MaxPreps Top 25 national high school girls basketball rankings

With previous No. 3 Duncanville finally losing (after 105 straight) and previous No. 5 New Hope Christian Academy losing (in heartbreaking fashion), two spots opened up in the top 10, and Myers Park and Riverdale Baptist both jumped in. Rock Bridge, which has played one of the toughest schedules in the country, rises to No. 6, but as most states narrow down the fields in postseason, there are few sure wins left.

The most complex playoffs occur in California, but it's not even worth trying to figure everything out, as the state Open championship game isn't until March 29. New York is also full of twists and turns, but Christ the King, now at No. 18, seems best qualified to navigate them all.

See the girls basketball playoff brackets from each state

A note on Christ the King: Should the Royals win the New York title, they will join a surprisingly long line of teams that have gone winless in the Nike TOC (now in Arizona) and then returned home to win a state title. All three of Christ the King's losses came in Phoenix this year.


1. (Last week 1) Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 30-1
Blackman is two games away from the Tennessee title and the top spot in the Xcellent 25 for 2013-14. Standing in the way is semifinal opponent Bradley Central, which played powerful Riverdale within eight points and 25-2 Dorman of South Carolina to seven. Jefferson County and Morristown West are on the other side of the bracket.

2. (2) Incarnate Word Academy (St. Louis) 25-1
Miller Career Academy is Saturday, and a win there will most likely bring on MICDS in the first round of the 16-team state playoff. Incarnate Word beat MICDS by nine back in December.

3. (4) Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.) 23-2
Lakewood took out longtime Colorado power Highlands Ranch Tuesday night, and thus is Regis Jesuit's next opponent — and Lakewood is 24-1. The winner moves to the Class 5A final four.

4. (6) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 26-1
Mater Dei barely survived against very talented Etiwanda, 56-54, and now draws Windward, which handled No. 8 Long Beach Poly 62-49 in the other Southern Section Open division semifinal. All three, though, will advance to the Southern California Regional Open division next week. Don't ask ... just enjoy some great basketball.

5. (7) Windward (Los Angeles) 24-2
Jordin Canada and Kristen Simon handled Long Beach Poly's depth and size, and coach Vanessa Nygaard, who played for Stanford and in the WNBA, took care of the strategy. No. 4 Mater Dei is next on Saturday.

6. (10) Rock Bridge (Columbia, Mo.) 21-3
Even though Rock Bridge has already beaten Hickman (by 15), and that school has the less-than-intimidating mascot of the Kewpies, Saturday's Class 5 District 9 final will be yet another test for Rock Bridge, which has played one of the toughest schedules in the country.

7. (11) Myers Park (Charlotte, N.C.) 28-1
The first time Myers Park played Ardrey Kell, Myers Park won by 11. The second time, the margin was two. They'll meet again in the 4A final four Saturday. Oh, and Ardrey Kell won by 30 in the quarterfinals.

8. (8) Long Beach Poly (Calif.) 23-3
Arica Carter's foul trouble hurt the Jackrabbits, but since depth is supposed to be their calling card, most expected better than a 62-49 loss in the Southern Section Open semifinals. But the games that matter — the ones that eliminate you — are still to come.

9. (9) Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) 25-0
Camp Hill will be a solid opponent in the first round of the AA playoffs Friday, but the likely team at the other end of the scorer's table next Tuesday is 25-1 Minersville.

10. (20) Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 27-3
Riverdale Baptist's miracle win against previous No. 5 New Hope added more luster to a very strong resume. The only loss to a team outside the Xcellent 25 was to Capitol Christian of Maryland, a team Riverdale Baptist previously had beaten by 31.

11. (13) Whitney Young (Chicago) 27-3
Marian Catholic has played some really good teams (No. 2 Incarnate Word) and beaten some really good teams (No. 14 McEachern), so Friday's opponent for Whitney Young is no pushover. Rolling Meadows, the favorite in the other 4A state semifinal, has only lost three times, but once was to Whitney Young, by 14.

