Riverdale wins state title, all but assuring national championship.
Shelbie Davenport and Riverdale shot their way to a Tennessee state title victory over Science Hill, cementing their No. 1 ranking.
File photo by John Pratt
The top two are locked in, but with California's first experiment with the Open Division slowly winding to a close, there will be plenty of movement in the Xcellent 25 next week.
View the updated list of girls basketball state championsHead-to-head matchups often wind up being the deciding factor, which, for example, is why No. 15 St. Mary's of Stockton is ahead of No. 16 Central Catholic — the two played in the Nike TOC in December, and St. Mary's decided this ranking on the court with a 73-64 victory.
View the girls basketball state playoff brackets
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Girls Basketball Rankings Presented by the Army National Guard*1. (1) Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 35-0Riverdale knocked off No. 25 Science Hill in the Tennessee finals, all but clinching the No. 1 ranking in the nation. And though four seniors graduate, including two top scorers, the word is that more talent is on the way.
*2. (2) Duncanville (Texas) 42-0Duncanville played one U.S. team from outside Texas, Overton of Tennessee, and won by 34 at Duncanville. No. 25 Science Hill, which lost to No. 1 Riverdale Saturday, played Overton on a neutral court and won by 33.
3. (3) Windward (Los Angeles) 31-0After disposing of surprisingly tough La Jolla Country Day Tuesday, Windward gets the Southern California dream matchup with No. 12 Mater Dei Saturday night — and the winner moves on to the state Open Division championship March 23.
4. (4) St. John's (Washington, D.C.) 33-1Tori Oliver had 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Cadets came back in the fourth quarter to beat No. 13 Archbishop Spalding and concluded their season with the Bishop Walsh Invitational championship.
5. (9) Fairmont (Kettering, Ohio) 25-1Fairmont won the game that really counted against rival No. 24 Centerville, and now needs to win one more (against Notre Dame Academy, which is on an 18-game win streak) to get to the Ohio finals, most likely against unbeaten (and No. 10) Twinsburg.{PAGEBREAK}
No. 7 St. Mary's of Phoenix has already wrapped up its state title. Now the Knights wait to see where they will end up in the final rankings.
Photo by James Conrad
Bowling Green is next, and Marion County already beat the Purples by 23. But the way the Kentucky playoffs work, there are two games on Saturday, so fatigue could be an issue in the finals Saturday night.
*7. (7) St. Mary's (Phoenix) 29-1The California playoffs could impact St. Mary's ranking — the Knights beat No. 8 Bishop O'Dowd but lost to No. 12 Mater Dei. The last two could conceivably meet in the California Open Division championship March 23.
8. (10) Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 28-3The Dragons handled a very solid St. Mary's of Berkeley team, 50-40, to move into the NorCal Open Division finals Saturday against No. 15 St. Mary's of Stockton — a team they've already beaten by 21.
9. (12) Incarnate Word Academy (St. Louis) 32-0Dexter is the 4A semifinal opponent, which lost to St. Joseph's Academy — which Incarnate Word beat by 15 — and Miller Career Academy, which Incarnate Word beat by 21.
10. (13) Twinsburg (Ohio) 28-0Ashley Morrissette preserved the Tigers' unbeaten record with a steal in the late going, and Twinsburg hung on to beat Solon, 44-41 and move on to the Ohio semifinals. Niftily named Oletangy Orange is next, in the semis, with No. 5 Fairmont the likely opponent in the finals.{PAGEBREAK}
After spending much of the year at No. 1, Mater Dei now sits at No. 12. But a California Open Division title could bump them up significantly.
Photo by Nicholas Koza
The argument for Duncanville as No. 1 could made for Bedford North Lawrence as well — an unbeaten record in a state known for good basketball.
12. (15) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 29-1For no apparent reason, Santiago of Corona was seeded higher than Mater Dei in the Southern California playoffs, but the Monarchs proved who really deserved the spot with a 78-69 win Tuesday. Next up: No. 3 Windward.
13. (19) Archbishop Spalding (Severn, Md.) 29-2The Cavaliers lost to No. 4 St. John's in the finals of the Bishop Walsh Invitational after knocking off DMV power Our Lady of Good Counsel in the semis — a great season for a senior-dominated team.
*14. (14) Mead (Spokane, Wash.) 25-1Mead split with intra-city rival University, but otherwise had an unblemished record. Hard to say how good the Panthers really were, though, as they only ventured out of eastern Washington for the state tournament.
15. (16) St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.) 32-2Two hard-fought wins against solid Northern California teams earned St. Mary's the right to play No. 8 Bishop O'Dowd again — this time in the NorCal Open Division finals Saturday. The first meeting between the two was an 80-59 O'Dowd win, but this one will be on a neutral site instead of at Bishop O'Dowd.{PAGEBREAK}
No. 17 Norcross knocked off previous No. 5 North Gwinnett to win the Georgia state title.
File photo by Larry Lawson
After relatively unheralded
Tyleur Upshaw scored seven points in a two-minute span to help hold off Oregon City in the semis, Central Catholic rolled over South Medford, 57-36, to win the Oregon title.
*17. (23) Norcross (Ga.) 28-5The one-two punch of
Diamond DeShields (24 points) and
Shayla Cooper (20) was way too much for previous No. 5 North Gwinnett in the Georgia 7-A title game. The final score was 63-42.
*18. (25) Hoover (Ala.) 28-4The win over South Medford, which got to the Oregon finals, and the win over No. 17 Norcross, which won the Georgia title, are huge. But there are a couple bad losses on the ledger.
*19. (20) Marian Catholic (Chicago Heights, Ill.) 31-1Marian Catholic has labored in the shadows of Bolingbrook and Whitney Young in recent years, but 2013 was the year of the Spartans, as they beat Whitney Young by 24 in the Illinois state semis.
20. (5) North Gwinnett (Suwanee, Ga.) 30-2A team that relies on three-pointers generally isn't going to do well in a dark building that's hard to shoot in — and that's one reason North Gwinnett lost to No. 17 Norcross in the Georgia finals. Another is that Norcross is really good.{PAGEBREAK}
No. 22 Dr. Phillips locked up a Florida state title, but could have a few more games on the horizon.
Photo by Mark Jones
Notre Dame's a small school, but beating quality big schools and going unbeaten is a good way to get into the Xcellent 25.
*22. (22) Dr. Phillips (Orlando, Fla.) 29-3When Oregon City was knocked off by No. 16 Central Catholic, that hurt Dr. Phillips, which lost to Oregon City early in the year. But Florida teams have played in the ESPN Invitational before, so maybe there are a couple more games for the Panthers to prove themselves.
23. (NR) Millbrook (Raleigh, N.C.) (28-0)It's too bad Millbrook never played New Hope Christian Academy, the other top team in North Carolina. Then again, Page is 27-1 and will be a tough opponent in Millbrook's third consecutive appearance in the state title game.
24. (8) Centerville (Ohio) 26-2The Elks got past Princeton but then lost to No. 5 Fairmont in the third meeting between the two teams. They had split the previous pair, but this one was the one that mattered — the loser was eliminated from the Ohio playoffs.
25. (11) Science Hill (Johnson City, Tenn.) 35-4Science Hill lost only to No. 1 Riverdale (twice), No. 6 Marion County, and No. 20 North Gwinnett. But then again, what looked to be impressive wins turned out to be not-so-impressive by season's end.
Dropped out: No. 21 Oregon City
*State champion
