit at having the Lions ranked this high. Then Roselle went out and smashed The Patrick School (Elizabeth) 74-44 in its opener Friday night. With or without Briscoe, New Jersey's defending Tournament of Champions titlist looks formidable.

12. (14) Northside Christian Academy (Charlotte, N.C.), 9-0
James Demery (16 points) and Keyshawn Woods (15) led the way in NCA's latest outing, an 88-45 thrashing of Effingham County (Springfield, Ga.) in a showcase game at the Chick-fil-A Classic.

13. (NR) Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.), 4-1
Ivan Rabb emerged as a potential first team All-American candidate at the Tarkanian Classic, but the 6-9 junior forward has a solid supporting cast and the Dragons are well coached. O'Dowd ran away from host Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) in the semifinals for a 68-54 win and took No. 2 Mater Dei to overtime in the final.

14. (NR) La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.), 12-1
The Lakers were impressive in a win over Prime Prep (Dallas) at the Tarkanian Classic. La Lumiere was ranked No. 8 in the preseason by MaxPreps and has the goods to get back into that range before it's all said and done.

15. (16) Etiwanda (Calif.), 10-0
The Eagles took care of business at the Inland Empire Classic, beating Chino Hills (Chino) in the final. The next test comes at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic in Palm Springs after Christmas.{PAGEBREAK} 16. (NR) Archbishop Carroll (Radnor, Pa.), 7-1
Our Philly correspondent Joseph Santoliquito beat the drum for Carroll and clearly we should have listened. The Patriots beat Carlisle (Martinsville, Va.) and Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, Fla.) at the Chick-fil-A Classic before taking No. 4 Oak Hill Academy to overtime in the final.

17. (3) Prime Prep (Dallas), 9-2
Despite beating Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) in a CBS Sports Network-televised game, the Truth returned from the Tarkanian Classic with a 1-2 record. After seeing No. 8 Our Savior New American and No. 14 La Lumiere in person, neither loss is particularly damaging as Prime Prep took both to the wire.



18. (18) Blue Valley Northwest (Overland Park, Kan.), 2-0
A matchup with unbeaten Lee's Summit West (Lee's Summit, Mo.) at the HyVee Shootout was wiped out due to weather. Blue Valley Northwest is scheduled to take the floor next Jan. 4 at the Timberwolves Shootout in Minneapolis against Tyus Jones and Apple Valley (Minn.).

19. (19) Corona del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.), 8-0
The Aztecs have an important test the day after Christmas against St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) at the Arizona Basketball Challenge. Corona del Sol also meets Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) at that event and faces Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) after the New Year.

20. (NR) Rainier Beach (Seattle), 4-0
Mike Bethea's squad is off to one of the more dominant starts in state history, winning its first four outings by an average margin of 55 points per game. The Vikings will find out where they stand later this week at the Les Schwab Invitational in Oregon.{PAGEBREAK} 21. (NR) Whitney Young (Chicago), 5-2
Tyrone Slaughter lines up a daunting schedule for his team every year and the Dolphins always seem to be tough to gauge in the national rankings. There are two early losses to unranked St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) and No. 3 Paul VI, but quality wins over No. 22 Providence, Apple Valley (Minn.) and St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio). Third place at the City of Palms Classic is generally going to be deserving of a spot in the Xcellent 25.

22. (20) Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.), 9-3
Two of Providence's losses came against No. 1 Montverde Academy and the other was on the final day at City of Palms against No. 21 Whitney Young. The Stallions notched key wins over St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) and Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) in Fort Myers to remain in the rankings. This team also blew out Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville) earlier in the month.

23. (NR) Arsenal Technical (Indianapolis), 6-1
This pick might set off some arguments but no way we could leave the Titans out this week. Arsenal lost to Bowman Academy (Gary, Ind.), who lost to Simeon (Chicago), who lost to Morgan Park (Chicago), who lost to Bogan (Chicago), but the wins really stick out for head coach Jason Delaney's club. The Titans beat preseason No. 3 Huntington St. Joseph Prep (W.Va.) twice, Kentucky title contender Ballard (Louisville) and James Blackmon Jr. and Marion by 16.

24. (6) Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.), 7-2
Maybe this is a bit harsh for a program that suffered both losses to Top 10 teams, but would have liked to see the Wildcats keep the final tally a little closer in those setbacks. Both No. 3 Paul VI and No. 9 Lincoln beat Wheeler by 16.



25. (13) St. Joseph (Metuchen, N.J.), 2-0
The Falcons are fortunate to be 2-0 after closer-than-expected wins over East Brunswick and Shore Regional (West Long Branch). Karl Towns Jr. and company appear to be working the kinks out a bit.

Dropped out: No. 5 last week Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.); No. 11 Wenonah (Birmingham, Ala.); No. 17 Quality Education Academy (Winston-Salem, N.C.), No. 21 Carlisle (Martinsville, Va.), No. 22 Denver East (Denver, Colo.), No. 23 Callaway (Jackson, Miss.), No. 24 Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.), No. 25 Simeon (Chicago)

Tough to leave out: Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach, Fla.), Bogan (Chicago), Bowman Academy (Gary, Ind.), Christ Presbyterian Academy (Nashville, Tenn.), Loyola (Los Angeles), Morgan Park (Chicago), Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia), Orlando Christian Prep (Orlando, Fla.)