Dominique Collier of Denver East earned MVP honors at the Great Western Shootout in Utah over the weekend.
File photo by Paul DiSalvo
The Aztecs were originally slated to appear in our preseason national rankings but were replaced when 6-9 forward
Connor MacDougall was denied eligibility after transferring. That decision was eventually reversed and Corona del Sol has rolled through the early part of its schedule.
22. (NR) Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.), 5-1After a lopsided early loss to No. 1 Montverde Academy, the Stallions gained a measure of redemption Saturday night by running away from then-No. 14 Arlington Country Day for a 93-74 win.
23. (21) Carlisle (Martinsville, Va.), 9-2Rarely does a two-loss team get a pass when it comes to the national rankings this early in the season, but both of Carlisle's losses came against No. 15 Oak Hill Academy by a combined total of seven points.
24. (NR) Denver East, 3-0Last year's big winner at the Great Western Shootout (Lone Peak) ended up being crowned national champ. After a 3-0 weekend at the same event this season, the Angels earn a spot in the X25. Senior guard
Dominique Collier earned MVP honors as East notched wins over American Fork (Utah), Orem (Utah) and Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.).
25. (17) Mentor (Ohio), 0-0Staying with the philosophy of not penalizing teams with late start dates, Mentor stays in despite some uncertainty surrounding the program. Several of the team's top players finished a long run with the Cardinal football team Saturday in a state championship game loss. Then a
bombshell dropped Thursday via Cleveland.com that head coach Bob Krizancic was mulling a job offer from Nike. Krizancic's son
Conner – a double figures scorer on the basketball court as a junior – threw for over 400 yards and ran for over 100 more in Ohio's Division I football title game and will continue on the gridiron at Cincinnati.
Dropped out: No. 4 last week
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), No. 6
Whitney Young (Chicago), No. 14
Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, Fla.), No. 16
Northland (Columbus, Ohio), No. 18
Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.), No. 24
Huntington St. Joseph Prep (Huntington, W.Va.)Tough to leave out: Arsenal Technical (Indianapolis),
Callaway (Jackson, Miss.),
Milford Mill Academy (Baltimore),
Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia),
Simeon (Chicago). Arsenal Tech pulled off an impressive doubleheader Saturday at the Marshall County Hoopfest by beating Kentucky state title contender
Ballard (Louisville) and Huntington St. Joseph Prep. But the Titans also have a loss to
Bowman Academy (Gary, Ind.), which perhaps deserves a nod here too.
