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), 17-1
The Knights have just five regular season games remaining and have already beaten all five of those opponents by 20 points or more in 2012-13. Barring a string of extremely unimpressive victories down the stretch, Lone Peak probably controls its own destiny in the national championship chase.

2. (5) Simeon (Chicago), 18-2
Nearly written off as a serious contender earlier this month, the Wolverines are now in the thick of the national title race after beating rival and then-No. 1 Whitney Young (Chicago) on Saturday night, 44-41. Since losing to Montverde Academy back on Jan. 5, Simeon has quality wins over Morgan Park (Chicago), Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) and Southwind (Memphis, Tenn.), in addition to Whitney Young.

3. (1) Whitney Young (Chicago), 18-2
With Saturday night's setback against Simeon, Whitney Young has now lost five of the last six meetings against its Chicago Public Schools rival. The book isn't closed on Simeon vs. Whitney Young this season, as the teams could meet twice more.



4. (3) St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.), 15-0
The knock on the Friars at this point is that they haven't faced a schedule anywhere near as tough as other teams near the top of the national rankings. No argument here, but that perception will change Saturday when St. Anthony takes on rival and Academy Top 10 No. 2 St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.) at the Newark National Invitational.

5. (6) Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.), 23-0
The Knights are three wins away from a perfect regular season. Bishop Montgomery led Lincoln (San Diego) 57-4 at the half Saturday at the Fairfax State Preview showcase before cruising to a 79-34 victory.{PAGEBREAK} 6. (7) Germantown (Wis.), 16-0
Two more blowout victories for the Warhawks this week, which brings their win streak to 44 games overall. Saturday's 88-53 victory over defending Division 4 state champ Dominican (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) was particularly impressive.

7. (8) Lake Oswego (Ore.), 18-0
The Lakers continue to roll through Three Rivers League opponents with ease, but need star senior Calvin Hermanson to recover from an ankle injury that has slowed him this month. Even without Hermanson in the lineup, Lake Oswego blasted Oregon City 64-30 on Friday.

8. (9) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 21-1
After suffering their first loss of the season Monday, the Monarchs rebounded with a 93-53 win over Santa Margarita on Friday night. A big rematch with St. John Bosco (Bellflower) is on the slate Wednesday.

9. (4) DeSoto (Texas), 25-2
After beating No. 23 South Grand Prairie twice earlier this season and once a year ago, SGP finally caught up with DeSoto at home Friday night. The Eagles still have a rock-solid resume with wins over No. 2 Simeon, Duncanville, Hampton (Va.), Madison Prep Academy (Baton Rouge, La.) and St. Joseph (Metuchen, N.J.).

10. (10) Long Beach Poly (Calif.), 19-2
Like No. 8 Mater Dei, the Jackrabbits also face St. John Bosco this week. Poly-Bosco goes down Saturday at the Nike Extravaganza.{PAGEBREAK}



11. (11) Olympic (Charlotte, N.C.), 16-0
The Trojans were dealt a huge disappointment Saturday when poor road conditions got in the way of their game at the Hilton Invitational with Greater Atlanta Christian (Norcross, Ga.).

12. (12) Iowa City West (Iowa), 15-0
It was another big week for junior guard Wyatt Lohaus, who averaged 19 points and six assists per game in double-digit victories over Kennedy (Cedar Rapids) and Prairie (Cedar Rapids).

13. (13) Midwest City (Okla.), 17-0
The Bombers captured their second tournament title of the month Saturday night with a 62-52 win over co-host Jenks in the Jenks-Union Invitational. Just one of Midwest City's 17 opponents has kept the final margin under 10 points.

14. (14) Pershing (Detroit), 14-0
Going back to the 2010-11 campaign, the Doughboys have won 35 of their last 37 regular season games.

15. (15) Math Civics & Sciences (Philadelphia), 19-0
After joining the Xcellent 25 last week, the Mighty Elephants had to survive a pair of close calls to remain. MC&S went to overtime with both Vaux (Philadelphia) and Martin Luther King (Philadelphia) over the weekend but managed to remain unscathed.{PAGEBREAK} 16. (16) Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach, Fla.), 17-1
The Tigers will participate in the Broward County Athletic Association Big 8 Tournament this weekend, which they have won two of the past three years.

17. (19) Centennial (Corona, Calif.), 22-1
Down at the half Saturday against a solid Damien (La Verne) program, sophomore guard Sedrick Barefield sparked a Centennial rally with a 3-point barrage as the Huskies won their 14th in a row 72-66.



18. (20) North Little Rock (Ark.), 18-1
If not for a deep run in the state football playoffs that sapped its manpower early on, NLR – averaging 78.9 points per game on the season – would likely be undefeated.

19. (21) Park Tudor (Indianapolis), 14-1
There isn't a glaring threat remaining on Park Tudor's regular season schedule. The Panthers will compete in the state's Class 2A state tournament with Bishop Noll (Hammond), Bowman Academy (Gary), Broad Ripple (Indianapolis) and Tipton being the most notable contenders.

20. (22) Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), 19-3
Stanford-bound twins Malcolm and Marcus Allen helped Centennial (Las Vegas) put a scare into the Gaels last week in a 79-71 win. But 17 points apiece from senior guard Rashad Muhammad and 6-foot-11 sophomore Stephen Zimmerman helped Gorman prevail.{PAGEBREAK} 21. (23) Wenonah (Birmingham, Ala.), 24-1
The Dragons have a big game Monday night with 21-4 Mountain Brook (Birmingham), who may come in a bit surly after a weekend loss to rival Vestavia Hills.

22. (NR) Theodore Roosevelt (Washington, D.C.), 16-0
The first nationally ranked DCIAA team in recent memory, Roosevelt has wins over Lake Clifton (Baltimore), Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) and West Charlotte (N.C.).

23. (NR) South Grand Prairie (Texas), 28-2
Friday night's win over No. 9 DeSoto didn't come out of nowhere. The Warriors are 63-5 over the past two seasons with three of those setbacks coming against the aforementioned Eagles.

24. (25) Chester (Pa.), 14-3
Delaware Valley League rival Penn Wood (Lansdowne) actually led the Clippers by five points heading into the fourth quarter last Thursday, but ended up losing by 19 after a 35-11 fourth quarter explosion for the Clippers.



25. (NR) Irmo (Columbia, S.C.), 20-0
Led by South Carolina-bound senior guard Justin McKie, the Yellow Jackets are winning by an average margin of more than 20 points per game this season.

Dropped out: No. 16 last week Columbia (Decatur, Ga.), No. 18 Omaha Central (Neb.), No. 24 West Charlotte (N.C.).