12. (16) Bedford North Lawrence (Bedford, Ind.) 26-1
Taking full advantage of its home court, Bedford North Lawrence knocked off previous No. 15 Lawrence North 62-54, and now draws 26-1 Penn in the 4A finals Saturday. Penn lost only to unbeaten 1A Oregon-Davis, which is playing for a state title itself this Saturday.

13. (14) Shabazz (Newark, N.J.) 26-1
Shabazz has two relatively easy games Wednesday and Friday, before the New Jersey postseason starts to heat up next week.

14. (17) McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) 27-2
McEachern has won its playoff games by an average of just over 36 points, while its title game opponent, Archer, has won its four by an average of 19. But one of its three losses was to Alabama state champ Shades Valley, another was to Tennessee power Morristown West and the third was to Georgia's very tough Parkview.

15. (18) Manvel (Texas) 38-2
Manvel's upset of No. 16 Duncanville avenged one of its two losses, as stars Brianna Turner and Jordan Hosey stepped up in the 5A title game. But that 30-point loss to Whitney Young is still a blot on the Manvel escutcheon.

16. (3) Duncanville (Texas) 33-1
Duncanville beat Manvel on a neutral court earlier this season, but in the big one — the 5A state title game — Manvel took advantage of serious Duncanville foul trouble and ended that 105-game winning streak. It was a tough way for the marvelous Ariel Atkins' career to conclude, but sometimes the storybook ending is written for the other team.

17. (5) New Hope Christian Academy (Thomasville, N.C.) 32-1
It's hard to imagine a more depressing way to lose a perfect season. Up five late, New Hope gave up a three with less than seconds left, inbounded the ball successfully against the press and was waiting for the foul. But the clock didn't start, so the refs stopped the game, and now New Hope had to inbound again. The pass was intercepted and the three went down at the buzzer for a bitter, bitter defeat.

18. (22) Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) 21-3
Christ the King beat Archbishop Molloy 58-41 to win the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division 1 championship. The always complex New York state playoffs are next.

19. (19) Salmen (Slidell, La.) 30-1
Only two wins stand between Salmen and a Louisiana Class 4A title, and first up is 24-5 St. Thomas More, which upset Karr in the quarterfinals. That game is Wednesday, with the finals on Saturday at Burton Coliseum.

20. (21) St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.) 24-4
Despite losing its two best players — one to a midseason transfer, one to a knee injury — St. Mary's keeps rolling. McClatchy was the latest victim, in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs.

21. (23) Cosby (Midlothian, Va.) 14-0
Cosby rolled over Bethel 65-43, and next up is 28-2 West Springfield, long one of the top teams in Virginia, which lost only to T.C. Williams (of "Remember the Titans" fame) and an upset to Stonewall Jackson. Jackson will play Bethel on the other side of the bracket.

22. (24) Clovis (N.M.) 27-0
Clovis shouldn't have too much trouble in the first two rounds of the 5A playoffs, but very likely they'll run into Hobbs after that — and even though Clovis has beaten Hobbs four times already this year, the law of averages may start coming into play.

23. (NR) Southwest DeKalb (Decatur, Ga.) 30-2
Southwest DeKalb lost to No. 5 Windward at the Nike TOC, and then to Tucker in-state. Southwest DeKalb later beat Tucker, but plays that team one more time Friday — in the AAAAA championship game.

24. (25) Miami 25-1
Miami moves up a spot as other teams lose. Clearly the best in Florida, Miami's weakness is a lack of out-of-state wins.

25. (NR) Montini (Lombard, Ill.) 31-2
Montini moves into the rankings, just two games away from a 3A state title. But Joliet Catholic will be a formidable opponent if both, as expected, advance to the finals.

Dropped out: No. 12 Sparkman (Harvest, Ala.), No. 15 Lawrence North (Indianapolis).