Three unbeaten teams remain in this week's MaxPreps top 25 high school basketball rankings after upsets clipped two prefect records last week.
Previous No. 6 Cardinal Hayes dropped five spots after a 67-56 loss to No. 22 Archbishop Stepinac, while No. 14 Bishop McNamara fell two spots after 77-50 blowout loss to DeMatha. No. 4 Bishop Gorman, No. 6 Centerville and No. 10 Glenbard West remain the lone unbeaten teams as each impressed with convincing wins over the weekend.
Looking ahead, the 10th-ranked Hilltoppers take center stage on Saturday in a nationally televised showdown with Bronny James, Amari Bailey and No. 13 Sierra Canyon.
No. 7 Camden, coming off its impressive 66-62 victory over the Trailblazers, looks to continue its ascension with showdowns against Gill St. Bernard's (Gladstone, N.J.) on Thursday and St. Peter's Prep (Jersey City, N.J.) on Saturday.
The Metro Classic provides several games of intrigue as No. 19 Long Island Lutheran faces National Top 20 No. 11 Wasatch Academy on Thursday and No. 8 Roselle Catholic battles National Top 20 No. 8 Oak Hill Academy on Saturday.
Despite the movement within the rankings, just two new teams join the MaxPreps Top 25 as No. 22 Archbishop Stepinac returns and No. 25 George Rogers Clark makes its season debut out of the Bluegrass State.
Darrion Williams, Bishop Gorman
Photo by Justin Fine
Record: 25-1 | Last week: 1
Kentucky signee
Cason Wallace paced a 79-36 win over Irving with 28 points and Alabama signee
Rylan Griffen added 22 as the Eagles moved to 9-0 in district play. Five games remain in regular-season play.
Record: 23-1 | Last week: 2
Downed Midway (Waco) 61-42 behind juniors
Evan Phelps (12),
Aric Demings (12) and
Ronald Holland (10) as the Panthers have a pair of tough district against Lake Ridge (Mansfield) on Tuesday and Waxahachie on Friday.
Record: 14-2 | Last week: 3
Fell 79-76 to National Top 20 No. 4 Montverde Academy (Montverde) on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Skyy Clark for a runner-up finished at the Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament. Beat No. 18 Dr. Phillips 54-51 as UCF commit
Taylor Hendricks and LSU commit
Marvel Allen were named to the all-tournament team.
Record: 21-0
| Last week: 5
The Gaels continue to climb after quality wins over Liberty (Henderson) 80-71 and Whitney Young (Chicago) 89-59. Unsigned senior
Darrion Williams scored a game-high 24 points with seven assists and six rebounds in the win over Whitney Young.
Record: 24-1 | Last week: 4
New Mexico pledge
Donovan Dent led the Huskies to an 80-71 win over Coronado (Henderson, Nev.) with 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Juniors
Aaron McBride chipped in 16 points and 10 rebounds and
Jared McCain scored 15 with nine rebounds at the Nike Extravaganza. They wrap up regular season against Roosevelt (Eastvale) on Monday and Corona on Wednesday.
Record: 17-0 | Last week: 7
Extended win streak to 33 after blowing past Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati) 63-35 behind a game-high 18 points from Florida State pledge
Tom House. The Elks have outscored their opponents by an average of 24.5 points per contest with only one single-digit decision this year.
Record: 12-2 | Last week: 11
Defeated No. 13 Sierra Canyon 66-62 in a wire-to-wire victory led by 21 points from top-ranked junior
D.J. Wagner. Junior 7-footer
Aaron Bradshaw also made a significant impact for the Panthers, chipping in 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocks in the win.
Record: 15-1 | Last week: 8
Beat Plainfield 91-51 paced by Nebraska signee
Jamarques Lawrence (23 points, seven rebounds, five assists, five steals) and North Carolina commit
Simeon Wilcher (22 points, six rebounds). The Lions face National Top 20 No. 8 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) on Saturday.
Record: 19-3 | Last week: 9
Five-star Arkansas signee
Nick Smith pumped in 28 points to surpass 2,000 career points in an 82-34 victory over Cabot. The Charging Wildcats are favorites to repeat as AHSAA Class 6A state champions entering the final month of regular season play.
Record: 24-0 | Last week: 14
The Hilltoppers face their biggest challenge of the season Saturday in a nationally televised showdown with No. 13 Sierra Canyon. They were pushed over the weekend, defeating Lyons (LaGrange) 62-50 guided by a game-high 25 points from Princeton commit
Caden Pierce.
