MaxPreps Top 25 national high school girls basketball rankings

It's great year for California girls basketball, both north and south. But thanks to changes in the way playoffs are structured, the top teams are guaranteed to collide in postseason, and conceivably more than once.

California, of course, has a lot of high schools (about 1,200) and they used to be slotted into postseason brackets by enrollment. Thus it was possible, if not likely, that the top teams would not meet each other in the state playoffs. That was not only frustrating to those who wanted to see a true state champion, but also to schools that weren't among the nation's elite and thus had no real chance to win a state title.

But now the state has installed an Open Division once teams get out of section play (there are 10 sections), and some of the sections have started Open Divisions of their own, in which teams are simply placed in the top bracket, regardless of enrollment. So this year, No. 10 Long Beach Poly (approximately 4,800 students), No. 7 Mater Dei (approximately 2,100) and No. 8 Windward (approximately 400) are all in the Southern Section Open Division, and only one can emerge without another loss.

But, barring the unexpected, at least two of those teams will then wind up in the Southern California Regional Open Division, and will have to win that eight-team bracket to advance to the state Open Division game — which will likely feature No. 22 St. Mary's of Stockton, recently-ranked Bishop O'Dowd or any of a host of very good Northern California teams.

Then again, all of California is loaded — as Washington state's best team, Cleveland, found out at the Nike TOC in Phoenix. Cleveland, a 3A school that beat the top 4A team in the state, Lynnwood, by 10, lost to California schools Etiwanda and Carondelet at the TOC, and neither of those are quite at the level of the elite California teams.

It could be, in fact, that six or seven California teams deserve to be in the Xcellent 25 this year, but since they're all about to start beating each other up, only a few will survive to make the final rankings. It should be a great postseason, though.


1. (Last week 1) Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 27-1
Riverdale didn't make it to the District 7-AAA finals, losing to Oakland, but now Blackman will get Riverdale next Monday night in the semifinals of the Region 4-AAA playoffs. If you want a seat at Shelbyville High, get there early.

2. (2) Incarnate Word Academy (St. Louis) 22-1
It wasn't that long ago that Incarnate Word vs. St. Joseph Academy was a must-see Missouri game — but no more. IWA should have smooth sailing until the playoffs start.

3. (3) Duncanville (Texas) 29-0
To get to state, Duncanville must run a gantlet that includes Bowie (25-3), Carroll (29-4), Cypress Woods (30-5) and Clear Springs (30-5). In case you weren't counting counting, that's 114 wins against 17 losses.

4. (4) Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.) 20-2
Regis Jesuit disposed of ThunderRidge, and just has to face struggling Ponderosa before the Colorado postseason begins.

5. (5) Homewood-Flossmoor (Flossmoor, Ill.) 20-2
Homewood-Flossmoor was looking past Lincoln-Way East, and almost paid the price before surviving a 49-42 win. Playoffs begin Wednesday.

6. (6) New Hope Christian Academy (Thomasville, N.C.) 29-0
The NACA national championships should set up a game with Riverdale Baptist, which just rejoined the Xcellent 25 at No. 23 — but until then, it's just easy win after easy win for New Hope.

7. (7) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 24-1
Mater Dei, No. 8 Windward and No. 10 Long Beach Poly are on a collision course, but even with first-round byes, don't be surprised if one of the three gets upset by a relative unknown. This year, the talent in California is exceptional, though of course as the wheel turns, next year it will likely be gathered in some other state.

8. (8) Windward (Los Angeles) 22-2
Windward will either get Troy Feb. 26, a team Windward beat by just one, or Canyon Springs, which lost to No. 10 Long Beach Poly by four. Southern California is a jungle this year.

9. (9) Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) 22-0
Neumann-Goretti finally reached the top of the Pennsylvania AA state rankings, but to stay there — and in the Xcellent 25 top 10 — Neumann-Goretti will have to get past Bonner-Prendergast Thursday, a team it only beat by two on Jan. 28.

