MaxPreps Top 25 national high school girls basketball rankings

Video: Xcellent 25 Girls Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard

As someone commented recently after talking about the Xcellent 25, "These rankings are a lot more complicated than I thought" -- but sometimes things do fall into place.

This week, for example, Blackman beat previous No. 10 Riverdale in a crosstown battle. Blackman had lost to National Christian Academy earlier in the year, and National Christian is unbeaten. So the dominoes fell: National Christian moves into the rankings, ahead of Blackman of course, and Blackman is ahead of Riverdale.

If only it were always so clear cut.

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 coachsupport@maxpreps.com, and you'll be taken care of.


1. (1 last week) St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.), 4-0
As befits the No. 1 team, the Rams rolled through the Nike Central Valley Showdown at Clovis West, dominating some quality opposition. A couple more tough California games are on tap before the Nike TOC.

2. (2) Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.), 5-0
Riverdale Baptist will play one of the toughest schedules in the country when all is said and done. For the moment, though, the next big test is McEachern, a strong Georgia program, on Friday.

3. (4) Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), 4-0
There's tons of talent in the DMV, as always, and right now, Paul VI is the pick of the litter. McEachern and one of Florida's best, Miami Country Day, are on tap this weekend.

4. (5) Centennial (Las Vegas), 3-0
Centennial's biggest -- and perhaps only -- test will be at the Nike TOC, which begins Dec. 18. Until then, count the blowouts.

5. (7) Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.), 4-0
Southern California is usually a minefield of quality teams that no one knows about. Chaminade, for example, plays Serra this week, which is 6-1, and Serra is a team that won't be intimidated by a national ranking.

6. (6) St. Francis (Alpharetta, Ga.), 7-0
Despite missing one key piece due to injury, St. Francis remains unbeaten -- but it took overtime to get past Buford Tuesday night.

7. (8) Duncanville (Texas), 14-0
After jumping off to the usual quick start, Duncanville takes a break. Then again, Duncanville has already played 14 games, which is more than half the regular season in some states.

8. (9) Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia), 2-0
Neumann-Goretti may not have the size it did in the past, but there's still plenty of talent. Expect some challenge at the Beast of the East this weekend but also expect Neumann-Goretti to be right here next week.

9. (11) Konawaena (Kealakekua, Hawaii), 6-0
Konawaena will get something of a test at the Iolani Classic, as traditional powers Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) and South Medford (Ore.) are in the field.

10. (12) Lakota West (West Chester, Ohio), 4-0
Lakota West handled Mason earlier this season, and then Mason jumped on Solon, a strong Ohio team -- so it's pretty clear which of the three is the class of the state so far.

11. (14) Cumberland Valley (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), 1-0
Cumberland Valley rolled to an easy win in its first game Tuesday, but tougher tests await.

12. (NR) National Christian Academy (Fort Washington, Md.), 5-0
That five-point win over Blackman at first seemed like just a good result -- but when Blackman knocked off then-No. 10 Riverdale, it vaulted National Christian into the top 15.

13. (15) Miramonte (Orinda, Calif.), 3-0
The Matadors had little trouble with relatively strong Bay Area opposition last weekend, but face defending Division I (largest schools) champion McClatchy (Sacramento) Saturday.

14. (NR) North Shore (Houston), 15-1
Texas is loaded, and North Shore is the best in Houston -- so far. The only loss is to Duncanville, one of the top teams in the country.

15. (NR) Homestead (Fort Wayne, Ind.), 6-0
Homestead looks to be Indiana's best, and notched a nice intersectional win by beating Whitney Young (Chicago) 74-62 in Illinois. Karissa McLaughlin had a pretty nice game in that one: 36 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.

16. (16) Princess Anne (Virginia Beach, Va.), 2-0
Princess Anne will play only a few games that will be a test -- and none of them will be this coming week.

17. (17) St. John-Vianney (Holmdel, N.J.), 0-0
New Jersey teams aren't allowed to play until mid-December, so St. John-Vianney's spot in the Xcellent 25 is safe for a while.

18. (NR) Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), 5-1
Crystal Dangerfield is one of the top point guards in the country, if not the best, and she proved her worth in Blackman's 51-48 win over crosstown rival Riverdale.

19. (19) Lynnwood (Bothell, Wash.), 3-0
Lynnwood looks to be the best in Washington, but so far has not to do much but show up to win.

20. (20) Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.), 4-0
Out of the many quality teams in the DMV, Our Lady of Good Counsel is ahead of all but Paul VI thanks to its unbeaten record and its upcoming trip to the Nike TOC.

21. (21) Montini (Lombard, Ill.), 7-0
Six easy games and a two-point win over tough Trinity keep Montini in the Xcellent 25. Mother McAuley and Bolingbrook should provide some opposition this week.

22. (10) Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), 7-1
Riverdale will have plenty of chances to avenge that loss to Blackman, but this week will have to content itself with getting back on track against an in-state team and Owensboro Catholic of Kentucky.

23. (23) Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.), 4-0
Hopkins will lurk at the bottom of the Xcellent 25 because it's simply very hard to measure how good a team is if it can't play out-of-state competition.

24. (25) Parkway North (St. Louis), 5-0
Another quality team with a schedule that may not reveal how strong it actually is, Parkway North should post a couple of big wins this week.

25. (NR) Detroit Country Day (Beverly Hills, Mich.), 3-0
Detroit Country Day had to come from behind to beat Midland Dow, and takes on Rogers of Toledo this weekend, so it's not an easy road for the traditional Michigan power.

Dropped out: No. 3 Christ the King; No. 13 Whitney Young; No. 18 Lawrence North; No. 22 Southfield-Lathrup; No. 24 South Grand Prairie.