The nation's top two teams successfully navigated through a series of capable challengers as No. 1 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) won the 'Iolani Classic in Hawaii and No. 2 St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) captured the City of Palms Classic in Florida.
No. 8 Long Beach Poly (Calif.), No. 10 Lincoln (San Diego), No. 15 Taft (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and No. 20 Jeffersontown (Louisville, Ky.) were also tournament winners. Read on to see how the first round of holiday classics impacted this week's national rankings.
Xcellent 25 High School Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
1. (No. 1 last week) Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) (15-0)
The Warriors beat Moanalua (Honolulu), 'Iolani (Honolulu), Dr. Phillips (Orlando, Fla.) and Montverde Academy (Fla.) en route to the 'Iolani Classic tournament title in Honolulu. Ben McLemore was named Most Outstanding Player and Quinn Cook, who scored 22 points in the championship game against Montverde, was tabbed Most Valuable Player.
Head coach Kevin Boyle celebrates the City of Palms title with star Michael Gilchrist.
Photo by Jim Redman
The Celtics beat
Westfield, 60-28, the day before they opened at the City of Palms Classic with a 92-68 win over
Whitney Young (Chicago). St. Patrick beat
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) handily in the semifinals behind 34 points and 13 rebounds from
Michael Gilchrist, then used a last-second shot from
Jarrel Lane to overcome
Milton (Ga.) in a dramatic championship game
[STORY].
3. (3) St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) (3-0)
Bob Hurley's Friars dominated Fisher Charter (Trenton), 93-34, in their season opener. Now-defunct Paterson Catholic transfer Kyle Anderson scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 62-50 win over Gill St. Bernard's (Gladstone) at the Hoop Group Tip-Off Showcase. Jackson Memorial (Jackson Township, N.J.) got a thrashing Wednesday night, 75-32, to complete the team's pre-Christmas slate.
4. (4) Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.) (8-0)
The Wolverines haven't played since Dec. 14, an 85-44 win over Douglass (Atlanta). Georgia's defending Class AAAA state champions will head to the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C., following Christmas.
5. (5) Simeon (Chicago) (5-0)
Chicago's Wolverines have also taken a bit of a pre-Christmas break, but have been dominant through five games. Simeon has limited opponents to just 39.4 points per game and is winning by an average margin of more than 30 points per game, including an 85-38 spanking of Lew Wallace (Gary, Ind.) televised by ESPN.
6. (16) Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) (16-1)
In an ESPN-televised affair, the Pilots made one of the biggest statements of the early season by dominating Yates (Houston), 95-69, to snap a 66-game win streak – the nation's longest. Bishop Manogue (Reno, Nev.) was the victim two days later by a similar score of 93-75.
7. (8) North Central (Indianapolis) (5-0)
The Panthers survived a tough, two-game stretch against Bowman Academy (Gary) and Hamilton Southeastern (Fishers). In front of a number of Big Ten head coaches, 6-5, 265-pound junior Darius Latham scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead NCHS past elite junior recruit Gary Harris and Hamilton Southeastern, 69-67.
8. (10) Long Beach Poly (Calif.) (8-0)
The Jackrabbits passed a significant test by knocking off Hoover (San Diego), Roosevelt (Fresno), Prestonwood Christian (Plano, Texas) and Christian Life Center (Humble, Texas) en route to the tournament title at the National Prep Classic in Santa Maria, Calif. Tournament MVP Ryan Anderson scored 16 points to lead LBP past the Texas Challenger in the final, 62-54.
9. (9) Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) (5-0)
The Royals are running wild through five games, averaging 90.4 points per game. Senior forward Marvin Singleton scored a team-high 23 points in Hopkins' most recent victory, a 102-57 thrashing of St. Louis Park on Tuesday night.
10. (11) Lincoln (San Diego) (8-0)
The Hornets beat perennial power Fairfax (Los Angeles) 56-45 in the finals of the Hosea Hall Classic to notch their second 16-team tournament victory of the young season. Lincoln will try for a third after Christmas.
11. (13) DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) (6-0)
The Stags haven't missed a beat without aforementioned Quinn Cook. DeMatha has won every game by 10 points or more. The storied Maryland program heads to the Les Schwab Invitational in Hillsboro, Ore., after Christmas.
12. (15) Lincoln (Dallas) (14-0)
The Tigers survived a big test Dec. 18 with a 58-56 win over powerhouse North Crowley (Fort Worth) behind 21 points from LeBryan Nash. Lincoln also notched a big win Tuesday over Conrad (Dallas), 94-48, as Nash struck again for 29 points.
13. (17) Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, Fla.) (10-0)
The Apaches crushed Anchorage Christian (Alaska) and Ross (Hamilton, Ohio) at an event in Florida, then traveled north to knock off Princeton (Cincinnati) at the Ironton Classic in Ohio. ACD played Our Savior New American (Centereach, N.Y.) late Wednesday night, but results were not available at press time.
14. (23) Milton (Ga.) (10-2)
Despite the two setbacks, the Eagles might actually be too low at No. 14. Before the City of Palms championship game loss to St. Patrick, Milton knocked off Fort Myers (Fla.), Norfolk Christian (Va.) and Winter Park (Fla.). Incredibly, the Georgia program's next game is against Winter Park – again – Dec. 31 at the Hoops in Overdrive Shootout.
15. (21) Taft (Woodland Hills, Calif.) (9-0)
After a string of easy wins to begin the Mission Prep Christmas Classic, the Toreadors had to work for the title in a 50-47 win over Pasadena. Tournament MVP C.J. Blackwell, a 6-5, 225-pound forward who joined the program from Georgia this season, scored 17 points in the final. Taft heads to another tournament in the San Diego area following Christmas.
16. (24) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) (9-1)
A young group of Monarchs matured rapidly at the City of Palms Classic, going 3-1 with wins over Orlando Christian Prep, Christ School and Winter Park to take third. Juniors Katin Reinhardt and Xavier Johnson were named to the All-Tournament Team. Shaqquan Aaron established himself as one of the nation's best freshmen.
17. (19) Norcom (Portsmouth, Va.) (5-0)
Decarlos Anderson scored 26 points and All-American Dorian Finney-Smith – a Virginia Tech signee – added 23 as the Greyhounds raced past Northeastern (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 79-48 in their latest outing. Norcom will have their hands full with a loaded field at the GlaxoSmithKline Invitational in Raleigh, N.C., following Christmas.
18. (18) Wichita Heights (Kan.) (5-0)
The Falcons have rolled in their last two outings, 65-41 over
West (Wichita) and 86-69 over
Nixa (Mo.) at the HyVee Shootout in Kansas City. Star junior forward
Perry Ellis led the way with 23 points against Nixa.
19. (NR) Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) (7-0)
Stu Vetter's bunch lacks a signature win at this point, but have taken care of business in impressive fashion, beating every opponent by 15 or more. Justin Anderson is experiencing a bounce-back campaign after a quiet sophomore season, scoring a team-high 17 in a win over Council Rock North (Newtown, Pa.) at the Randy Foye Classic on Dec. 19. Montrose heads to Puerto Rico for a tournament after Christmas.
20. (NR) Jeffersontown (Louisville, Ky.) (10-0)
The Chargers completed an impressive run at the King of the Blue Grass Holiday Classic by beating rival Eastern (Louisville) 69-61 in the final, getting double-figure scoring from four players led by Harry Cross' 14. Jeffersontown whipped Pearl (Miss.), Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.) and Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.) by an average margin of 31.3 points per game in the preliminary rounds.
Dominique Pointer, Quality Education
Photo by Jamie Dahl
Not many thought the Fighting Pharaohs would get better after losing blue chipper
Quincy Miller to
Westchester Country Day (High Point, N.C.), but that's exactly what happened. QEA handled a solid Christ School team at the Marshall County Hoopfest earlier this month and led No. 1 Oak Hill Academy by as many as 17 points before losing by two points. St. John's signee
Dominique Pointer leads the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game to go along with 6.5 rebounds and 3.2 steals.
22. (22) Winter Park (Fla.) (10-3)
Lacking a deep bench, the Wildcats may have worn down over four games in four days at the City of Palms Classic. After wins over Riverside Academy (Reserve, La.) and Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) (42 points from Austin Rivers), Winter Park dropped its final two contests to Milton and Mater Dei but clearly belongs among the nation's elite.
23. (NR) Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) (6-1)
The Panthers have it all – talent, size, depth, coaching and chemistry. Led by two-sport star Jacoby Brissett, Dwyer had an impressive run at the City of Palms Classic, beating Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), Norfolk Christian (Va.) and Christ School (Arden, N.C.) with Mike Krzyzewski in the stands to take fifth place. Despite being known more for his football prowess, Brissett will be hard to leave off the All-American team at the end of the year. He averaged 22.5 points and 10 rebounds per game despite managing minutes as he makes the transition from the gridiron to the hardwood.
24. (NR) Academy of the New Church (Bryn Athyn, Pa.) (6-2)
The Philadelphia-area program beat No. 6 Findlay Prep in November and was dominant in a pair of showcase games at the City of Palms Classic behind the play of star trio Rakeem Christmas (Syracuse), Malcolm Gilbert (Pittsburgh) and Savon Lloyd-Goodman (Villanova), just a junior.
25. (NR) Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas) (15-1)
The Marauders have rolled to eight straight wins since an upset loss at the South Padre Island Tournament. Marcus Smart scored 18 points and Nick Banyard added 17 in a 66-53 win over Plano West (Texas) on Tuesday. Marcus has a chance to move up the ladder next week at the Whataburger Tournament.
