At 42-0, Texas 5A champion Duncanville certainly made its case for the No. 1 ranking, but narrowly missed out in favor of Tennessee power Riverdale.
Photo by Jim Redman
All that's left on the schedule is the ESPN National High School Invitational April 4-6, which will have four girls teams, including two teams in the Xcellent 25 (No. 12 Archbishop Spalding and No. 23 Dr. Phillips) and two knocking at the door (Life Center Academy of New Jersey and Dillard).
View the updated list of girls basketball state championsAlso knocking on the door is St. Mary's of Stockton, which dropped out last week despite very good credentials. The Rams, who beat No. 13 Central Catholic, are the fourth-best team in California, and so the question is this: Is the fourth best team in California better than the best team in Oregon? Or the best team in Illinois?
View the girls basketball state playoff bracketsIt's not an easy call, especially as the elite teams in California are very good this year, just as they are in the DMV. Maybe the NHSI results will allow St. Mary's to slide back in, or Life Center to stake a claim. Then again, maybe not ...
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Girls Basketball Rankings Presented by the Army National Guard*1. (Last week 1) Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 35-0Tennessee was very good this year too, and Riverdale did not have an easy road to the state title.
*2. (2) Duncanville (Texas) 42-0Texas will claim that Texas was the best — debatable. No debating this: no team in the land went 42-0.
3. (4) St. John's (Washington, D.C.) 33-1Night in and night out, the DMV (District of Columbia/Maryland/Virginia) was the toughest in the nation.
*4. (5) Fairmont (Kettering, Ohio) 27-1Ohio had three teams ranked for a while, despite a limited out-of-state schedule.
*5. (6) Marion County (Lebanon, Ky.) 39-0Maybe Kentucky will be better next year — but unfortunately Marion County loses most of its firepower.
