The playoffs are heating up and for some teams the real battles are just getting started -- while for others the sun is setting on the 2015-16 season. One nationally ranked team that has already won a state title is hoping its season is not done just yet. There are three newcomers in this week's FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com, as big games between ranked teams will take place right away on Monday night!
By Ronnie Flores
The team at Providence Day (Charlotte, N.C.) is the first of many highly-ranked teams in this week's FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com that figure to capture state titles in the coming weeks. The Chargers wrapped up the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) Class 3A crown with a 67-53 victory over Kentucky-bound Bam Adebayo and his team at High Point Christian (High Point, N.C.).
It was Providence Day's 20th consecutive victory since a 59-58 setback to FAB 50 No. 19 Greenforest Christian Academy (Decatur, Ga.) and the Chargers are hoping to extend that winning streak before next season. As state champs, FAB 50 No. 9 Providence Day is in the running for a berth in the Dick’s Sporting Goods High School National Tournament held March 31-April 2 in New York City.
Despite the state title game loss, High Point Christian is one of three newcomers in this week's rankings, as it took down previous No. 29 Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.), 51-50, in the state semifinals. To show you just how competitive the NCISAA Class 3A ranks was this season, High Point Christian took two of of three games from Greensboro Day this season, the other win a 50-48 overtime triumph. Greensboro Day won the first meeting by one point, 60-59. High Point re-enters the rankings at No. 45, while Greensboro Day naturally falls one spot below that club.
FAB 50 No. 2 and three-time defending tournament champion Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), No. 3 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), No. 11 Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.), No. 12 St. Benedict’s (newark, N.J.) and No. 16 La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) are likely to receive invites to play at Dick's Nationals, with three spots reserved for other deserving and eligible clubs.
Another club that didn't fall out of the rankings after a big loss was No. 39 Morgan Park (Chicago, Ill.), which fell to rival Simeon (Chicago, Ill.) in the Chicago Public League playoff semifinals, 74-72, despite 26 points from standout Charlie Moore. Senior forward Ben Coupet came up huge for Simeon with a season-high 24 points while also collecting seven rebounds. Coach Robert Smith's club won three big games within a 36-hour span, coming back on Saturday to down Evanston (Evanston, Ill.), 55-43, at the City-Suburban Showdown. On Sunday afternoon, the Wolverines captured their seventh City title with a 54-49 victory over Kenwood (Chicago, Ill.) behind 18 points from Gonzaga-bound Zach Norvell while junior Evan Gillard came up big in the clutch with 14 points in the final eight minutes.
We had a rankings dilemma, as Simeon previously lost to FAB 50 ranked and Catholic League champion Fenwick (Oak Park, Ill.). One of Fenwick's two losses was to the Morgan Park team Simeon downed in the semifinals. We decided to follow local consensus and hop Simeon, which moved up six spots to No. 34, over Fenwick, which moved up three spots to No. 36, despite the head-to-head result because of the quality of its wins within a short period of time.
"Simeon is just the better team," said Mr. Basketball USA panelist Scott Phillips, who compiles the CSNChicago.com Preps Power Rankings each week. "Simeon just beat three top 6 teams in a 36-hour span. Simeon is deep and talented and myself, the Tribune and Sun-Times all had Simeon jumping Fenwick."
Big FAB 50 Games On Tap
On Monday night, FAB 50 No. 10 DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) takes on No. 13 St. John's (Washington, D.C.) for the WCAC Tournament title. The two teams split regular season games this season.
In Philadelphia, No. 14 Neumann-Goretti battles No. 27 and cross-town Roman Catholic for the Philly Catholic League championship at the famed Palestra. Neumann-Goretti has only lost two games to clubs from the same WCAC that DeMatha and St. John's compete in -- Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) and Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), the latter which was one of the three teams to fall out of the FAB 50 this week.
Out West, a plethora of teams ranked in the Cal-Hi Sports weekly state Top 20 will battle in the CIF Southern Section Open Division quarterfinals on Tuesday, which a potential semifinal date between FAB 50 No. 7 Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) and No. 8 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) looming on Friday.
Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by Ballislife.com
(Tenth poll of the 2015-16 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, February 21; Previous ranking in parentheses; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included; ***Indicates season complete)
| No. | Prev. | High School (City) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) | 28-0 |
| 2 | 2 | Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) | 25-1 |
| 3 | 3 | Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) | 37-1 |
| 4 | 4 | Atascocita (Humble, Texas) | 32-0 |
| 5 | 5 | St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) | 23-0 |
| 6 | 6 | University of Detroit Jesuit (Detroit, Mich.) | 17-0 |
| 7 | 7 | Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) | 25-1 |
| 8 | 8 | Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) | 24-3 |
| 9 | 9 | Providence Day (Charlotte, N.C.) | 30-3 |
| 10 | 10 | DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) | 26-4 |
| 11 | 11 | Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) | 25-1 |
| 12 | 12 | St. Benedict's (Newark, N.J.) | 28-1 |
| 13 | 13 | St. John's (Washington, D.C.) | 27-3 |
| 14 | 14 | Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) | 22-2 |
| 15 | 15 | Seton Hall Prep (West Orange, N.J.) | 24-1 |
| 16 | 16 | La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.) | 24-3 |
| 17 | 17 | Stevens Point (Stevens Point, Wis.) | 21-0 |
| 18 | 18 | Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) | 21-5 |
| 19 | 19 | Greenforest Christian Academy (Decatur, Ga.) | 27-2 |
| 20 | 20 | Dakota (Macomb, Mich.) | 18-0 |
| 21 | 21 | Wayne (Huber Heights, Ohio) | 23-0 |
| 22 | 22 | Garfield (Seattle, Wash.) | 23-2 |
| 23 | 23 | Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.) | 26-3 |
| 24 | 27 | Edmond North (Edmond, Okla.) | 23-0 |
| 25 | 25 | Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) | 25-1 |
| 26 | 26 | Apple Valley (Apple Valley, Minn.) | 25-1 |
| 27 | 32 | Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) | 20-4 |
| 28 | 28 | Lima Senior (Lima, Ohio) | 21-0 |
| 29 | 30 | Althoff Catholic (Belleville, Ill.) | 23-2 |
| 30 | 34 | Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) | 27-0 |
| 31 | 36 | Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.) | 19-5 |
| 32 | 24 | Archbishop Carroll (Radnor, Pa.) | 22-3 |
| 33 | 35 | Memphis East (Memphis, Tenn.) | 25-2 |
| 34 | 40 | Simeon (Chicago, Ill.) | 24-3 |
| 35 | 37 | Advanced International Prep (Dallas, Texas) | 30-7 |
| 36 | 39 | Fenwick (Oak Park, Ill.) | 24-2 |
| 37 | 38 | West Linn (West Linn, Ore.) | 20-3 |
| 38 | 41 | Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) | 26-3 |
| 39 | 33 | Morgan Park (Chicago, Ill.) | 22-3 |
| 40 | 42 | H.D. Woodson (Washington, D.C.) | 28-0* |
| 41 | 43 | Federal Way (Federal Way, Wash.) | 25-0 |
| 42 | 44 | Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.) | 27-2 |
| 43 | 46 | Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) | 26-3 |
| 44 | 47 | Jonesboro (Jonesboro, Ga.) | 26-4 |
| 45 | NR | High Point Christian (High Point, N.C.) | 24-6*** |
| 46 | 29 | Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.) | 28-5*** |
| 47 | 48 | Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.) | 30-2 |
| 48 | 49 | Cardozo (Bayside, N.Y.) | 26-2 |
| 49 | NR | Fort Bend Elkins (Missouri City, Texas) | 30-2 |
| 50 | NR | Rangeview (Aurora, Col.) | 23-0 |
Dropped Out: Previous No. 31 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.), No. 45 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), No. 50 Norman North (Norman, Okla.).
Bubble Teams: Aliquippa (Aliquippa, Pa.) 23-0; Allderdice (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 23-1; Archbishop Malloy (Queens, N.Y.) 20-4; Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) 19-2; Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 23-7; Brandeis (San Antonio, Texas) 30-1; Christian Brothers (Memphis, Tenn.) 27-1; DeSoto (DeSoto, Texas) 29-2; Dillard (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) 26-5; Dublin Jerome (Dublin, Ohio) 21-2; East English Village Prep (Detroit, Mich.) 16-3; Fayetteville (Fayetteville, Ark.) 21-2; Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.) 21-4; Fort Bend Bush (Richmond, Texas) 25-8; Gwynn Park (Brandywine, Md.) 18-1; Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) 22-7; Hammond (Columbia, S.C.) 22-2; Houston Math Science & Tech (Houston, Texas) 29-4; Kickapoo (Springfield, Mo.) 23-2; Lancaster (Lancaster, Texas) 29-2; Lee's Summit (Lee's Summit, Mo.) 23-0; Lone Peak (Highland, Utah) 20-4; Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) 22-3; McComb (McComb, Miss.) 25-0; Merrillville (Merrillville, Ind.) 20-1; Modesto Christian (Modesto, Calif.) 26-1; Mustang (Mustang, Okla.) 16-6; National Christian Academy (Ft. Washington, Md.) 20-1; New Albany (New Albany, Ind.) 20-1; Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 26-4***; Norland (Miami, Fla.) 25-5***; Norman North (Norman, Okla.) 19-3; Oldsmar Christian (Oldsmar, Fla.) 29-9*; Omaha South (Omaha, Neb.) 23-1; Overland (Aurora, Colo.) 20-3; Peabody (Alexandria, La.) 31-1; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 23-4; Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.) 17-6; Sacred Heart (Waterbury, Conn.) 17-2; Shadow Mountain (Phoenix, Ariz.) 24-5; Shenendehowa (Clifton Park, N.Y.) 21-0; Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) 14-6; Tascosa (Amarillo, Texas) 29-0; Victory Rock Prep (Sarasota, Fla.) 25-6; Westerville South (Westerville, Ohio) 19-4; Westfield (Chantilly, Va.) 20-2; Westlake (Atlanta, Ga.) 24-4; West Oaks Academy (Orlando, Fla.) 25-4; Westtown School (West Chester, Pa.) 26-6; Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) 22-6; Wilmington (Wilmington, Ohio) 21-1.
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