Another week, another pair of undefeated teams with national championship hopes fall.
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) received 31 points from superstar junior Shabazz Muhammad to knock off then-No. 4 Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) 58-53 Saturday night at the Nike Extravaganza [STORY].
The Jackrabbits entered the contest 22-0. Poly's resume includes three December tournament victories. Head coach Sharrief Metoyer's team won't have time to sulk over the loss with the postseason on the horizon.
Shabazz Muhammad, Bishop Gorman
Photo by Louis Lopez
"Our goal is the state title, so this let's us know what we'll need to do in tough games," Poly senior guard Alexis Moore told MaxPreps.com's Mitch Stephens. "We just didn't make shots early. We rushed things. Maybe it was the big gym, the bright lights."
In Minnesota,
Eden Prairie stunned then-No. 6
Hopkins (Minnetonka) 75-71 to end a dominating 15-0 start for the Royals. Hopkins had won 38 games in a row dating back to last season.
Another big game from last week helped vault a familiar name into the top five.
Obscured by Wednesday's college football signing day hoopla,
Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) upended former No. 1
Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) in double overtime, 70-62.
Read on for this week's complete Xcellent 25.
Xcellent 25 High School Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
1. (No. 1 last week) St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) (18-0)The Celtics top the list for the fourth week in a row after a busy seven-day stretch. St. Patrick went 4-0, including a 56-43 Saturday win over
Linden.
Michael Gilchrist and
Derrick Gordon combined for 43 of the top-ranked team's 56 in that contest.
Newark Tech,
Plainfield and
Cranford had much less success keeping it close, losing by an average margin of 33 points per game.
2. (2) St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) (16-0)The big news of the week for the Friars was the big news in all of high school basketball as legendary head coach Bob Hurley won his 1,000th career game Wednesday with a 76-46 win over
St. Mary (Jersey City). St. Anthony nearly stumbled in bringing Hurley win No. 1,002, however, needing a late surge Sunday at the Hakeem Warrick Classic to get past
Friends' Central (Wynnewoode, Pa.) 59-49.
3. (3) Simeon (Chicago, Ill.) (20-0)The Wolverines overcame an energetic home crowd to defeat
Batavia 72-59 in their only action of the week. Sophomore
Jabari Parker pumped in 13 of his team-high 16 points in the first quarter.
4. (5) Milton (Ga.) (21-2)The Eagles continued to roll toward Georgia's Class AAAAA state tournament with a pair of lopsided victories last week. Milton blasted
North Forsyth 95-47 and
Alpharetta 92-38 to extend its win streak to 11 games.
5. (8) Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) (17-0)The Mustangs answered a lot of questions Wednesday with a 70-62 double-overtime win over Oak Hill Academy. Junior
Michael Carrera and Villanova-bound senior
Tyrone Johnson combined for 43 points as Montrose outscored Oak Hill 12-4 in the final extra period for the victory. The follow-up wasn't easy as
T.C. Williams (Alexandria, Va.) played Stu Vetter's squad to a near-standstill in a 44-42 Montrose win.
6. (9) Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas) (27-1)
Weather postponed a pair of games last week, which will force the Marauders to play five games in six days beginning Monday.
7. (10) Norcom (Portsmouth, Va.) (20-1)
Dorian Finney-Smith scored a team-high 20 points Tuesday during a 96-52 win over Lake Taylor (Norfolk). The future Virginia Tech Hokie followed Friday by pouring in 31 as the Greyhounds ran past Norview (Norfolk) 78-68.
8. (4) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) (22-1)
Bishop Gorman may be in the conversation for preseason No. 1 next season and was hungry for a statement win after falling short two weeks ago in double overtime against Findlay Prep. The loss may be good for the Jackrabbits if they can ratchet their game up another notch just in time for the postseason.
9. (7) Lincoln (San Diego, Calif.) (22-1)
The Hornets haven't played a game decided by single digits since Dec. 29, continuing their streak of domination last week with a 40-point win over University City (San Diego) and 16-point win over Mission Bay (San Diego).
