For some coaches, it's all about No. 1 — that is, finishing with the No. 1 ranking. The schedule is carefully crafted to include just enough elite tournaments and special events to move up the rankings, and then plenty of games that a top 10 team has no chance to lose.
Tamika Dudley is not one of those coaches. Dudley and Sidwell Friends took on all-comers and in the end finished as the unbeaten MaxPreps National Champions after topping the final 2021-22 MaxPreps Top 25 high school girls basketball rankings.
If someone called for Dudley to come play a top team, Sidwell Friends started booking flights.
Go to Minnesota to play Hopkins in the Royals' home state? The Quakers were there. Get two of New York's best on a neutral court? Done. How about a Sunday game against an unbeaten, top five team from New Jersey? Pick the time.
And after rolling through the regular season with a 28-0 record, Dudley and the Quakers could have said "Enough," packed up the gear and basked in the glow of the top ranking.
But no – the inaugural State Champions Invitational came calling, and so Sidwell Friends, with nothing to gain and a lot to lose, headed for Florida for a season-ending tournament with perennial Nevada power Centennial as as well as two ranked teams, No. 15 Lake Highland Prep and No. 17 Woodward Academy.
For those rooting for the underdog, it wasn't much of a weekend, as Sidwell crushed Centennial and brushed off Lake Highland Prep — which had just beaten Woodward Academy by 24.
So there's no doubt which team is No. 1 in the nation this year, and no doubt that the 30-0 Quakers took on every challenger. After all, they beat the No. 2 team in the country not once, but twice, handing DeSoto its only two defeats of the season.
Congrats to Tamika Dudley and her well-coached, talented, motivated and skilled team. They're the best in the nation in 2021-22, and they may be one of the best of all time — after all, it's hard to find another undefeated national champion who challenged themselves more than the Quakers did this year.
Record: 30-0 |
Last week: 1
2. DeSoto (Texas)
Record: 35-2 |
Last week: 2
3. Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)
Record: 30-2 |
Last week: 3
4. St. John-Vianney (Holmdel, N.J.)
Record: 32-1 |
Last week: 4
5. Etiwanda (Calif.)
Record: 29-1 |
Last week: 5
6. Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.)
Record: 26-1 |
Last week: 6
7. Classen SAS (Oklahoma City)
Record: 24-1 |
Last week: 7
8. Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)
Record: 20-3 |
Last week: 12
9. La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla, Calif.)
Record: 25-3 |
Last week: 9
10. Incarnate Word Academy (St. Louis)
Record: 29-0 |
Last week: 10
11. Cedar Park (Texas)
Record: 37-0 |
Last week: 11
12. New Hope Academy (Landover Hills, Md.)
Record: 28-3 |
Last week: 8
13. Hazel Green (Ala.)
Record: 35-0 |
Last week: 13
14. DME Academy (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Record: 23-4 |
Last week: 14
15. Lake Highland Prep (Orlando, Fla.)
Record: 26-5 |
Last week: 15
16. Johnston (Iowa)
Record: 26-0 |
Last week: 16
17. Woodward Academy (College Park, Ga.)
Record: 29-3 |
Last week: 17
18. Hoover (Ala.)
Record: 34-3 |
Last week: 18
19. Duncanville (Texas)
Record: 34-7 |
Last week: 19
20. Conway (Ark.)
Record: 29-2 |
Last week: 20
21. Garfield (Seattle)
Record: 20-0 |
Last week: 21
22. Lone Peak (Highland, Utah)
Record: 23-0 |
Last week: 22
23. Plymouth Whitemarsh (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.)
Record: 34-0 |
Last week: 23
24. Ensworth (Nashville, Tenn.)
Record: 24-4 |
Last week: 24
25. West Bloomfield (West Bloomfield, Mich.)
Record: 25-1 |
Last week: 25
