Madness of March could reshape rankings should playoffs include upsets.
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Who's No. 1? We know it's Archbishop Mitty right now, but what about when the final Xcellent 25 comes out after the GEICO High School Basketball Nationals March 30-31?
Archbishop Mitty, of course, will remain in the top spot if the San Jose school wins out, but the Monarchs lost their starting center to an ACL injury, and most likely must beat No. 5 St. Mary's and No. 24 Windward on neutral courts to stay at No. 1.
Christ the King can grab the crown if Mitty falters and the NYC power avoids an upset in the AA playoffs, and then knock off No. 12 Baldwin in the Federation gathering in Glen Falls.
If both lose, however, things will get complicated. It's expected that No. 3 Riverdale will get past unbeaten Bradley Central to win Tennessee, but remember that Riverdale lost to Archbishop Mitty on a neutral court in the Nike TOC in Arizona. So with both teams having only one loss, would Mitty's head-to-head win offset the fact that it didn't win the California championship?
No. 4 St. John's also lost to Mitty at the Nike TOC, and No. 5 St. Mary's has a loss to unranked Long Island Lutheran in the Title IX tournament after Christmas, which pretty much disqualifies both of those teams.
Which brings us back to the GEICO National High School Basketball Nationals (formerly sponsored by Dick's Sporting Goods). Only a few states allow their teams to play that deep into the spring sports' season, but it's likely that three teams in the Xcellent 25 – No. 7 Hamilton Heights, No. 13 Riverdale Baptist and No. 15 Winter Haven – will make the trip to Christ the King, though ironically Christ the King will not participate.
Other candidates for the fourth spot could be No. 14 Central Valley (Washington teams have made the trip in the past) and No. 17 St. Frances, so if both Mitty and Christ the King fail to finish the job, the GEICO champion could make a case that the No. 1 ranking should go to whoever wins that event.
But since none of the top three teams will complete their seasons that weekend, we still have a ways to go before the picture comes into focus — so stay tuned, and remember you can watch a lot of these crucial games online and make your own decision about who really deserves to be No. 1.
(Note: Teams that wish to be recognized either locally or nationally should make sure their information – schedule, results, roster, coach, etc. — is up to date on MaxPreps. If you have any issues, please contact coachsupport@maxpreps.com.)
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Girls Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
Charisma Osborne, Windward
Photo by Louis Lopez
Archbishop Mitty keeps rolling on, with a likely date against No. 5 St. Mary's of Stockton in the CIF Northern California Regional finals coming up March 17. The state championship game is March 24.
2. (2) Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.), 26-0Cardinal Spellman is 18-4 this season, and is Friday's opponent in the AA semfinals. Should Christ the King advance — and it's expected it will — St. Anthony's or Cardinal O'Hara of Buffalo would be next.
3. (3) Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), 33-1The Class AAA state tournament begins Wednesday, and 21-11 Ravenwood is first up for Riverdale. But the biggest challenge is expected to come from 32-0 Bradley Central. If that matchup occurs, it will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at Middle Tennessee, about five miles from the Riverdale campus.
4. (4) St. John's (Washington, D.C.), 32-2: After surviving the grind of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, the District of Columbia State Athletic Association playoffs were a bit of a letdown as St. John's rolled to the title without playing a game closer than 17 points.
5. (5) St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.), 26-2St. Mary's begins the Northern California Regionals by hosting Cardinal Newman, a school damaged by the savage fires near Santa Rosa, and some of whose players lost their homes to the flames. That said, St. Mary's is still a heavy favorite.
6. (7) Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), 30-4Paul VI was in the same boat as No. 4 St. John's, but it suffered a letdown after the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference playoffs and only beat Bishop Ireton by one, 51-50, in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association title game. But a win's a win …
7. (8) Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.), 24-2Hamilton Heights is a likely participant in the GEICO High School Basketball Nationals in New York City in late March — but that means a lot of boring practices between now and then.
8. (9) Southeast Raleigh (N.C.), 30-0Northwest Guilford, Saturday's opponent in the 4A title game, has lost just twice this year: In double overtime to Georgia small school power St. Francis and to 29-2 Brentwood Academy, which won the Division II, Class AA title in Tennessee.
