Every year, high school sports produces great moments, champions
and all the highs and lows that come with the unscripted drama of
athletics. This past school year had all those moments and then some.
From summer conditioning to the dog days of summer into fall and winter and then emerging in spring, the action was outstanding. And as always, the athletes continued
to dazzle, shine and showcase why high school athletics are not only
great, but necessary.
And while there were
likely thousands of magical moments from big city schools to small-town
America, MaxPreps has zeroed in nearly 20 that stood above the rest.
The Incarnate Word Academy girls basketball team, celebrating a tournament in Hawaii here, enters the 2023-24 season with 100 straight wins. (Photo: Brian Bautista)
The nephew of Super Bowl winners Peyton and Eli Manning,
Arch Manning
has been in the spotlight throughout his high school career. The
top-rated player in the Class of 2023 by 247Sports is headed to Texas
next season but before he left
Newman (New Orleans, La.)
he made sure to stamp his name in the school's record book and in the
Manning family pecking order. Arch broke the yardage mark and total
touchdown mark of both Peyton and Eli as the Greenies made the Louisiana
Division III quarterfinals.
Black Eyed Peas perform halftime concert
The
hip hop group that once played the Super Bowl XLV halftime show in 2011
wowed a high school football crowd of 30,000 at the 87th annual East
L.A. Classic between
Roosevelt (Los Angeles) and
Garfield (Los Angeles).
Growing up near the schools, Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am wanted to
give back to the neighborhood that helped raise him. The group trotted
out a list of hits that included "I Gotta Feeling," "Let's Get It
Started" and "Boom Boom Pow."
Viral play of the yearOne of the best
things about high school sports and sports in genera is that you never
know what you are going to see on any given night. That was the case
throughout the year but one play stands out above the fray.
North Cobb Christian (Kennesaw) used five laterals on the final play to down Wesleyan 19-15 in an August game in Georgia. You can
see it here.
Ethen Knox runs wildBeing mentioned in
the same sentence as Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry means
you are doing something special. And that's just what
Ethen Knox did this year. The
Oil City (Pa.)
running back ran for 3,705 yards and 41 touchdowns on 385 carries as
the Oilers went 7-3. His total was the most in a 10-game season and his
seven 400-yard games broke Henry's mark of four.
IMG football drops 96 in a halfEach
year it seems there are a handful of eye-popping football scores that
look more at home on a basketball scoreboard than the gridiron. One of
those was aforementioned perennial national power
IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), which put
up 96 points on West Toronto Prep … in the first half. The game was
called at the break.
Bruce Rollinson announces retirementAfter winning the 2021 MaxPreps National Championship, the
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)
football program looked poised to repeat, especially after its 17-7
Trinity League win over rival St. John Bosco. But early in November
Rollinson suddenly and unexpectedly announced his retirement at the end
of the season after 34 years at the helm. The Monarchs would lose the
St. John Bosco rematch in the Southern Section Division 1 final, ending a
career that started with him playing at Mater Dei 50 years ago. But his
final two seasons were dogged by controversy after a hazing scandal hit
the program as some speculated it led to his retirement announcement.
Rollinson ended his career with more than 340 wins, three CIF titles and
two national titles.
Young guns shine on football fieldIt's
always impressive when an underclassman makes a splash for a varsity
football team. This season saw these three land starring roles.
Brady Smigiel of
Newbury Park (Calif.) set freshman passing marks while throwing for more than 3,200 yards and 43 touchdowns.
Julian Lewis, the
Carrollton (Ga.)
signal caller, led the Trojans to the Georgia AAAAAA final while
throwing for 4,118 yards and 48 TDs. And while the freshman duo was
outstanding, what
Trent Seaborn did as an eighth grader might take the cake, leading
Thompson (Alabaster, Ala.)
to its fourth straight Alabama title. He showed poise beyond his years,
throwing for five touchdowns in the Warriors' 49-24 championship game victory.
St. John Bosco wins second national titleSt. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.)
ended where it started — as the No. 1 team in the MaxPreps Top 25 high
school football rankings. Jason Negro has built a national power in
Southern California as Bosco has won four CIF titles and two MaxPreps
National Championships since taking over 13 seasons ago. Negro is 139-26
and Bosco has finished in the top 10 seven straight years and in the
MaxPreps Top 25 for nine consecutive seasons.
Cathedral Catholic volleyball goes unbeaten
Duncanville basketball controversy
On
the eve of the 2022-23 basketball season, the high school sports
governing body in Texas sanctioned both the boys and girls hoops squads
at Duncanville with postseason bans and coach suspensions. The defending state and national champion boys team
was forced to vacate its 2021-22 title and coach David Peavy was
suspended one season. Additionally, the boys team agreed to the
postseason ban. The girls team was banned from postseason and coach
LaJeanna Howard was suspended one season for what the UIL said were
recruiting and "school practice and game restriction" violations.
