NEW FAB 50: No. 1 Chino Hills One Step From Perfection!

Players in this post:
Jayson Tatum Shamorie Ponds Lonzo Ball

There are five newcomers to the FAB 50 National Rankings powered by Ballislife.com this week, as ranked teams from Michigan, California, Indiana and New Jersey will look to close out their seasons with state titles this week. The highest ranked newcomer this week is No 42 Westerville South (Westerville, Ohio), the Ohio Division I state champs.

By Ronnie Flores

The first nine and 16 teams overall that appear in this week's FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com are still playing, as the season is quickly coming to a close. There will be two more sets of ratings after this week, including the final FAB 50 rankings on Monday, April 4.

One of the teams still playing is current FAB 50 No. 1 Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.), which plays for the CIF Open Division state championship next Saturday night versus new No. 50 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, Calif. It will be a matchup of two nationally-ranked teams, but it still has a bit of a David vs. Goliath feel. Chino Hills has beaten No. 40 Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.) by 20 points twice (106-86 and 82-62), No. 41 High Point Christian (High Point, N.C.) by 25 points (100-75) and just defeated No 36 Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) by 22 points (84-62) in the SoCal open regional final to advance to the state title game.

The Huskies, led by Mr. Basketball USA front-runner Lonzo Ball, only beat Bishop Montgomery by four points in their first matchup. The Knights still have a strong enough resume to be ranked No. 2 in the state, according to CalHiSports.com, as Chino Hills is firing on all cylinders right now. Ball, who is averaging a triple-double, was confirmed to be California's all-time assists leader by Cal-Hi Sports and will play in the 6th Annual Ballislife All-American Game taking place the night of April 30 at Long Beach City College (Long Beach, Calif.).

Wrapping Up State Titles

Another player who will participate in the Ballislife All-American Game, point guard Shamorie Ponds, just wrapped up a championship season, as Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) won its first ever New York Federation Class AA title with a 72-65 win over FAB 50 bubble club Aquinas (Rochester, N.Y.). Jeff also win its first PSAL title since 1954.

Ponds was in some foul trouble, but his teammates, particularly Rasheem Dunn and C.J. "Big Shot" Smith, stepped up to lead the Orange Wave to victory. Dunn finished with 21 points, while Ponds and Smith added 16 and 15, respectively. Jefferson moved up five spots to No. 38 in this week's rankings, and no matter what the other results are from around the country over the final two weeks, the Orange Wave will remain behind No. 37 West Linn (West Linn, Ore.) in the final rankings. Oregon's Class 6A state champs beat Jefferson at the City of Palms Tournament in December.

Jayson Tatum, a Mr. Basketball USA candidate, led Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) to its first Missouri Class 5 state title with a 72-59 win over bubble club Kickapoo (Springfield, Mo.). In his final game in a Chaminade uniform, the Duke-bound forward exploded for 40 points and 14 rebounds, as the Red Devils moved up to No. 18 this week.

No. 11 Stevens Point (Stevens Point, Wis.) wrapped up a Wisconsin Division I state crown by downing Muskego (Muskego, Wis.), 89-64, to end the season on a 37-game winning streak. The Panthers dominated their in-state competition, but lack a signature out-of-area win to be in mythical national title contention. Stevens Point concluded its season with a 33.2 ppg winning margin that actually grew in the state playoffs.

In Pennsylvania, Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) moved up two spots this week to No. 15 after capturing its second consecutive PIAA Class 4A title, while Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) won its sixth Class 3A crown in seven years to move up three spots to No. 24

Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by Ballislife.com

(Fourteenth poll of the 2015-16 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, March 20; Previous ranking in parentheses; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included; ***Indicates season not complete)

