Xcellent 25 Boys Basketball Rankings: State title still the thing

Holiday tournaments and nationally-televised showdowns pairing teams from different states add excitement to high school basketball, but winning a state championship is still the goal for most. The regular season is in place to prepare teams for a title run.

That philosophy will be reflected in the Xcellent 25 Boys Basketball Rankings presented by the National Guard. Twenty-two of the teams featured in this week’s listing of the elite have won a postseason title of some kind or will be competing for one this weekend at the ESPN RISE National High School Invitational.

There are a couple of exceptions, however.

In Ohio, Jackson (Massillon, Ohio) and Dunbar (Dayton, Ohio) captured the state’s Division I and II titles, respectively, but won’t be found in this week’s national rankings. Northland (Columbus, Ohio) will, even without any postseason hardware. Tough decision, but the Vikings’ wins over No. 6 Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) and No. 10 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) are too significant to ignore. It’s like an Atlantic Coast Conference team sweeping Duke and North Carolina in the same season. It’s huge.

In New Jersey, St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) was banned from the postseason but defeated Trenton Catholic Academy (Trenton, N.J.) – the state’s Tournament of Champions victor and new entry into the Xcellent 25 – by 26 points in early January. Again, difficult to reward a team that is facing sanctions, but the Celtics’ body of work this season is impressive.

Read on for this week’s complete rankings.

Xcellent 25 National High School Boys Basketball Rankings

1. (1 last week) Yates (Houston, Texas), 34-0
Season complete. Texas Class 4A state champions.

2. (2) St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.), 20-1
Season complete.

3. (3) Ames (Ames, Iowa), 27-0
Season complete. Iowa Class 4A state champions.

4. (4) Christ School (Arden, N.C.), 37-1
The NCISAA 3A champions will face No. 14 Winter Park (Fla.) Thursday at the ESPN RISE National High School Invitational in Baltimore, Md.

5. (5) Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.), 30-1
The Saints had to scrap for a 65-63 win over Bridgeville Chartiers Valley in the Class AAA state championship game at Penn State University’s Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday night. Wake Forest-bound guard Tony Chennault capped an All-American-caliber senior season with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the title contest. Six-foot-six forward Daniel Stewart added 17 and 12. Neumann-Goretti ended the season on a 25-game win streak following a loss to No. 1 Yates in December.

6. (7) Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.), 29-2
The Pilots face Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, N.C.) in opening-round action at the National High School Invitational on Thursday.

7. (8) Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.), 31-1
Season complete. Florida Class 2A state champions.

8. (9) Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.), 30-2
Season complete. Nevada Class 4A state champions.

9. (13) Westchester (Los Angeles, Calif.), 32-3
The Comets repeated as California’s Division I state champions with a 63-56 win over Newark Memorial on Saturday night at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. The victory improved head coach Ed Azzam’s mark in state championship games to 6-0. Westchester got a team-high 16 points from senior wing Kareem Jamar in the final. The Comets won 16 games in a row to close the season.

10. (11) Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), 29-3
The Warriors face Mountain State Academy (Beckley, W.Va.) on Thursday at the National High School Invitational.

11. (12) Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), 22-4
The Eagles earned the No. 1 seed in the National High School Invitational and take on Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) in Thursday’s opener.

12. (15) Melrose (Memphis, Tenn.), 37-4
Season complete. Tennessee Class AAA state champions.

13. (21) Plymouth Whitemarsh (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), 30-2
The Colonials captured Pennsylvania’s Class AAAA state title with a 58-51 win over Lansdowne Penn Wood on Saturday night, avenging one of two losses on the season in the process. All-American candidate C.J. Aiken led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds while senior guard Whis Grant added 17 points and 11 boards. PW’s only other loss came to No. 2 St. Benedict’s Prep in late January.

14. (20) Winter Park (Winter Park, Fla.), 28-5
Florida’s Class 6A state champions face No. 4 Christ School on Thursday at the National High School Invitational.

15. (23) Milton (Alpharetta, Ga.), 29-4
Season complete. Georgia Class AAAAA state champions.

16. (24) Peabody (Alexandria, La.), 41-0
Season complete. Louisiana Class 4A state champions.

17. (10) Northland (Columbus, Ohio), 23-1
Season complete.

18. (18) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 32-2
Season complete. Southern Section Division I-AA champions.

19. (19) St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.), 23-3
Season complete. The New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association banned the Celtics from postseason due to improper workouts.

20. (24) DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.), 32-4
Season complete. The Stags captured both the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship and the Abe Pollin City Title.

21. (NR) Kalamazoo Central (Kalamazoo, Mich.), 27-1
Behind a game-high 26 points from senior wing Devin Oliver, the Maroon Giants captured Michigan’s Class A title Saturday night with a 74-65 win over Ann Arbor Huron. According to the Kalamazoo Gazette, Central is only the third team from the west side of the state in the last 41 years to capture Michigan’s big-school state title.

22. (NR) Detroit Country Day (Beverly Hills, Mich.), 26-2 
The Yellowjackets spent much of the season ranked in the Xcellent 25 and showed why Saturday night by dismantling Lansing Sexton, 71-47, in Michigan’s Class B state championship game. All-American candidate Ray McCallum Jr. capped a big year with 31 points in the final.

23. (25) Jesuit (Portland, Ore.), 26-2
Season complete. Oregon Class 6A state champions.

24. (NR) North Central (Indianapolis, Ind.), 25-3
The Panthers got hot following a Feb. 19 loss to Greenwood Center Grove, winning nine in a row including Saturday night’s 95-74 thrashing of Warsaw in the Class 4A state championship game. Purdue-bound senior guard Terone Johnson went for 26 points while sophomore D' Vauntes Smith-Rivera added 16. North Central averaged 84.6 points per game in its final three state tournament games.

25. (NR) Trenton Catholic Academy (Trenton, N.J.), 28-3
No. 19 St. Patrick, St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) and Paterson Catholic (Paterson, N.J.)Paterson Catholic all represented the Garden State in the Xcellent 25 this season, but it was the Iron Mikes standing tall with the coveted Tournament of Champions trophy last Wednesday. Trenton Catholic handed Camden Catholic its first loss in 24 games in the final, 53-39. Frantz Massenat, a 6-4 guard, led the way with 10 points, nine rebounds and three steals in the low-scoring affair. The Iron Mikes beat Bob Hurley’s St. Anthony program en route to the state’s top billing.