Christ the King falls — twice — as St. John's climbs into top spot.
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Christ the King's perch atop the Xcellent 25 proved to be as shaky as a tree branch in high winds, as two games against two ranked opponents resulted in two losses. But the New York City power will have a chance for redemption in next week's Nike TOC, as the teams that registered those two wins will be in the same bracket there.
Of course, one of the prerequisites for an early high ranking is a tough schedule, and both new No. 1 St. John's (Washington, D.C.) and new No. 2 Bishop McNamara (Forestville MD) qualify on that count. In fact, both are in the same league so are guaranteed two meetings, and a third school, Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), is not that far behind either.
Note that National Christian, which beat Christ the King, moves in at No. 11 despite two losses because both of those losses are to teams ahead of them in the rankings — and losing to better teams is not necessarily cause for dismissal. Losing to unranked teams, however, as happened to Miami Country Day, Mater Dei and Southridge, is a quick ticket to the outside looking in.
Still, it's a long season, and all three of those losing teams will be at the Nike TOC, which will give them a chance to show exactly how good they are. Then again, that's just what all the other quality teams in Arizona will be doing, which is why it's most prestigious tournament in the country.
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MaxPreps Top 25 national high school girls basketball rankings presented by the Army National Guard
After disposing of previous No. 1 Christ the King 57-49 — and owning a 20-point win over No. 11 National Christian Academy — St. John's moves into the top spot. The next challenge? The Nike TOC in Arizona.
Their hold on the No. 2 spot may be tenuous, with No. 19 New Hope Saturday and the competitive Crescom Bank Holiday Classic in South Carolina next week.
A pair of unbeaten teams with elite talent are on tap this weekend at She Got Game: Riverdale Baptist on Friday and Westridge Academy on Saturday. Two wins will make it clear Southeast Raleigh belongs this high.
The big one is Saturday, as No. 4 Africentric and No. 5 Edison Academy collide in Detroit.
The big one is Saturday, as No. 4 Africentric and No. 5 Edison Academy collide in Detroit.
Montverde may have two losses, but Hamilton Heights would be wise to be wary Friday — one of Florida's best will be primed to make a statement.
The upcoming schedule is a basketball death march with She Got Game this weekend and the Nike TOC the following week. If nothing else, Long Island Lutheran will be battle-tested come the new year.
Centennial finally got to play a game, and will get two more before the Nike TOC — will that be enough, though, to be ready for some of the nation's best?
Though Riverdale will host nemesis Stewart's Creek on Friday, the big challenge will be the Crescom Bank Holiday Classic, which includes No. 2 Bishop McNamara and No. 3 Southeast Raleigh.
Alemany, Saturday's opponent, is 9-2, but the real test will be at the Nike TOC, which starts Dec. 19.
National Christian jumps in at No. 11 thanks to an upset win over previous No. 1 Christ the King, and the fact that the losses are to No. 1 St. John's and No. 3 Southeast Raleigh.
Waunakee is 5-1 and counts as an in-state test for Beaver Dam, which has beaten its other Wisconsin opponents by an average of 43 points. Beaver Dam's out-of-state adventure will be at the Naples Holiday Shootout after Christmas.
The much-anticipated game with Kansas power Bishop Miege was cancelled when Kansas officials feared that Bishop Miege would get snowed in after the championship game. Now neither team has a serious out-of-state test on the schedule.
Florida's St. Thomas Aquinas is unbeaten, but if St. Frances truly deserves to be No. 14, the second best team in the Old Line State will take care of business Friday.
Ryle shouldn't have too much difficulty until a pair of Christmas tournaments – but even so, though both have some quality teams, neither will feature members of the Xcellent 25.
It's rare — well, actually unprecedented — for an 0-2 team to be in the Xcellent 25, but Christ the King was playing its first game when it lost to No. 11 National Christian, and then stayed within eight points of new No. 1 St. John's. The Nike TOC will be a truer test.
Mansfield Timberview is the best team in Texas at this point, and as always, Texas has lots of quality teams. But it's a long season in the Lone Star State, and there are many more games to play.
Unlike most teams in the Xcellent 25, Newark will not be playing in any challenging Christmas tournaments, though the schedule will toughen once the calendar flips over to 2019.
New Hope's only loss was to Cedar Hill in Texas, and that is counterbalanced by wins over some quality teams. And New Hope is also in the Nike TOC, which will make many things clear.
Nope, they still haven't played. This week, though …
A win over New York power Ossining and a very difficult schedule the rest of the way push Roland Park into the Xcellent 25. Of course, getting here and staying here are two different things.
Incarnate Word will deal with two of California's best, Pinewood and Clovis West, at the 'Iolani tournament in Hawaii. Sometimes, though, it's hard to concentrate with the palm trees and beach right across the street from the host hotel.
With Mater Dei dropping out, there were several California candidates for this spot, including Etiwanda (which avenged its only loss) and Archbishop Mitty (with top recruit Haley Jones). We opted for Sierra Canyon, but the way California's going, change is not only possible, but likely.
Hopkins has more talent than any team on its schedule, but sometimes talent isn't enough. Most of the time, however, it is.
Regis Jesuit draws Grandview, a Nike TOC participant and a Colorado power, Wednesday in one of the few serious tests remaining for the Centennial State's best.
Dropped out: No. 8 Miami Country Day (Miami), No. 14 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), No. 15 Southridge (Beaverton, Ore.)