10. (11) Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) (24-2)
The Pilots did not play last week. No. 5 Montrose Christian is up next Saturday at the PrimeTime Shootout in Union, N.J.
11. (12) Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.) (21-1)
The Wolverines went 3-0 on the week, including a 49-46 win over star junior William Goodwin and Region 6 Class AAAA foe Southwest DeKalb (Decatur). Miller Grove beat Southwest DeKalb by 32 in the teams' first meeting in early December.
12. (14) Wichita Heights (Wichita, Kan.) (15-0)
Heights remained unbeaten with easy wins over Wichita Southeast (86-68) and Kapaun Mt. Carmel (77-48). Perry Ellis scored 26 and Evan Wessel added 22 in the latter contest.
13. (15) Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) (21-0)
The Flyers found themselves down by 13 in the first half Saturday against Maplewood-Richmond Heights, but rallied behind Bradley Beal's 36 points to cruise to a 70-50 win.
14. (16) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) (22-2)
The Monarchs ended an eight-game win streak for Price (Los Angeles) Saturday night at the Nike Extravaganza. Juniors Xavier Johnson and Katin Reinhardt combined for 47 points in the 67-65 victory. Mater Dei thumped rival Servite (Anaheim) 85-43 earlier in the week.
15. (17) Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.) (24-0)
Marist (Chicago) pushed the Redwings hard for the second time in three weeks Saturday night, but Matt Parisi scored a team-high 19 points to spark a hard-fought 62-55 victory. Benet Academy overcame a little stall ball from St. Patrick (Chicago) the previous night in a 36-23 win.
16. (18) Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, Fla.) (18-1)
The Apaches played their first game since Jan. 22 on Wednesday, blowing out IMG Academies (Bradenton) 75-46. Three games remain on ACD's schedule, including a Feb. 19 showdown with Oak Hill Academy.
17. (20) Lakeview Centennial (Garland, Texas) (26-1)
Like Marcus, Centennial's schedule last week fell victim to the Dallas-Fort Worth weather that dominated the headlines in the run-up to the Super Bowl.
18. (13) Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) (22-3)
Two of Oak Hill's losses have come to top five teams, but national championship hopes have turned in to downright disappointment as a talented Warrior cast has lost three times in a little over three weeks.
19. (6) Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) (16-1)
The lack of a win over a nationally-ranked opponent sent the Royals tumbling much further than Long Beach Poly. Hopkins bounced back from the Eden Prairie by beating Wayzata (Plymouth) 71-54 Friday night.
20. (21) Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) (23-2)
The Panthers continue to drum opponents as they prepare for a title run in Florida 5A classification. Since losing to Dr. Krop (Miami) Jan. 8, Dwyer has gone 11-0 and won every game by 28 points or more.
21. (23) Linn-Mar (Marion, Iowa) (18-0)
The Lions allowed just 69 points in Friday-Saturday wins over Xavier (Cedar Rapids) and Iowa City, getting double figures from four players in the latter including a team-high 15 from Northern Iowa-bound senior guard Matt Bohannon.
22. (NR) Munster (Ind.) (15-0)
The Mustangs earned a spot in the Xcellent 25 by beating previously-unbeaten Merrillville 75-64 Saturday night behind 21 points from senior guard Brian Stolarz. The highly-anticipated showdown featured the top two teams in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association's poll. Munster will likely take over the top spot after beating the No. 1-ranked Pirates.
23. (24) Taft (Woodland Hills, Calif.) (21-2)
The Toreadors also participated in Saturday's Nike Extravaganza, beating NorCal power De La Salle (Concord) 49-42 in overtime. C.J. Blackwell and Spencer Dinwiddie both scored 16 in the win as Taft won its 11th-straight game.
24. (25) Kimball (Dallas, Texas) (25-2)
The Knights were yet another Dallas-area team sidelined by the weather.
25. (NR) Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) (20-5)
After taking Findlay Prep to double overtime two weeks ago and beating Long Beach Poly over the weekend, head coach Grant Rice's bunch is playing its best basketball just in time for the postseason. Two of the Gaels' other losses have come to Xcellent 25 teams – No. 1 St. Patrick and No. 20 Dwyer.