9. (11) Centennial (Las Vegas), 29-3Centennial jumps into the Top 10 thanks to an impressive body of work that includes more than a few good wins, and losses only to the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 teams in the country.
10. (10) Princess Anne (Virginia Beach, Va.), 25-1Princess Anne had little trouble with 22-4 Highland Springs in the Class 5 playoffs, winning 79-48 Tuesday. Edison will be the opponent in the Class 5 state final Thursday at Virginia Commonwealth.
11. (12) Mercer County (Harrodsburg, Ky.), 32-3The Kentucky state championships begin Wednesday and 32-2 Murray is first up for Mercer County. After that, it gets harder.
12. (13) Baldwin (N.Y.), 21-1Commack is next for Baldwin, whose season will be defined by the New York postseason. A loss anywhere along the way would likely knock Baldwin out of the Xcellent 25, given its relatively weak schedule, but winning a state title would mean either a win over No. 2 Christ the King or a win over the team that beat Christ the King.
13. (14) Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.), 23-5Like Hamilton Heights, Riverdale Baptist is doing layup drills and running liners in hopes that the GEICO High School Basketball Nationals come calling.
14. (17) Central Valley (Spokane Valley, Wash.), 27-0Central Valley simply dominated the state of Washington, winning its last three games in the state's 4A playoff by an average margin of 31.3 points in an overwhelming performance.
15. (15) Winter Haven (Fla.), 32-1 Winter Haven lost only to Montverde, in overtime. But it has a 8A state title in hand, plus wins over No. 17 St. Frances and South Carolina power North Augusta, and has earned a spot in the top 15.
16. (16) Westlake (Atlanta), 29-1The weight of the odds say 28-3 Newton will lose to Westlake in the state championship game Saturday, so it would be a major upset if Newton defied gravity and won.
17. (18) St. Frances Academy (Baltimore), 24-4St. Frances finished its season in fine style, rolling through the Bishop Walsh Girls Invitational. Three of its losses came to teams above St. Frances in the Xcellent 25, and a collection of solid wins resulted in a Top 20 ranking.
18. (NR) Amarillo (Texas), 40-2Like many Texas teams, Amarillo did not venture outside the Lone Star State, but played plenty of the many good teams within its borders. The last of those wins, over previous No. 6 Mansfield Timberview in the 5A finals, jumped Amarillo into the Xcellent 25.
19. (19) Duncanville (Texas), 39-2Duncanville fell short in the 6A playoffs, but still retains this spot due to its overall record and some quality wins against California teams in its own tournament.
20. (21) Southridge (Beaverton, Ore.), 26-1The finals are Saturday, and Southridge's main competition is expected to come from Beaverton, which enjoyed a remarkable turnaround this year after winning just four games in 2016-17.
21. (22) Holy Innocents Episcopal (Atlanta), 29-1Wesleyan is one of the perennial small school powers in Georgia, and at 26-4, will be Holy Innocents' opponent in the 1A Private title game Friday. Then again, Holy Innocents has already beaten Wesleyan three times this season.
22. (24) Manasquan (N.J.), 28-2Manasquan rolled over 22-3 Lincoln 67-43 to move into the Group 2 semifinals Thursday against 26-4 Manchester Township. High Point and Newark are the other two in the final four.
23. (23) Eastview (Apple Valley, Minn.), 28-0Apple Valley is up Wednesday, a team that Eastview only beat by five last time — but the biggest challenge will likely come from Hopkins deeper in the playoffs.
24. (NR) Windward (Los Angeles), 23-3A Southern California team returns to the rankings, but staying in the Xcellent 25 won't be easy. First up is the Southern California Region Open Division playoffs, which is packed with quality teams, and then the survivor will likely run into either No. 1 Archbishop Mitty or No. 5 St. Mary's of Stockton in the state Open Division title game.
25. (NR) Dimond (Anchorage, Alaska), 25-0Dimond did what many undefeated state champions did not do — traveled out of state to a strong tournament and won it. That trip to the West Coast Jamboree in California, plus domination of Alaska, puts Dimond at No. 25 with the state finals coming up next week.
Dropped Out: No. 6 Mansfield Timberview (Arlington, Texas), No. 20 Edwardsville (Ill.), No. 25 East Kentwood (Kentwood, Mich.)
