The big game of the week matched New Jersey powers Shabazz and Neptune at the Prudential Center in Newark Saturday – and despite shaky shooting from both sides (which often happens in big arenas), Shabazz led tip-to-horn to claim a 62-47 win and jump from 19th to 10th in the Xcellent 25.
It didn't hurt that Neptune star Syessence Davis picked up three fouls in the first three minutes of the game, at which point Shabazz was en route to a 10-2 lead it never lost. The Scarlet Fliers got within six a couple times, but the Bulldogs never panicked.
Speaking of never panicking, Neptune turned around and outlasted regional power Trenton Catholic 47-44 Sunday, showing the resilience that could put the Scarlet Fliers in position to avenge the loss to Shabazz in New Jersey's postseason.
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It's pretty clear why Neptune dropped from No. 9 to No. 19 but Konawaena of Hawaii keeps dropping (now at No. 25) despite continuing to win – which is a perfect illustration of how the rankings work.
Konawaena has a couple of top-shelf players but obviously it's tough for the Wildcats to do much traveling. Instead, they rely on the Iolani Invitational to give them national exposure. Konawaena started that event by beating then-ranked Incarnate Word of Missouri 52-45, and followed with a loss to No. 1 Brea-Olinda, 69-45. In the third-place game, the Wildcats knocked off one of Northern California's top programs, Archbishop Mitty, 46-42.
Since then, though, Incarnate Word has hit some bumps in the road, losing to three Missouri teams: Webb City (knocking on the door of the Xcellent 25, but not quite in yet), Blue Springs and most recently, St. Joseph's Academy (in front of 2,300 fans, with 400 more being turned away at the door).
At the same time, Mitty, now 13-6, has lost to some quality Northern California teams and has been upset by a 9-9 league rival.
Each one of those losses hurts Konawaena, which needs the intersectional teams it beat to do well to maintain its place in Xcellent 25. When those teams lose, Konawaena drops, especially because its Hawaiian competition isn't all that good this year. Even so, if the Wildcats win out in Hawaii (the state tournament is this weekend), they'll still hang on to No. 25 – after all a season with a state title and a loss only to the No. 1 team in the nation can't be considered a bad one.
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And with postseason tournaments about to kick in, look for a lot more movement in the Xcellent 25 in the coming weeks. Though the California playoffs don't begin until late February, recall that Brea, Long Beach Poly and Mater Dei are all Division I, and only one of those three teams could possibly play in the state title game.
It will truly the be the last one standing, as there's a possibility they could all play each other twice before the deciding game on March 19 – and after that, the Northern California survivor will await on March 26.
Between now and then, though, a lot of other states will decide their champions, and it would be a safe bet that several teams now comfortably ensconced in the Xcellent 25 will be upset, figuratively and literally, before the issue in California is settled.
1. (1)
Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.) 20-0
2. (2)
Long Beach Poly (Calif.) 18-2
3. (3)
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 19-1
4. (4)
Bolingbrook (Ill.) 17-2
5. (5)
Spring Valley (Columbia, S.C.) 20-0
6. (6)
Lake Taylor (Norfolk, Va.) 19-0
7. (7)
St. John's (Washington, D.C.) 20-0
8. (8)
Ben Davis (Indianapolis) 20-0
9. (10)
Potter's House Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.) 24-1
10. (19)
Shabazz (Newark, N.J.) 15-0
11. (11)
Princess Anne (Virginia Beach, Va.) 16-1
12. (12)
Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 22-0
13. (13)
Heights (Wichita, Kan.) 13-0
14. (14)
Inkster (Mich.) 13-0
15. (15)
Midwest City (Okla.) 17-0
16. (17)
Twinsburg (Ohio) 15-0
17. (18)
North Little Rock (Ark.) 19-0
18. (20)
Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) 17-0
19. (9)
Neptune (N.J.) 11-1
20. (21)
Archbishop Spalding (Severn, Md.) 18-2
21. (22)
Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) 20-1
22. (23)
Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 21-4
23. (25)
Butler (Matthews, N.C.) 19-0
24. (nr)
Nazareth (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 16-2
25. (24)
Konawaena (Kealakekua, Hawaii) 27-1
Dropped out: No. 16 Troy (Fullerton, Calif.)
