Cape Henry Collegiate, Blanche Ely, Greensboro Day and Cardinal Gibbons win state titles over the weekend; Dick’s Nationals field coming into focus.
Senior guard Marcus Evans helped No. 4 Cape Henry Collegiate win the VISAA Division 1 state title over the weekend.
File photo by Richard Ta
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
1. (No. 1 last week) Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), 44-0 *Southwest Christian Academy (Little Rock, Ark.) comes to town Tuesday for Oak Hill's regular season finale. The Warriors hit the 100-point mark for the ninth time this season Saturday in a win over Genesis Academy (Lynchburg).
2. (2) Montverde Academy (Fla.), 28-1Regular season complete. Will participate in Dick's Sporting Goods High School National Tournament (April 2-4, New York City).
3. (3) St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio), 22-0The Fighting Irish will take a perfect record into Ohio's Division II state tournament following a 78-59 win over Canton McKinley over the weekend.
4. (4) Cape Henry Collegiate (Virginia Beach, Va.), 31-2With a 54-53 win over Paul VI (Fairfax) on Saturday, the Dolphins captured the VISAA Division I state title and improved to 57-3 over the past two seasons. Signs point to Cape Henry Collegiate continuing its season at Dick's Nationals.
5. (5) Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.), 29-2In a heavyweight state championship matchup, Wheeler meets Pebblebrook (Mableton) on Saturday for Georgia's AAAAAA title. The Wildcats advanced with a 74-64 win over Tucker in the semifinals, getting a game-high 29 points from senior star
Jaylen Brown.
* Record includes forfeit victory{PAGEBREAK}
No. 7 Corona del Sol will play for its fourth consecutive state title in Arizona this week.
Photo by Jim Willittes
6. (8) Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach, Fla.), 28-0Head coach Melvin Randall won his sixth state championship Saturday, leading the Tigers past Osceola (Kissimmee) 72-60. FHSAA champs have a history at Dick's Nationals and Blanche Ely is the most deserving choice to extend that tradition this season.
7. (9) Corona del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.), 31-1Seeking their fourth state title in a row, the Aztecs will meet Desert Vista (Phoenix) on Monday night in Arizona's Division I championship game.
8. (10) Jonesboro (Ga.), 31-1Sophomore star
James Walker Jr. fueled a 71-43 Class AAAA semifinal win over Liberty County (Hinesville) with 30 points. The Cardinals look to repeat as state champions Friday against Carrollton.
9. (11) Huntington St. Joseph Prep (W.Va.), 30-2The Fighting Irish put 134 points on the board in a win over Teays Valley Christian (Scott Depot, W.Va.) last week. HSJP is scheduled to close out the regular season Monday against Southwest Christian Academy (Little Rock, Ark.).
10. (NR) Greensboro Day (N.C.), 33-2The Bengals grounded high-flying No. 14 Wesleyan Christian Academy in a 44-34 win Saturday, capturing the NCISAA Class 3A state title. The victory should secure a spot in the field at Dick's Nationals.{PAGEBREAK}
11. (12) Plano West (Texas), 28-2UCLA football signee
Soso Jamabo led the way Saturday with 22 points in a 69-60 win over Coppell. Cedar Hill, which owns a 27-3 record, could be the opponent in the next round of the 6A state tournament.
12. (13) Atascocita (Humble, Texas), 33-1Buda Hays is up next for the Eagles in the regional quarterfinal round of the 6A state tournament. Atascocita and No. 11 Plano West can't meet until the championship game.
13. (14) Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.), 28-2Regular season complete. Nothing official yet, but expect the Pilots to be in the field at Dick's Nationals.
14. (6) Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.), 27-5Teams that don't win a state title typically have a tough time holding on to a spot in the Xcellent 25 – especially teams with five losses. But all five of those setbacks came against teams ranked in the Top 10 this week. The Trojans also have several quality wins (No. 15 Bishop O'Dowd, No. 22 Mater Dei, Canada's Orangeville Prep) to boast about.
15. (15) Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.), 22-4The Dragons have a tough test in the semifinals of the North Coast Section Division 3 tournament in 25-3 Campolindo (Moraga). O'Dowd hasn't lost a game to a team from California this season.{PAGEBREAK}
16. (16) Mustang (Okla.), 22-0Scheduled for last weekend, weather pushed Mustang's 6A regional opener against Grant (Oklahoma City) to Monday night.
17. (17) Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 33-1Junior guard
Maverick Rowan got the job done for Gibbons once again Saturday in Florida's 5A championship game, going for 26 points in a 74-58 win over Rickards (Tallahassee).
18. (18) Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.), 29-1The Knights will get a chance to make a big statement Saturday in the Southern Section Open Division championship game against either No. 22 Mater Dei or Etiwanda. Bishop Montgomery advanced with a 69-47 semifinal win over Orange Lutheran.
19. (22) Chaminade (St. Louis), 20-3Super junior
Jayson Tatum and the Red Devils open district tournament play Tuesday against Ritenour (Overland).
20. (23) Callaway (Jackson, Miss.), 28-3Malik Newman is pretty much "The Man" in Mississippi. The 6-foot-3 guard had his jersey retired prior to a
playoff game Saturday against Neshoba Central, then went out and put up 38 points as the Chargers won 108-86.{PAGEBREAK}
21. (24) St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.), 25-1Bob Hurley's Friars went 11-0 in February, winning those outings by an average margin of 38.6 points per game.
22. (NR) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 26-3After losing three times during a six game stretch in December, head coach Gary McKnight's Monarchs have regrouped and won 16 in a row.
23. (NR) Southport (Indianapolis), 22-2The Cardinals are back in the Xcellent 25 after knocking off unbeaten Evansville Reitz 88-80 on Saturday night. Southport fell out of the rankings in late January after back-to-back losses but heads to the postseason riding a 10-game win streak.
24. (NR) Roman Catholic (Philadelphia), 24-2Another team exiled from the Xcellent 25 earlier this season only to return this week. Roman Catholic earned its way back in by winning the Philadelphia Catholic League tournament title and the District 12 AAAA title – essentially Philly's city crown.
25. (25) La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.), 23-2Head coach Shane Heirman viewed a pair of games this weekend in Canada as exhibitions. It's a good thing, because the Lakers got beat by Ontario independent St. John's-Kilmarnock. There is some debate on the other side of the border about this one. Multiple sources told MaxPreps that the contest was not intended to be – nor played like – an exhibition.
Dropped out: No. 7
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.); No. 19
DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.); No. 20
Roselle Catholic (N.J.); No. 21
Villa Angela-St. Joseph (Cleveland)