High school basketball rankings: Harvard-Westlake makes big jump in MaxPreps Top 25 after claiming California state title

By Jordan Divens Mar 14, 2023, 12:00pm

Wheeler and Myers Park re-join the rankings after claiming state titles in Georgia and North Carolina, respectively.

The 2022-23 high school basketball season is in its final weeks with 22 states crowning champions over the weekend to help shape this week's MaxPreps Top 25.

No. 1 John Marshall (Richmond, Va.) closed out its state title defense with a 57-point victory over Radford in the VHSL Class 2 state title game. The Justices are unbeaten (28-0) and put themselves in a strong position for the No. 1 spot in the final national rankings.

In California, Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) moved up seven spots to No. 7 after capturing the CIF Open Division title by upsetting previous No. 3 Centennial (Corona) 80-61 in the semifinals before knocking off St. Joseph (Santa Maria) 76-65 in the final.

Moving to Texas, No. 8 Lake Highlands (Dallas) claimed its first state title since 1968 with a 55-44 victory over two-time defending state champion No. 16 Beaumont United (Beaumont).



No. 14 Bellevue West (Bellevue, Neb.), No. 15 Central Cabarrus (Concord, N.C.), No. 21 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) and No. 23 Myers Park (Charlotte, N.C.) also completed runs to a state championships last week. Four other MaxPreps Top 25 teams remain active in state tournament action – No. 3 Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.), No. 10 Ben Davis (Indianapolis), No. 17 Roman Catholic (Philadelphia) and No. 20 Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia).

Two weekends of state championship results remain before GEICO Nationals and the State Champions Invitational close out postseason competition for the 2022-23 campaign.
No. 7 Harvard-Westlake celebrates a win in the CIF Open Division state title game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. (Photo: David Steutel)
No. 7 Harvard-Westlake celebrates a win in the CIF Open Division state title game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. (Photo: David Steutel)
MaxPreps Top 25 basketball rankings

Record: 28-0 | Last week: 1
Captured its second straight VHSL Class 2 state titles with a 91-34 victory over Radford. The Justices outscored teams by an average of 65.5 points in six postseason contests and averaged 107 points per contest during that span.

Record: 29-1 | Last week: 2
Season complete.

Record: 20-2 | Last week: 4
After finishing second in NIBC play during the regular season, the Crusaders make their GEICO Nationals debut against National Top 10 No. 6 AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) on March 30.

Record: 23-2 | Last week: 5
Season complete.

Record: 26-3 | Last week: 6
Started their PIAA Class 5A state title defense with an 85-33 victory over Holy Ghost Prep (Bensalem). The Panthers take on Muhlenburg tonight with a spot in the state quarterfinals on the line.

Record: 31-3 | Last week: 7
Earn a GEICO Nationals berth for the first time in program history. The Panthers debut as the No. 5 seed in the postseason tournament and take on National Top 10 No. 2 Link Academy in their first-round matchup.



Record: 33-2 | Last week: 14
Captured the CIF Open Division state title with a 76-65 victory over St. Joseph (Santa Maria) paced by 16 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds from four-star junior Trent Perry. The Wolverines also blew past previous No. 4 Centennial 80-61 in an impressive CIF Southern California regional final win.

Record: 34-3 | Last week: 8
Claimed the program's first state championship since 1968 with a 55-44 victory over previous No. 13 Beaumont United led by a game-high 29 points from top-ranked junior Tre Johnson. The Wildcats defeated DeSoto 52-44 in their semifinal contest.

Record: 26-4 | Last week: 9
Season complete. Class 7A state champions.

Record: 30-0 | Last week: 11
Secured a 63-53 victory over defending state champion Cathedral (Indianapolis) paced by 17 points and 13 rebounds from Valparaiso signee Zane Doughty to advance to the Class 4A state tournament. The Giants face Bloomington North (Bloomington) in their state quarterfinal showdown on Saturday.

Record: 30-4 | Last week: 3
Fell shy of capturing back-to-back CIF Open Division state championships after losing to No. 7 Harvard-Westlake 80-61 in the CIF Southern California Regional final. Despite the postseason defeat, the Huskies own signature wins over No. 4 Camden and No. 8 Lake Highlands.

Record: 30-1 | Last week: 15
Season complete. Open Division state champions.



Record: 22-5 | Last week: 16
Season complete. Non-Public B state champions.

Record: 29-0 | Last week: 19
The Thunderbirds defeated Millard North (Omaha) 64-41 in the Class A state title game paced by 16 points, five rebounds and four assists from Creighton signee Josiah Dotzler. Bellevue West became the first unbeaten Class A state champion since Millard North went 25-0 in 1989

Record: 32-0 | Last week: 23
Secured the Class 3A state title with a 65-51 victory over Northwood (Pittsboro) behind a game-high 16 points from junior forward Desmond Kent Jr. and senior guard Adriel Miller. The Vikings are winners of 62 of their past 63 games dating back to the start of last season.

Record: 36-2 | Last week: 13
Came up just short of claiming their third consecutive state championship with a Class 6A state title game loss to No. 8 Lake Highlands 55-44. Four-star Washington signee Wesley Yates III struggled in the title game, shooting 6 of 25 from the field to finish with a team-high 21 points.

Record: 24-3 | Last week: 20
Opened their Class 6A state title defense with a 70-31 victory over Perkiomen Valley (Collegeville). The Cahillites battle Lower Merion (Ardmore) tomorrow night for a spot in the state quarterfinals.

Record: 27-4 | Last week: 18
Season complete. DCSAA Class AA champions.



Record: 32-4 | Last week: 10
Playing without MaxPreps District of Columbia Player of the Year Daquan Davis, the Cadets went 2-1 over the weekend at the Alhambra Invitational after losing to DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) 78-73 in overtime of their semifinal showdown.

Record: 23-3 | Last week: 21
Began their run to back-to-back Class 4A state titles with an 87-42 win over Middletown paced by a game-high 23 points from Baylor commit Robert Wright III and 17 points and 14 rebounds from senior Sultan Adewale. The Saints take on Bethlehem Catholic (Bethlehem) tonight in their second round matchup.

Record: 26-6 | Last week: NR
Captured their third state title in the last four seasons with a 78-58 victory over Cherokee (Canton) in the Class AAAAAAA championship game. Top-ranked USC signee Isaiah Collier led the way with 22 points and seven assists, while four-star USC signee Arrinten Page tallied 15 points and eight rebounds.

Record: 38-4 | Last week: 22
Season complete. Baltimore Catholic League champions.

Record: 28-4 | Last week: NR
Four-star junior Bishop Boswell led the way with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists in a 74-50 victory over Richmond (Rockingham) in the Class 4A title game to claim the program's first state championship.

Record: 29-2 | Last week: 24
Season complete. Class AAAAA state champions.



Record: 26-0 | Last week: 25
Season complete. Class 5A state champions.