Final MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Girls Basketball Rankings

The difference between "the best in the nation" and "one of the best in the nation" is a small one, and more a distinction than a difference.

By picking apart the schedules, and making some value judgments that might not be shared by others, St. Mary's finishes the season as the No. 1 team in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Girls Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard. What that means, really, is that the school can put a banner up in the gym, and the players and coaches can look back on a tremendous accomplishment and a wonderful season.

Of course, Whitney Young and McEachern can both do the same, though they will only have the only banner they will hang will be for their state championships. But fans, players and coaches can always claim that they were the real No. 1.

Then again, so can a lot of unbeaten state champions, from South Medford to Heights to Goodrich to Edmond Santa Fe to Lafayette of Louisiana. They all had great seasons, never-to-be-forgotten seasons, and whether or not they were No. 1 or No. 19 or not even in the Xcellent 25, they still can justifiably claim to be "one of the best teams in the nation."

And you know, that's not half bad.

MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Girls Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard

1. (1) St. Mary's (Phoenix) (30-0)
The Knights never left the state of Arizona, but they did beat more ranked teams than Whitney Young and McEachern. And that was the only way to choose between the three.

2. (2) Whitney Young (Chicago) (34-0)
We like the Dolphins, you like the Indians. Does that the fact that Whitney Young had one more win sound like a convincing argument? We thought so.

3. (3) McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) (33-0)
Came out of nowhere, really, and climbed the rankings ladder by doing what great teams do: Playing other elite teams and beating them. An extraordinary season by any measure.

4. (4) Duncanville (Texas) (39-1)
Texas proponents don't think teams like Duncanville need to go outside the Lone Star State, or play anyone outside the Lone Star state, to prove they're the best in the nation. Those proponents might be guilty of arrogance.

5. (5) Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) (38-2)
Despite the absence of Jonquel Jones, Riverdale got some big plays from Jennie Sims and won the ESPN National High School Invitational by beating Dr. Phillips -- and there's plenty of firepower back for next year.

6. (6) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) (34-3)
It was supposed to be a down year, but the arrival of senior transfer Nirra Fields helped the Monarchs win their third-straight state title.

7. (7) Bolingbrook (Ill.) (26-2)
The Raiders' great run looks to have ended as a horde of talented seniors -- including UConn-bound Morgan Tuck -- graduate.

8. (8) Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) (34-3)
It was a very good year in Tennessee -- which is saying something -- and Riverdale was the best of the bunch.

9. (9) La Jolla Country Day (Calif.) (33-1)
The Torreys played in California's Division IV (Division I is the largest) and the second division of the Nike TOC, through no choice of their own in either case. It would have been fun to see this undersized, skilled and intense team play at a higher level.

10. (10) Cicero-North Syracuse (Cicero, N.Y.) (21-3)
Unlike many male and female high school athletes, Breanna Stewart stayed home and played at the public school where she lived. It was good to see her, and her teammates, rewarded for that choice.

11. (12) DuPont Manual (Louisville, Ky.) (37-2)
Like Tennessee, it was a pretty good year in Kentucky, and duPont Manual outlasted Marion County to earn this ranking.

12. (13) Hoover (Ala.) (31-3)
The Buccaneers play a tough schedule, and picked up a couple nice intersectional wins. And they beat Bob Jones, Alabama's other top team, twice.

13. (14) Twinsburg (Ohio) (25-3)
A couple losses to very good teams kept Twinsburg out of the Xcellent 25 for a while, but winning the Ohio title against a strong field helped it finish at No. 13.

14. (15) MacArthur (Irving, Texas) (35-3)
A Texas team that did travel, the Cardinals went 2-2 at the Nike TOC in Phoenix -- the tournament St. Mary's won. And then MacArthur lost to Duncanville by seven in the Texas playoffs.

15. (16) South Medford (Ore.) (30-0)
Six-foot-5 Tess Picknell was the centerpiece on a South Medford team that, like several others in the Xcellent 25, won a championship in a state with more than a few quality programs.

16. (17) Dr. Phillips (Orlando, Fla.) (29-3)
The Panthers got by H. D. Woodson, which was coming off a win over previously No. 11 Our Lady of Good Counsel, in the NHSI. But Riverdale Baptist was just too tough -- especially with post Hannah Schaible not in uniform.

17. (18) Science Hill (Johnson City, Tenn.) (38-1)
The only loss came to Riverdale in the state championship, and beating very talented Clarksville in the postseason earned the Hilltoppers this spot.

18. (19) Heights (Wichita, Kan.) (25-0)
It was supposed to be a down year in Wichita, but Heights collected a very nice intersectional win over Rock Bridge and then won yet another Kansas state title.

19. (20) Goodrich (Mich.) (28-0)
Goodrich is here because of the win over Detroit Country Day in the Michigan Class B playoffs -- and DCD had enough wins in Ohio to be considered one of the Midwest's best.

20. (21) Edmond Santa Fe (Edmond, Okla.) (28-0)
Another team that didn't leave its home state, and in fact played a crosstown rival for the Oklahoma championship, Edmond Santa Fe had just enough heft in the schedule to get ranked at No. 20.

21. (22) Oakton (Vienna, Va.) (31-0)
Even though the DMV (District of Columbia/Maryland/Virginia) didn't get represented in the final rankings as much as many might have expected, there were still a host of extremely good teams. Oakton, in part due to not playing many of the others, was the only one to go unbeaten.

22. (23) Seton LaSalle (Pittsburgh) (32-0)
It would have been interesting to have matched Seton LaSalle, the AA champ, with Archbishop Carroll, the AAAA champ -- but it never happened. Neither team had a big win, but the Rebels never lost.

23. (24) Reynoldsburg (Ohio) (26-1)
As mentioned, Ohio was tough this season, and Reynoldsburg lost only to Twinsburg, the state champion.

24. (11) Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) (30-5)
The season-ending loss to H.D. Woodson means that Good Counsel beat one ranked team (Dr. Phillips) and lost to two unranked teams (Woodson and St. John's). But the three wins over St. John's offset that loss, and so the Falcons stay in the Xcellent 25.

25. (25) Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) (31-1)
Except for the loss to Wayzata, a team the Royals beat twice, Hopkins might have pushed its way into the Top 10. Still, No. 25 is nothing be ashamed of.

Dropped out: None.