Mater Dei moves up as it reaches California Open Division title game; Harlan of Iowa enters the rankings for the first time this season.
Video: Locker Room Report with Megan Peasha
See the latest happenings on the girls basketball sceneThere's not much left to the 2015 season, but California's Open Division final Saturday night in Berkeley will cause some movement in the rankings, as No. 3 St. Mary's and No. 7 Mater Dei will face off at Haas Pavilion. Mater Dei's only two losses have been to Chaminade, the team the Monarchs beat in the Southern California Open Division Regional final, while the only loss for St. Mary's is to Blackman -- a team Mater Dei beat at the Nike TOC.
It's also possible that the winner of the New York Class AA Federation championship this weekend will jump into the Xcellent 25, but it's not like it was just a few years ago when two or sometimes three nationally ranked teams would battle it out in the Empire State.
See playoff brackets from around the nation
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Girls Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
1. (1 last week) Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia), 30-0There was no doubt: Neumann-Goretti leveled Seton LaSalle 79-34 in the Pennsylvania AA championship Saturday and claimed the state title that eluded it last year. Though it was just 17-10 after one quarter, it was 43-16 at the half, and the Saints went marching in.
2. (2) Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), 32-2Season complete.
3. (3) St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.), 33-1
After disposing of Miramonte 67-52 in the Northern California Open Division Regional final, St. Mary's will take on No. 7 -- and No. 1 for much of the season -- Mater Dei in the Open Division state title game Saturday in Berkeley.
4. (4) Cypress Woods (Texas), 35-1Season complete
5. (5) Columbus North (Ind.), 28-1
Season complete.
6. (6) Myers Park (Charlotte, N.C.), 29-1
Andee Velasco, Mater Dei
Photo by Mark Jones
Season complete.
7. (10) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 31-2Mater Dei trailed against nemesis No. 20 Chaminade late, but overcame a sluggish game from
Katie Lou Samuelson to win by four. The two teams played three games this season, Chaminade winning two, and the difference between them in those three games was a total of two points.
8. (8) Manasquan (N.J.), 31-2
Marina Mabrey had a night. Not only did she score 36 points to lead Manasquan past rival St. Rose 59-55 in the Tournament of Champions final, she also scored the last 13 points for Manasquan, and blocked a shot in the waning seconds that could have tied the game.
9. (9) Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), 32-2
Season complete.
10. (12) Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.), 30-1
After trailing Eastview at halftime, Hopkins went on a 13-2 run to start the third quarter, staved off a late rally and avenged its only loss (again) with a 68-60 win in the 4A title game. That's the fifth Minnesota championship for Hopkins since 2004.
11. (11) Dillard (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 30-1
Dillard will be the No. 1 seed in the 2015 Dick's Sporting Goods High
School Nationals Girls Tournament in New York. The Panthers will face
New York PSAL champ South Shore of Brooklyn (20-4) on April 3 at Christ
the King High in Queens. The winner will face the winner of Miami County
Day vs. Gonzaga Prep April 4 at Madison Square Garden in a
nationally televised game.
12. (13) Miami Country Day (Fla.), 30-2The FHSAA 3A champs will play No. 14 Gonzaga Prep in the semifinals of the
Dick's Sporting Goods High School Nationals April 3. It will be their
first game since beating Seffner Christian for the FHSAA title Feb. 18.
13. (14) Gonzaga Prep (Spokane, Wash.), 27-0The two-time WIAA 4A champion Bullpups will put their 50-game winning
streak on the line April 3 against Miami Country Day. The WIAA sent the
Rainier Beach boys to last season's Dick's event.
14. (15) Whitney Young (Chicago), 28-2
Season complete.
15. (16) Heritage Christian (Indianapolis), 28-2
Season complete.
16. (19) Marian (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), 27-1
Marian only beat King by one earlier in the year, but in the Class A semis, there was no doubt: A 57-37 romp. Then DeWitt went down 51-37 in the finals. That's title No. 6 for coach Mary Cicerone.
17. (17) Konawaena (Kealakekua, Hawaii), 31-1
Season complete.
18. (20) Capital Prep (Hartford, Conn.), 25-1 Make it three state titles in a row for Capital Prep, the last two in the Class L (large) Division, after an 87-59 romp over Northwest Catholic.
Kiah Gillespie and
Desiree Elmore combined for 70 of those 87 points.
19. (21) Braintree (Mass.), 25-0
Season complete.
20. (7) Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.), 27-4Chaminade couldn't pull off the trifecta, losing to Mater Dei 48-44 in the Southern California Regional Open Division final after beating the now-No. 7 team by one one point twice. Still, a great year for Chaminade.
21. (22) Easton (New Orleans), 31-1
Season complete.
22. (23) Elizabethtown (Ky.), 32-3
Season complete.
23. (24) Cumberland Valley (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), 32-1
Cumberland Valley won its second-straight AAAA Pennsylvania title with a 40-35 win over Central Bucks West. And the one loss was avenged twice.
24. (25) Potter's House Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.), 38-5
Season complete.
25. (NR) Harlan (Iowa), 26-0Harlan's last loss was in the 2013 4A championship game, but since then, it's been 52 straight wins, capped by a victory over previously unbeaten Western Dubuque in this year's 4A finals.
Dropped out: No. 18 Eastview.
