Video: Top 25 girls high school basketball rankings La Jolla Country Day remains No. 1 as no teams drops from rankings.
Though there are always some critical games every week, some weeks are bigger than others — and this isn't one of them.
School is back in session, and most of the elite teams spent a lot of time on the road over the holidays, so the coaches and players need to catch their breath and get back into their normal routines. And of course, league play begins in most parts of the country, which cuts into opportunities for teams to schedule games against out-of-state opponents.
So the result is a week of relatively tame competition — though there are some major matchups — before the big events over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. That extra day off is opportunity for a lot of teams to hit the road again, and there are shootouts and classics and one-day events all over the country.
But for one cycle, at least, don't expect too much change in the Top 25. And in fact, a lot has already been sorted out, as the majority of critical intersectional games happen over the holidays, and it's hard for a team that lost a big game to a ranked team from 1,000 miles away to do something impressive enough to overcome that defeat.
Still, there's a long way to go, and injuries, illness and other factors are sure to make their presence felt before the final rankings are decided. But for this week, at least, the pressure has been ratcheted down a notch.
MaxPreps Top 25 national high school girls basketball rankings
Amina Muhammad, DeSoto
Photo by Michael Horbovetz
La Jolla Country Day cemented the top spot – for this week, at least — by thumping once-ranked Centennial of Nevada, 70-42. And though San Diego teams shouldn't present much of a challenge, a trip to Northern California over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend will.
Hamilton Heights doesn't play in a league, or in Tennessee's postseason, so Saturday's game against 14-2 Arlington will be a way to see how the private school stacks up against in-state competition.
Ryle may be only 6-5, but injuries and a tough schedule have led to those losses. So not only will Mount Notre Dame face a healthy team that was ranked No. 21 in preseason, but will do so on the road.
South Shore's only test so far was a trip to Nevada (instead of the Nike TOC), but No. 11 St. Frances shows up on the schedule Saturday — in Maryland.
Hopkins summarily disposed of Wisconsin's best, Aquinas, this past weekend, and now can go back into hibernation until Jan. 21, when Wayzata comes to Minnetonka.
Long Island Lutheran continues to rise, thanks in big part to a 64-53 win over previous No. 3 Paul VI. The next serious opposition won't come until Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
Mater Dei, like La Jolla Country Day, beat Centennial, but only by six. And unlike a lot of ranked teams, there's nothing special on the schedule for a while.
Sierra Canyon lost to Mater Dei by one, but with an upcoming date against No. 19 Long Beach Poly (Jan. 18) could move past their Southern Section rivals in the rankings — and more important, in the postseason seedings.
The Panthers will be in cruise control, as the best in Texas doesn't play a team with a winning record until Jan. 21.
Thanks to a 62-46 win over previous No. 3 Paul VI — and an impressive 76-60 win over strong Trenton Catholic — Bishop McNamara makes the biggest jump of the week.
St. Frances has a loss to No. 18 Riverdale Baptist, but that's offset by several very good wins. And the defeat could be erased completely with a victory over No. 4 South Shore on Saturday.
Here's a rule that's made to be broken: Michigan teams are not allowed to play teams from distant states. Fine. But Edison was set to go to Chicago to play nearby teams it was allowed to play. However, Georgia teams were involved in the same event, and the mere presence of teams from Georgia made Michigan officials prevent Edison from participating, even though there would have been no contact at all with the Southern schools. Go figure …
DeSoto makes the trip to Mansfield on Friday, and that will be a challenge. So will a rematch with South Grande Prairie on Jan. 21.
Southeast Raleigh settles into North Carolina competition the rest of the way, which sadly doesn't seem to be at the same level as Southeast Raleigh. The trip to Millbrook Jan. 16, though, won't be a gimme.
Ensworth and No. 2 Hamilton Heights will not play this year, so the comparative results against Arlington — which Ensworth plays Tuesday — may help clarify which is the Volunteer State's best team.
It was not a good week for previously unbeaten Paul VI, losing to new No. 6 Long Island Lutheran and new No. 10 Bishop McNamara. Then again, it's a credit to PVI that the wins boosted both those teams that high in the rankings.
Since Westlake lost to Paul VI, when Paul VI goes down, so does Westlake. A trip to Nevada this weekend to play Centennial is now critical, as Westlake doesn't have a chance for many more quality wins.
Riverdale Baptist, like No. 19 Long Beach Poly is perplexing. There are good wins, most notably against No. 11 St. Frances, and bad losses, such as the one against Pallotti. The margin for error is now razor thin.
Long Beach Poly's loss to No. 18 Riverdale Baptist slots the SoCal power behind one of the DMV's best, but the win over Centennial almost tipped the scales. Poly has a couple of tough league games upcoming but otherwise will wait for the Southern Section playoffs to be challenged.
Lovejoy lost to Westlake and doesn't have a signature win, which means two things: Lovejoy now wants Westlake to keep winning, and must also get past 18-1 Hoover on Jan. 20.
Wayne solidified this ranking with a five-point win over a good Newark team, but the road now smooths for a couple weeks. Ohio is always dangerous, though — there are a lot of good teams.
Sacred Heart Cathedral shouldn't look past the trip to Owensburg Catholic this week, even though the Jan. 17 Ryle game will likely decide the top spot in Kentucky.
Eastern, Oak Hill and Harrison are all quality Indiana teams, and Northwestern can't afford to let up against any of them. And after that three-game stretch comes Northwestern's only game against an out-of-state team, against once-beaten Maine West.
The 47-40 win over St. Thomas Aquinas was definitely a good one, but down here toward the bottom of the Top 25, any errors are punished — and Montverde on Wednesday could be a bad-hop ground ball.
Jefferson City moves into a tournament this week, but it appears that there's nothing in the Show Me State that Jefferson City hasn't seen before. Still, any stumble will result in expulsion.
Dropped out: None.