10. (10) Long Beach Poly (Calif.) 21-2
Like the other two SoCal teams, Poly gets a first-round bye in the Southern Section Open Division, but will draw either Lynwood (which beat Bishop O'Dowd, a team that's spent time in the Xcellent 25) or Chaminade, which the MaxPreps Computer Rankings list as No. 11 in the nation.

11. (11) Rock Bridge (Columbia, Mo.) 17-3
Rock Bridge will get ready for postseason by playing Miller Career Academy, one of Missouri's solid programs in recent years — and a team that gave No. 2 Incarnate Word a test just a couple weeks ago.

12. (12) Myers Park (Charlotte, N.C.) 22-1
Maybe that one loss is a blessing. Two years ago, Myers Park was undefeated before losing in the 4A semifinals; last year, Myers Park was undefeated before losing at home in the third round. This year, that first loss (to No. 1 Blackman) was out of the way early.

13. (13) Whitney Young (Chicago) 25-3
Whitney Young looks to be in good position to advance to the Hinsdale Super-Sectional final March 3 as Illinois lets almost everyone into postseason. It takes a while to narrow things down, but eventually No. 5 Homewood-Flossmoor and Whitney Young should face off.

14. (15) Sparkman (Harvest, Ala.) 32-2
Sparkman has beaten Austin by 27 and 12, and now must make it three in a row to get to the Alabama Final Four. Sparkman has lost only to No. 1 Blackman (twice) but preseason Xcellent 25 member Shades Valley is advancing as well.

15. (16) Shabazz (Newark, N.J.) 22-1
Shabazz now joins the romantically named North 2, Group 1 playoffs, which don't start until March 3. New Providence is the best of the group, and isn't even in the state's Top 20.

16. (17) Lawrence North (Indianapolis) 23-1
Down seven to Roncalli, junior Jordan Hankins found her 3-point stroke, and led Lawrence North to a hard-fought (as expected) 45-41 win. Next up is 19-4 Anderson in the regional semifinals.

17. (18) Bedford North Lawrence (Bedford, Ind.) 23-1
Columbus North has lost twice this year, to No. 17 Lawrence North and No. 11 Rock Bridge — and Columbus North is Bedford North Lawrence's likely opponent Saturday.

18. (19) McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) 23-2
Hillgrove may only have three losses, but two of them are to McEachern — by an average of more than 30 points. Still, it's playoff time and crazy things could happen Wednesday night.

19. (22) Manvel (Texas) 34-2
Cypress Ranch is next for Manvel, which can't be blamed for looking ahead to a rematch with No. 3 Duncanville in the Texas 5A playoffs. First things first, however, for a team that's lost only to Duncanville and No. 13 Whitney Young.

20. (20) Salmen (Slidell, La.) 27-1
Salmen barely got by Easton Feb. 8, winning 52-50, and if the seeds hold, they'll play for the 4A title in early March. But then again, seeds don't always hold in postseason.

21. (NR) Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 20-3
Riverdale's only "bad loss" was to Capitol Christian, by two — but earlier, Riverdale beat that same team by 31. To keep this spot, though, the Crusaders must beat unbeaten Eleanor Roosevelt next Monday.

22. (23) St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.) 21-5
The fifth loss came after a fight in the stands during the freshman girls' game against McNair, and coach Tom Gonsalves judged the situation too unsafe for his team, so he took his players home and absorbed a forfeit loss. Hard to judge unless you were in the gym with him.

23. (24) Cosby (Midlothian, Va.) 16-0
Varina should provide little opposition in the first round of the 6A Conference 3 playoffs, but Franklin County, most likely next, gave Cosby a tough game in early December.

24. (25) Clovis (N.M.) 25-0
Clovis survived a road game against tough Carlsbad, and then must finish the regular season by hosting 21-4 Hobbs. Of course, those familiar faces will be in the state playoffs too.

25. (NR) Miami 21-1
Miami jumps into the Xcellent 25, as its only loss was by one point to Edison of Virginia back in December. Since then, Miami has shown itself to be the best in Florida's 8A division — though 27-4 Seminole will be a challenge Friday.

Dropped out: No. 14 Northside, No. 21 Joliet Catholic