MaxPreps Top 25 high school boys basketball rankings

Xcellent 25 National Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard

1. (No. 2 last week) Lone Peak (Highland, Utah), 7-0
A team from Utah has never topped the Xcellent 25 in basketball, baseball or football. Those questioning Lone Peak's national legitimacy won't have to wait long to get an answer, as the Knights open Wednesday at the prestigious City of Palms Classic against defending Mississippi 5A state champ Callaway (Jackson).

2. (3) Long Beach Poly (Calif.), 5-0
Like Lone Peak, the Jackrabbits are headed to the City of Palms Classic. Poly plays in the event opener Tuesday against No. 12 Tift County.

3. (4) Chester (Pa.), 2-0
The Clippers made a statement against previously unbeaten Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) on Friday night at the I-95 Elite Showcase, pasting the NYC dynasty 70-52. Also headed to Fort Myers, Fla., for the City of Palms Classic, Chester – riding a 60-game win streak – takes on Lake Highland Prep (Orlando, Fla.) on Tuesday night in first round action.

4. (6) Whitney Young (Chicago), 3-0
Yet another City of Palms participant, the Dolphins are facing a good news-bad news scenario in Fort Myers. They have a first round bye but are likely to meet slight tournament favorite Montverde Academy (Fla.) in the second round.

5. (8) Southwind (Memphis, Tenn.), 9-1
Also en route to Fort Myers. Southwind will play injury-ravaged Prestonwood Christian (Plano, Texas) in the opening round Wednesday. Marquette pledge JaJuan Johnson pumped in 30 points as the Jaguars tuned up for City of Palms with an 89-74 win over Houston (Germantown) on Friday night.{PAGEBREAK} 6. (9) Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia), 2-0
The Saints crushed Reading and Conwell-Egan Catholic (Fairless Hills) over the weekend by a combined 76 points. The Les Schwab Invitational in Oregon will be Neumann-Goretti's next big test after Christmas.



7. (10) St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.), 1-0
Bob Hurley's bunch extended the nation's longest win streak Sunday to 66 games with a 64-28 win over Neptune. The Friars have a pair of tune-ups this week before heading to the Shooting Touch Shootout in Boston after Christmas.

8. (11) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 5-0
The Monarchs will be involved in the inaugural Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas beginning Dec. 19. The field also includes contenders Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), Our Savior New American (Centereach, N.Y.) and Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.).

9. (16) DeSoto (Texas), 14-1
Behind 23 points from Duke-bound guard Matt Jones, the Eagles controlled the action in the second half of an ESPN-televised affair against then-No. 1 Simeon (Chicago) on Thursday. DeSoto's big holiday test comes after Christmas at the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Classic in Raleigh, N.C.

10. (13) Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), 4-1
A sixth Top 10 team headed to Fort Myers, the Panthers have already demonstrated they are capable taking down giants with a win over storied Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) last weekend, ending the Warriors' 56-game win streak. The defending WCAC champ opens COP play against Douglas Brooks and Lake Wales (Fla.) on Wednesday.{PAGEBREAK} 11. (1) Simeon (Chicago), 1-1
The Wolverines looked sluggish in a surprisingly comfortable victory for DeSoto. With games against Montverde Academy (Fla.), No. 5 Southwind, Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) and rival and No. 4 Whitney Young in January, Jabari Parker and Simeon need to get healthy and pull it together quickly.

12. (14) Tift County (Tifton, Ga.), 5-0
The Blue Devils are headed to City of Palms with a serious head of steam. Tift County has won all five games this season by 21 points or more and is coming off weekend whippings of Macon Central (91-50) and Crisp County (72-43).

13. (17) Omaha Central (Neb.), 4-0
Like No. 3 Chester, Nebraska's three-time defending state champ will head to Fort Myers with a significant win streak in tow. The Eagles have won 40 games in a row and will look to make it 41 Tuesday against Eagle's Landing (McDonough, Ga.).