No.Prev.High School (City)Record
11Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.)34-0***
22Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)25-1***
33Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.)42-1***
44St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.)31-0***
55University of Detroit Jesuit (Detroit, Mich.)25-0***
66Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.)28-1***
77St. Benedict's (Newark, N.J.)35-1***
88Providence Day (Charlotte, N.C.)30-3***
99La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.)25-3***
1010DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.)32-5
1111Stevens Point (Stevens Point, Wis.)28-0
1213DeSoto (DeSoto, Texas)35-2
1314Greenforest Christian Academy (Decatur, Ga.)30-2
1418Memphis East (Memphis, Tenn.)32-2
1517Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.)27-4
1615Atascocita (Humble, Texas)38-1
1716Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.)28-3
1819Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.)27-5
1921Dakota (Macomb, Mich.)25-0***
2022H.D. Woodson (Washington, D.C.)32-0**
2126Althoff Catholic (Belleville, Ill.)32-2
2225St. John's (Washington, D.C.)30-5
2323Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.)31-1
2427Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.)27-4
2512Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.)33-1
2628Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah)29-3***
2729Federal Way (Federal Way, Wash.)29-0
2831Lancaster (Lancaster, Texas)36-2
2933Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.)30-2***
3032Advanced International Prep (Dallas, Texas)34-7***
3135West Oaks Academy (Orlando, Fla.)25-4
3237Overland (Aurora, Col.)25-3
3342New Albany (New Albany, Ind.)26-1***
3438Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.)22-8
3539Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.)23-6
3620Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.)28-3
3740West Linn (West Linn, Ore.)26-3
3843Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.)26-9
3941Bingham (South Jordan, Utah)24-2
4036Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.)25-5
4145High Point Christian (High Point, N.C.)24-6
42NRWesterville South (Westerville, Ohio)26-4
43NRCurie (Chicago, Ill.)29-3**
4446Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.)28-5
4524Lima Senior (Lima, Ohio)29-1
46NRLinden (Linden, N.J.)25-5***
4748Fort Bend Elkins (Missouri City, Texas)36-3
4849Apple Valley (Apple Valley, Minn.)29-2
49NRGrandview Prep (Boca Raton, Fla.)34-0
50NRDe La Salle (Concord, Calif.)31-2***

Dropped Out: Previous No. 30 Simeon (Chicago, Ill.), No. 34 Morgan Park (Chicago, Ill.), No. 44 Modesto Christian (Modesto, Calif.), No. 47 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.), No. 50 Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.).

Bubble Teams: Aliquippa (Aliquippa, Pa.) 30-0; Allderdice (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 28-2; Aquinas (Rochester, N.Y.) 23-4**; Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 25-7; Benet Academy (Lislie, Ill.) 31-4; Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.) 25-4; Columbus (Columbus, Miss.) 27-5; Crespi (Encino, Calif.) 32-4; Dillard (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) 28-5; Edmond North (Edmond, Okla.) 27-1; Eleanor Roosevelt (Greenbelt, Md.) 24-3; Garfield (Seattle, Wash.) 26-3; Houston Math Science & Tech (Houston, Texas) 33-5; Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) 24-6; J.O. Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.) 29-5; John Carroll (Bel Air, Md.) 27-11; Jonesboro (Jonesboro, Ga.) 28-5; Kickapoo (Springfield, Mo.) 29-3; Lee's Summit (Lee's Summit, Mo.) 29-1; Liberty County (Hinesville, Ga.) 28-1; Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 23-8; Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) 22-4; Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 27-5; Modesto Christian (Modesto, Calif.) 32-2; Morgan Park (Chicago, Ill.) 26-4; Mustang (Mustang, Okla.) 20-7; Natchitoches Central (Nachitoches, La.) 32-3; National Christian Academy (Ft. Washington, Md.) 30-2; Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 26-4; Norland (Miami, Fla.) 25-5; Norman North (Norman, Okla.) 24-4; Oldsmar Christian (Oldsmar, Fla.) 29-9*; Omaha South (Omaha, Neb.) 28-1; Ozen (Beaumont, Texas) 31-4; Putnam City West (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 24-5; Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.) 24-6; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 28-7; Sacramento (Sacramento, Calif.) 30-2; Sacred Heart (Waterbury, Conn.) 26-2; Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.) 34-3; Shadow Mountain (Phoenix, Ariz.) 27-5; Shenendehowa (Clifton Park, N.Y.) 24-1; Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 26-5; Simeon (Chicago, Ill.) 30-4; Southport (Indianapolis, Ind.) 22-7; Starkville (Starkville, Miss.) 27-6; St. Augustine (Richland, N.J.) 30-2; Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) 21-7***; Victory Rock Prep (Sarasota, Fla.) 25-6; Wayne (Huber Heights, Ohio) 25-1; Westfield (Chantilly, Va.) 26-3; Westlake (Atlanta, Ga.) 27-4; Westtown School (West Chester, Pa.) 28-6; Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) 22-6; Wilmington (Wilmington, Ohio) 26-2.

Note: The FAB 50 powered by Ballislife.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota compiled them. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 16 years ago.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores