No. 1 Marcus upset in Whataburger Tournament

Expect to see a new No. 1 team Monday when the updated Xcellent 25 presented by the Army National Guard is released.

No. 1-ranked Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas) was dropped 58-55 by Richland (North Richland Hills) Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Whataburger Tournament in Haltom City.

Ricky Roberts, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, led the Rebels with 27 points. Roberts is a transfer from Marcus and club teammate of Marauder standouts Marcus Smart, Phil Forte and Nick Banyard.

Richland (14-1) also beat nationally-ranked DeSoto in November.



The Dallas Morning News reported that Smart and A.J. Luckey sat the first quarter of Marcus' opening-round victory over Northwest (Justin) after being late for a recent practice.

Marcus' loss leaves Simeon (Chicago, Ill.) as the likely successor to the No. 1 ranking. The Wolverines are working their way through the 81st annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament, meeting United Township (East Moline) in quarterfinal action Thursday afternoon.

Ogbueze's up-and-down holiday exploits

Under first-year head coach Muggy Bogues, United Faith Christian Academy (Charlotte, N.C.) struggled last week at the Chick-fil-A Classic in South Carolina (0-3) but at least senior guard Braxton Ogbueze is making it entertaining.

In an 85-83 loss to Christ School (Arden) last Wednesday, the future Florida Gator exploded for 39 points, connecting on 14 of 21 field goal attempts and 10 of 12 from the foul line. Ogbueze went for 22 in opening-day action against Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.).

Ranked No. 40 in the MaxPreps Class of 2012 Top 100, the 6-1 senior guard ended his trip to South Carolina on a down note in a lopsided loss to Westtown (Pa.)Westtown. Ogbueze scored just three points in 15 minutes and did not have an assist.

Ogbueze rebounded Wednesday night at the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational in North Carolina, scoring a team-high 20 points and hitting the game-winner with 0.2 seconds left to lift UFCA past St. Mark's (Southborough, Mass.).



Nebraska can play

South Sioux City (Neb.) will have its hands full over the next three days at the VisitMesa.com Arizona Basketball Challenge, but the Cardinals made a strong opening statement at the event with an 84-65 win over Amphitheater (Tucson) – Arizona's defending Class 4A Division II state champ.

Future Iowa Hawkeye Mike Gesell poured in 34 points as he out-dueled Amphitheater star Tim Derksen (University of San Francisco signee). South Sioux has won the last two Class B state titles in Nebraska behind the play Gesell and backcourt partner Austin Groth, who added 29 more for the Cardinals on Wednesday.

SSC plays Corona del Sol (Tempe) on Thursday afternoon, Pinnacle (Phoenix) on Friday and host Mountain View (Mesa) on New Year's Eve.