14. (19) White Station (Memphis, Tenn.), 8-1
Fresh off a win over Austin Nichols and Briarcrest Christian (Eads), White Station's holiday schedule isn't particularly taxing with just three games between now and Jan. 2.

15. (7) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.), 3-1
Placing the Monarchs ahead of Fort Bend Travis after a head-to-head loss last Thursday is sure to raise eyebrows. Mitty owns wins over three solid in-state programs and led nearly wire-to-wire against Travis before letting the game slip into overtime. Aaron Gordon and company bounced back with a win over Lincoln (San Diego) at the Drew Gordon Invitational on Saturday while the Texas school dropped another contest over the weekend.{PAGEBREAK} 16. (21) Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach, Fla.), 8-0
After beating up on local competition to go 8-0, the Tigers are headed to the Chick-fil-A Classic in South Carolina. Perennial NYC power Christ the King (Middle Village) is the opening-round opponent.

17. (22) Olympic (Charlotte, N.C.), 6-0
The Trojans passed a key test Saturday with a 74-73 win over Davie (Mocksville) and its two sets of standout twins. Up next is a showcase game Dec. 19 at the Chick-fil-A Classic against Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.).

18. (23) West Charlotte (N.C.), 6-0
Future North Carolina Tar Heel Kennedy Meeks paced the Lions with 18 points in a 75-34 win over Hopewell (Huntersville) on Friday. West Charlotte is one win away from heading to the Junior Orange Bowl Classic in Miami after Christmas with an unbeaten mark.

19. (24) Iowa City West (Iowa), 6-0
The balanced Trojans feature five players averaging between 13.8 (Wyatt Lohaus) and 8.4 points per game. West has outscored its first six opponents by an average of more than 23 points per game.

20. (NR) St. Frances Academy (Baltimore), 9-0
Top programs from Baltimore to D.C. have taken turns cutting each other down early on. Fresh off a win over No. 22 Fort Bend Travis on Saturday and still unbeaten, the Panthers have the most impressive resume at this point outside of Paul VI. A Dec. 27 matchup with Lower Merion (Ardmore, Pa.) should be a good measuring stick.{PAGEBREAK} 21. (NR) Germantown (Wis.), 7-0
Even without Wisconsin Badgers freshman Zak Showalter, the Warhawks are rolling. Behind the play of Indiana-bound senior Luke Fischer (20.7 points per game) and Zak's little brother Jake Showalter (16.7), the defending Division 1 state champs have extended their win streak to 35 games. Germantown is winning by an average margin of 35.8 points per game.



22. (12) Fort Bend Travis (Richmond, Texas), 11-2
It's early to have two losses and remain in the national rankings, but Travis also owns wins over No. 23 Yates (Houston), Ballard (Louisville, Ky.) and most recently No. 15 Archbishop Mitty. Both of the Tigers' losses have come without star point guard Andrew Harrison in the lineup. Travis was in a similar situation a year ago and wound up 36-4 and four points shy of the Texas 5A state title.

23. (NR) Yates (Houston), 13-1
Since losing to No. 22 Travis on Nov. 17, the Lions have won 12 in a row, captured the Nike Classic in Katy and most recently avenged last year's Class 4A state championship game loss by thrashing Kimball (Dallas) 97-74. A loaded field at the 'Iolani Classic awaits Yates this week in Hawai'i.

24. (NR) Loyola (Los Angeles), 8-0
Trey Mason, Parker Jackson-cartwright and junior 7-footer Thomas Welsh have helped the Cubs win two tournament titles already. Loyola heads to the MaxPreps Holiday Classic after Christmas.

25. (NR) Pershing (Detroit), 4-0
The Doughboys were ranked for much of the season last year and are back after recent wins over two of Michigan's better programs in Romulus and Consortium College Prep (Detroit).

Dropped out: No. 5 last week Rainier Beach (Seattle), No. 15 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.), No. 18 Gill St. Bernard's (Gladstone, N.J.), No. 20 Ridgeway (Memphis, Tenn.), No. 25 Mount St. Joseph (Baltimore)