Xcellent 25 high school girls basketball rankings

Usually it works like this: The ranked teams go to big-time holiday tournaments and knock each other off. They come back home, feast on the local talent in the first two weeks of January, and then play another big game over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

Usually.

For the Academy of the Holy Cross (Kensington, Md.) and duPont Manual of Kentucky, though, it wasn't basketball as usual. Previous No. 16 Holy Cross was upset by Archbishop Carroll (Washington, District of Columbia) in Washington Catholic Athletic League play, and previous No. 17 DuPont Manual (Louisville, Ky.) lost to Mercy (Louisville, Ky.), 67-65, despite making 10 3-pointers.

Given the time of year, such transgressions do not go unpunished, as all the other member of the Xcellent 25 didn't stumble, and neither did our two new entrants into the list, Duncanville of Texas and McKinley of Ohio.

But such stability is only momentary, as a host of MLK events should shake things up considerably by this time next week -- though if a higher-ranked team (such as St. Mary's of Phoenix) beats a lower-ranked team (such as Windward of L.A.), the lower team most likely won't drop. After all, the higher-ranked team is supposed to be better, so how can a team be punished for losing a game it's supposed to lose?

1. (1) St. Mary's (Phoenix, Ariz.) (12-0)
Coach Curtis Ekmark gave the Knights 10 days off, and it took a while for the rust to get knocked off against Chandler -- but St. Mary's turned a three-point halftime deficit into a 13-point lead before winning 68-62.

2. (2) Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) (12-1)
The Crusaders blew all of a 16-point fourth-quarter lead to Woodson of D.C., but Jennie Simms made the second of two free throws with two seconds left to get a 77-76 victory. One-loss Upper Dublin of Pennsylvania is on tap this weekend.

3. (3) Windward (Los Angeles, Calif.) (15-2)
The Wildcats can make a statement Monday when they play No. 1 St. Mary's at Arizona State - and seriously confuse the rankings. Windward has already lost to No. 2 Riverdale Baptist, which lost to St. Mary's. So if the Wildcats win, who's No. 1?

4. (4) Cicero-North Syracuse (Cicero, N.Y.) (7-2)
The Northstars are back in Syracuse, and are unlikely to be challenged until a Feb. 12 date with Christ the King in New York City.

5. (5) Bolingbrook (Ill.) (11-1)
The next big game for the Raiders will be against Missouri power St. Joseph's Academy - but that's not until Jan. 26. Between now and then, though, it should be smooth sailing.

6. (6) McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) (13-0)
The Indians have a relatively tough game this weekend against one-loss Hillgrove, but otherwise the playoffs look like the next test for McEachern.

7. (7) Whitney Young (Chicago, Ill.) (15-0)
The Dolphins are getting along just swimmingly, though a solid Montini is on tap for Martin Luther King Day.

8. (8) MacArthur (Irving, Texas) (23-2)
The Cardinals, like most of the top 10, are just relaxing their way through league play - and in MacArthur's case, there aren't even any weekend specials against other elite teams.

9. (9) Nazareth (Brooklyn, N.Y.) (3-0)
The death of coach Apache Paschall forced the cancellation of two games - even though the Nazareth players wanted to play. Hopefully, some sense of normalcy will return this week.

10. (10) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) (14-2)
The Monarchs scored 186 points in two games -- and gave up 40. They should have no issues through the rest of January, which is helpful as star guard Jordan Adams isn't yet 100 percent.

11. (11) Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) (13-3)
The Falcons rolled over a very good Paul VI team Tuesday, 74-48. The Washington Catholic Athletic League is arguably the best in the country this year, and Good Counsel is in first place - so far.

12. (12) Marion County (Lebanon, Ky.) (13-2)
DuPont Manual, which dropped out of the Xcellent 25 this week, can jump right back in by knocking off Marion County Saturday in the Autism Shootout. Some Kentucky rankings have had Manual ahead of Mercy all season - and this weekend, they'll decide it on the court.

13. (13) Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) (13-3)
The Warriors will get another test this Saturday in Atlanta, when they face Norcross in the Peach State Battle of the Southeast - and Georgia powers Wesleyan and Buford are also on the six-game slate (though not playing each other).

14. (14) Long Beach Poly (Calif.) (14-1)
The Jackrabbits drew a bye in league play, so they just spent the last week or so enjoying California's winter drought. Of course, a lot of folks wouldn't complain about 70-degree weather in January.

15. (15) La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla, Calif.) (13-1)
The Torreys added another big win to their resume by knocking off Northern California's best team, St. Mary's of Stockon, 71-52.

16. (18) Hoover (Ala.) (15-3)
The Buccaneers should have no problem until a meeting later this month with Memphis Central.

17. (nr) Duncanville (Texas) (24-1)
The Panthers lost to Plano West, at Plano West, by three early in the season. When they played again, Duncanville won by 17 - essentially erasing that loss and moving the Panthers into the top 20.

18. (19) Norcross (Ga.) (10-2)
Riverdale's visit to Atlanta gives Norcross another chance to move up the rankings' ladder - or, at the other end of the spectrum, drop out of the Xcellent 25.

19. (20) Twinsburg (Ohio) (9-2)
The Tigers play 9-2 Fairmont and 8-2 Mason in the Classic in the Country this weekend, but Twinsburg must handle new No. 25 McKinley and Princeton in the Ohio postseason to retain this ranking.

20. (21) Dr. Phillips (Orlando, Fla.) (16-3)
The Panthers will continue to beat up on Florida opposition until they meet Alexis Prince and Edgewater Jan. 25.

21. (22) Memphis Central (Memphis, Tenn.) (8-3)
The Warriors have a big game this weekend against Potter's House Christian, but star Danielle Ballard has reportedly been kicked off the team - which will make a difference against Potter's House, and down the road.

22. (23) Shabazz (Newark, N.J.) (7-1)
The Bulldogs are getting into gear, but one-loss Montclair is on tap this weekend - and traditional power University could offer a challenge as well.

23. (24) Detroit Country Day (Beverly Hills, Mich.) (7-1)
The Yellowjackets, who aren't in a league, will get a test Saturday against 9-1 Rogers of Ohio, but that one-point loss to Twinsburg is going to be hard to make up for.

24. (25) Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) (14-0)
Hopkins continues to beat up on Minnesota, outscoring the opposition 1,044-488 - and thumped the state's second-best team, Eden Prairie, 83-51.

25. (nr) McKinley (Canton, Ohio) (9-0)
Among all the other unbeaten teams out there, McKinley has some of the best wins, but unbeaten Lake is on tap Thursday, so this stay may be brief.

Dropped out: No. 16 Academy of the Holy Cross, No. 17 duPont Manual