Incarnate Word Academy streak hits 100Owner of the longest active win streak in high school girls basketball,
Incarnate Word Academy (St. Louis, Mo.) hit the 100-mark in this season's Missouri Class 6 final, a 57-30 win over Rock Bridge. The victory gave head coach Dan Rolfes' program its sixth straight
state title while moving Incarnate Word Academy into 19th place on the
all-time consecutive wins list, according to Kevin Askeland of MaxPreps. The
Red Knights' streak started Feb. 11, 2020 following a 46-44 loss to
Rock Bridge and continues into the 2023-24 season.
Bronny James chooses USCThe
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)
standout made his highly-anticipated college decision in early May,
opting to stay close to home by playing for Andy Enfield and the
Trojans. He was the second high-profile Sierra Canyon star to choose USC, as
MaxPreps National Player of the Year
Juju Watkins also chose the Los
Angeles school.
Bronny chose the Trojans over finalists Ohio State and Oregon, deciding
to play alongside the top recruit in the Class of 2023
Isaiah Collier.
Bronny James of Sierra Canyon had one of the most closely watched high school basketball careers. He chose to play collegiately at USC in May. (Photo: Lonnie Webb)
On the boys side,
John Marshall (Richmond, Va.) established itself as the best team in high school basketball this
season with big out-of-state victories and a second consecutive Class 2
state championship. The Justices went 28-0, outscoring opponents
by an average margin of 36.8 points per contest. The
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)
girls cemented their MaxPreps National Championship with a 60-54 win at
GEICO Nationals over Long Island Lutheran to end the season 26-1. It was
the second straight GEICO title for the Eagles, who grabbed wins over
nine teams ranked in the MaxPreps Top 25 during the
season, including victories over seven state champions and two state
finalists.
USA Basketball future is brightIt's
not unusual for Team USA U16 boys and girls to bring home gold medals.
But what made this year's FIBA Americas champions noteworthy was the starpower
that hoopheads will come to know for the next few years and beyond. On the boys side, MaxPreps National Player of the Year
Cameron Boozer of
Columbus (Miami, Fla.)
led the USA to a dominating run to the title. He was named tournament
MVP after game-highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds in the 118-38 win over
Canada for the gold. Five players average double-figures as Boozer led
the way 16.8 points and 9.8 rebounds and
Koa Peat tallied 17.2 points. For the girls, the United States dominated from start to finish, led by MaxPreps Co-Freshmen of the Year
Jerzy Robinson and
McKenna Woliczko. Robinson, who transferred to
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.), was the tournament MVP after averaging 17.3 points, while Wolizcko of
Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) chipped in 11.8 points per night on 62 percent shooting.
Lake Creek, IMG Academy shine on diamond
After finishing No. 2 in last season's MaxPreps Top 25 softball rankings,
Lake Creek (Montgomery, Texas) made the jump to No. 1. The Lions capped their 2023 season with a second straight Class 5A title and went a remarkable 85-1 over the past two seasons. Led by Florida commit
Ava Brown, Lake Creek left little doubt as to the best softball team in the land. The
IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) baseball team finished undefeated (25-0)
with wins over five state champions and two other
teams that finished as state runners-up. No other past national champion
can make that claim. Overall, IMG
Academy faced 23 teams that made the postseason.
The Burley Bolt shows off
Multi-sport star
Gatlin Bair of
Burley (Idaho) ran a 10.25 100-meter and 20.47 200-meter at the BYU
Invitational (biggest and oldest meet in the Intermountain area) and a 10.18 100 at the Texas Relays. Bair, who has 27 FBS football offers from the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Texas and Oregon, also
hauled in 73 receptions for 1,113 yards and 20 touchdowns on the
gridiron.
IMG sold for $1.25 billionIMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) has been a mainstay in various MaxPreps
Top 25 rankings over the past decade but made news for other reasons earlier this year after being sold to a private equity
firm in a deal valued at $1.25 billion. IMG's baseball team finished ranked No. 1 nationally this season, the football team has finished in the
MaxPreps Top 25 eight times over the past decade and its basketball team has sent dozens of players to college and the NBA.
Mikey Williams faces gun charges
One of the biggest names in high school basketball as well as on social
media was arrested in San Diego County in April on five felony counts
of suspicion of assault with a firearm. Committed to play basketball at
the University of Memphis, Williams is scheduled for a preliminary
hearing on July 12. The San Ysidro
standout turned heads as a freshman when he dropped 77 in a game.
Williams has name, image and likeness deals estimated at over $3
million, including a shoe deal with Puma. His Instagram account, which
has 3.8 million followers, was deactivated following his arrest. His
Tiktok videos have generated more than 300 million views.
