Mater Dei's Stanley Johnson is one win away from his fourth-consecutive state title. Win or lose, the Arizona signee will go down as one of the most highly decorated players ever from California.
Photo by David Hood
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
1. (No. 1 last week) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 34-0The Monarchs outscored playoff nemesis Westchester (Los Angeles) 12-2 down the stretch Saturday night to escape
with a 59-54 win, advancing to California's Open Division state championship game next weekend in Sacramento. Mater Dei will face No. 23 Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) in a rematch of an overtime December win at the Tarkanian Classic.
2. (2) Montverde Academy (Fla.), 25-0 *Montverde Academy is the top seed for the Dick's Sporting Goods High School National Tournament next week in New York City. The Eagles face No. 4 Sagemont in the opening round.
3. (3) Rainier Beach (Seattle), 29-0Also headed to Dick's Nationals, the Vikings will meet No. 15 Findlay Prep in quarterfinal play.
4. (4) Sagemont (Weston, Fla.), 33-0In a bit of a bracketing oddity considering both teams are from Florida, Sagemont opens at Dick's Nationals against No. 1 Montverde Academy. The Lions are pegged No. 18 nationally by USA Today, the rankings favored by organizers and used to help seed bracket.
5. (5) Northside Christian Academy (Charlotte, N.C.), 28-1Another program headed to Dick's Nationals, the Knights will play against storied No. 10 Oak Hill Academy in opening-round action.
