Video: St. Mary's wins Nike TOCThis was supposed to be a quiet week, especially with snow blanketing the Northeast and forcing the cancellation of a lot more than just girls basketball games — but as it turned out, three ranked teams lost to unranked teams, and thus disappeared from the Xcellent 25.
That allowed us to welcome in new arrivals from Tennessee (Memphis Central), New Jersey (Rutgers Prep) and Texas (Mansfield Timberview), who will now discover what it’s like to have a target saying "nationally ranked" on the back of their jerseys when they take the floor each night.
But that comes with the territory — and as the old saying goes, it's easier to get there than it is to stay there, which is what makes our top eight teams special. They've been highly ranked most of the year, and have yet to blink, though as Montini, Riverdale and Homestead discovered, just a little lost focus can be enough to put a school next to the "Dropped Out" line at the bottom of the Xcellent 25.
Note: The rankings are more accurate when all the results are on MaxPreps, so we encourage everyone to make sure their schedules and scores are up to date. If you have any issues, contact MaxPreps Coach Support at support@maxpreps.com, and you'll be taken care of.
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Girls Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
Highlands Ranch moved up four spots in this week's rankings.
Photo by Paul DiSalvo
St. Mary's travels to crosstown rival Lincoln Thursday, and Lincoln is 15-4. Still, rivalry or not, Lincoln is a prohibitive underdog.
2. (2) Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 22-1
Even though the game against Pennsylvania power Cumberland Valley was snowed out (no reschedule date as yet), the beat goes on for Riverdale Baptist: Christ the King is on deck Friday in New York City.
3. (3) Duncanville (Texas) 29-0
South Grand Prairie and Cedar Hill are on tap in the coming week, and the South Grand Prairie game Friday is on the road. Cedar Hill and Joyner Holmes, though, are coming to Duncanville.
4. (4) Centennial (Las Vegas) 20-1
Canyon Springs has only three losses, but Centennial's Friday opponent doesn't look to have nearly enough firepower to challenge No. 4 in the nation. Potential postseason matchups against Bishop Manogue and Bishop Gorman will be a different story.
5. (5) National Christian Academy (Fort Washington, Md.) 20-0
After getting snowed out this past weekend, National Christian should have even more energy stored up for the Feb. 5 game against No. 2 Riverdale Baptist — which, it should be noted, will be played at National Christian.
6. (6) Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) 15-0
Neumann-Goretti is just marking time until the AA playoffs. Minersville and Bishop McCort are both unbeaten and could pose a postseason challenge.
7. (7) Miramonte (Orinda, Calif.) 17-0
Miramonte survived finals, but has two rivalry games and a reasonably tough non-league game in the next week. But still, looking ahead to No. 1 St. Mary's and No. 15 Archbishop Mitty in postseason play is pretty hard to avoid.
8. (8) Forestville (Md.) 13-1
It should be smooth sailing this week, but the schedule will toughen up the week after. Not only is No. 2 Riverdale Baptist looming, but so are the strongest league opponents.
9. (9) North Shore (Houston) 28-1
North Shore's offense has suddenly found a higher gear: Since Jan. 2, the lowest winning score has been 78, and Tuesday, North Shore hung 106 on West Brook, which was 44 more than the first time they met.
10. (11) Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 20-2
Blackman once again got a superb performance from UConn-bound
Crystal Dangerfield (33 points) and extended its in-state win streak to 62 games by beating then No. 13 Riverdale at Riverdale. Friday, though, Blackman draws Stewart's Creek, the team that knocked Riverdale out of the Xcellent 25.
11. (12) St. Francis (Alpharetta, Ga.) 21-1
The big game against Collins Hill was snowed out — which doesn't take a lot of snow near Atlanta — and was rescheduled for Feb. 3. That may be the toughest game left on the St. Francis schedule, including postseason.
12. (14) Cicero-North Syracuse (Cicero, N.Y.) 14-0
There was real snow in New York, so Cicero North will be making up games this week — and sometimes fatigue and couple bad breaks can lead to a depressing loss.
13. (15) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) 13-3
Mitty coach Sue Phillips recorded her 600th win last week, which is just part of a 24-year legacy that includes six state titles and 11 Northern California championships. She's also coached USA Basketball teams to international gold medals.
14. (16) Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) 19-1
Paul VI also dealt with snow, but it will take another monster blizzard to postpone the Feb. 5 meeting against Our Lady of Good Counsel, which gave PVI its only loss on Jan. 7 — and the rematch is at Paul VI.
15. (17) Bellevue (Wash.) 17-0
Bellevue's last regular season game will be Feb. 5, at Mercer Island, but the game folks are looking forward to is the hoped-for faceoff against No. 17 Lynnwood in postseason.
16. (20) Highlands Ranch (Colo.) 16-1
Highlands Ranch passed the ThunderRidge test, winning 46-37, but still has Mountain Vista (Friday) and Regis Jesuit (Feb. 5) to deal with before postseason begins.
17. (18) Lynnwood (Bothell, Wash.) 15-0
Lynnwood lacks a signature win that would elevate it above No. 15 Bellevue — but, barring an upset, there will be a head-to-head meeting in the 3A playoffs that should settle matters.
18. (19) Central (Little Rock, Ark.) 17-0
Central will earn its keep this coming week, with a home game against talented North Little Rock Friday, and a road encounter with West Memphis next Tuesday. And both teams show up on the schedule again later in February.
19. (21) Villa Maria Academy (Erie, Pa.) 17-0
Villa Maria already beat Mercyhurst Prep by 18, but Thursday's rematch will be at Mercyhurst.
20. (24) St. John-Vianney (Holmdel, N.J.) 12-1
A nice 55-40 win over Rumson-Fair Haven vaults St. John Vianney to No. 20, but Lenape looms on Friday, which should be an even tougher test. As always, New Jersey has plenty of talent.
21. (22) Heritage (Saginaw, Mich.) 14-0
Heritage is just killing time until Michigan's postseason, which doesn't begin until March.
22. (23) Wenonah (Birmingham, Ala.) 24-0
Wenonah took care of business with an eight-point road win over Ramsay Tuesday, and next up is Shades Valley, which is just a shadow of the team that was nationally ranked a few years ago.
23. (NR) Memphis Central (Tenn.) 23-0
Memphis Central's stay could be brief, as it only beat Overton by three the first time around, and the two teams meet again Friday.
24. (NR) Rutgers Prep (Somerset, N.J.) 15-0
Like Memphis Central, Rutgers Prep's hopes of an extended stay in the Xcellent 25 will require a win over a tough opponent this week. Rutgers Prep draws Gill St. Bernard's on Thursday, at Gill St. Bernard's.
25. (NR) Mansfield Timberview (Arlington, Texas) 26-0
A third Texas team enters the Xcellent 25, and though Mansfield Timberview is a 5A school (No. 3 Duncanville and No. 9 North Shore are 6A), it does have a win over always tough Canyon.
Dropped out: No. 10 Montini, No. 13 Riverdale, No. 25 Homestead.