Record: 15-1 | Last week: 6
No. 22 Archbishop Stepinac handed them their first loss of the season, 67-56, before the Cardinals rebounded with a 102-74 victory over Bishop Louglin (Brooklyn). They downed Archbishop Stepinac 70-67 on Dec. 10.
Record: 24-2 | Last week: 15
Returned to the court following a 10-day layoff, winning three conference outings by an average of 22.3 points per contest. The Bengals are favored to capture their 12th state championship overall and first since three straight from 2017-2019.
Record: 20-3 | Last week: 10
The Trailblazers dug a first-quarter hole, shooting 1-of-12 from the field with eight turnovers and trailed 15-2 after eight minutes against No. 7 Camden. Five-star UCLA signee
Amari Bailey scored a game-high 23 points but struggled from the field, shooting 8-of-23.
Record: 12-1 | Last week: 12
The Mustangs remain in first place in the WCAC standings despite being routed 77-50 by DeMatha. They own impressive victories over No. 15 St. Paul VI and No. 18 Gonzaga, which prevented them from dropping farther in the rankings.
Record: 16-3 | Last week: 16
Have a pair of challenging WCAC contests, facing DeMatha on Tuesday before taking on St. John's (Washington, D.C.) on Sunday. The Panthers picked up wins over Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) 90-60 and Bishop Ireton (Alexandria, Va.) 82-69 last week.
Record: 18-2 | Last week: 17
Under-the-radar senior
Kami Young led the way with a game-high 28 points in the Falcons 11th consecutive win, an 85-61 victory over East Coweta (Sharpsburg). Three games remain in regular season play before their quest for the program's first state championship begins.
Record: 20-4 | Last week: 22
Took a pair over No. 19 Long Island Lutheran at the
Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament, winning 66-60 and 70-58. The
Panthers fell to No. 3 Calvary Christian
Academy in the event semifinals as five-star Kansas signee
Ernest Udeh Jr. was named to the all-tournament team.
Record: 11-3 | Last week: 18
Rebounded from three consecutive losses with an 84-62 victory over Bishop Ireton. A highly anticipated WCAC battle with No. 15 St. Paul VI was postponed due to inclement weather, but a busy week waits with three conference opponents on the slate beginning with St. John's (Washington, D.C.) on Tuesday.
Record: 12-4 | Last week: 13
The Crusaders dropped a pair to No. 17 Dr. Phillips, but bounced back with a 92-74 win over Kimball (Dallas) at the Montverde Academy Invitational. Junior three-star prospect
Jayden Reid was named to the all-tournament team, scoring a game-high 30 points in the win.
Record: 13-4
| Last week: 20
A strong national resume includes quality wins over Roman Catholic (Philadelphia), Mount St. Joseph (Baltimore), Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia), Vashon (St. Louis), No. 21 St. Frances Academy and National Top 20 No. 20 DME Academy (Daytona Beach, Fla.).
Record: 22-3 | Last week: 21
The Panthers remain undefeated in league play after a 69-62 victory over Goretti (Hagerstown, Md.). Three-star senior
Bryce Lindsay committed to South Carolina over the weekend.
Record: 15-3 | Last week: NR
Return to the rankings thanks to a 67-56 win over previous No. 6 Cardinal Hayes, avenging an early-season loss. Junior forward
Isaiah Alexander (20), senior guard
Samuel Gibbs (14) and standout freshman
Danny Carbuccia (14) led the Crusaders in the win.
Record: 25-3 | Last week: 23
Houston signee
Terrance Arceneaux (22), four-star junior
Wesley Yates III (19) and junior forward
Trealyn Porchia (16) placed the 76-57 win over Crosby. The Timberwolves have four regular-season games remaining before their quest to repeat as UIL Class 5A state champions begins.
Record: 26-3 | Last week: 24
Rallied from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to escape with a 65-63 victory over Mansfield Legacy (Mansfield) behind a 23-6 run to end the contest. Senior guard
Donovan O'Day scored a game-high 24 points, including the game-winner with 11 seconds remaining.
Record: 20-1 | Last week: NR
Top-ranked team out of the Bluegrass State makes its debut after reeling off 14 consecutive victories. The Cardinals defeated Great Crossing (Georgetown) 70-61 on Sunday behind a game-high 16 points from juniors
Jerone Morton and
Ty Maxwell. Morton recently surpassed 1,600 career points.
Prior to the 2021-22 season, MaxPreps adopted a split approach to
the rankings. The MaxPreps Top 25 is a measure of public and private
schools belonging to recognized governing bodies that compete for state
championships. The National Top 20 encompasses a broad spectrum of
sub-collegiate programs that in most cases are not full members of
state-level governing bodies and do not compete for state championships.
