Thrilling games in Kentucky, Minnesota and Ohio caused movement in the latest edition of the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com. There are two newcomers this week, including Kentucky Sweet 16 champ Lyon County and Jackson-Reed (Washington, D.C.), whose strong resume can't be ignored. Indiana's state champions will be crowned on March 30.
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By Ronnie Flores
The Sweet 16 field is set for March Madness and there is still some high school madness happening around the country. In fact, right before the Sweet 16 field was set on Sunday evening, the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) wrapped up its state tournament with the state's top ranked-club, St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio), capturing the Division I state crown with a hard-fought 66-56 win over Centerville (Ohio) before 5,189 at University of Dayton Arena.
Four players scored in double figures for coach Cam Joyce's crew, led by 6-foot senior guard Jack Zapolnick with 14 points and seven assists and 6-foot-1 senior guard Matt Ellis with 12 points. Michael Lamirand, a 6-foot-4 senior forward, nailed all three of his 3-point attempts and finished with 11 points as the Wildcats made 7-of-15 3-pointers.
St. Ignatius won its first OHSAA state crown since 2001, when the Wildcats finished No. 40 in the FAB 50 that season after winning their first state D1 title with a 25-2 mark. This year's team only suffered one in-state loss, with its other losses to St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia, Pa.) and FAB 50 No. 25 Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.). With St. Joseph's Prep having a loss to No. 40 Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.), it only makes sense the Wildcats move up three spots to No. 41 in this week's updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com.
St. Ignatius nipped Hayes (Delaware, Ohio) in the semifinals, 54-53, while Centerville defeated bubble club Whitmer (Toledo, Ohio), 58-39. Six-foot-10 junior forward Damon Friery (16 points) and 6-foot-1 junior guard Quinn Woidke led the way for balanced St. Ignatius in the win over Hayes. The semifinal game came down to Woidke's running lay-up with 10 seconds remaining and a defensive stand following his clutch shot that turned out to be the game-winning points.
In Kentucky, The prestigious Kentucky High School Athletics Association (KHSAA) Sweet 16 was captured by Lyon County (Eddyville, Ky.) with a 67-58 Saturday evening victory over Harlan County (Rosspoint, Ky.) before 13,568 at historic Rupp Arena. It was incredible state championship game and everything that is right about high school basketball. Kentucky still employs the one-class system, so the event is already electric and highly-anticipated. The fact both finalists were small schools made this year's Sweet 16 even more memorable.
According to the 2010 census, Eddyville has a population of 2,554 and Harlan 1,745. Lyon County, which has a student body of 277, can now be called state champions for the first time after taking a 18-10 lead after one period and ending the game with a 22-13 advantage in the final period. The Lyons' best player is not just an All-American headed to UK and Kentucky's all-time leading scorer, he's now a state folk hero after leading his team to a state title. Travis Perry, the state's Mr. Basketball, hit 5-of-9 3-pointers en route to 27 points to go along with five assets and two steals.
Jack Riddick netted 15 points and Brady Shoulders had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Lyons, who not only beat state champions from Alabama (Buckhorn) and South Carolina (bubble club Lexington), but also previous FAB 50 No. 25 Great Crossing (Georgetown, Ky.) in the semifinals, 58-49, earlier on Saturday afternoon behind Perry (24 points), Shoulders (13 points) and Reddick (11 points). That Lyon County trio have been teammates since second grade and erased some of the sting of losing at the Sweet 16 the previous two seasons after capturing its regional. Perry scored 5,481 points in his high school career playing for his father, Ryan, and broke the hallowed state scoring record of the late "King" Kelly Coleman of Wayland in the process.
In the championship game, Harlan County was led by Maddox Huff with 22 points while Trent Noah, a South Carolina commit, had 17 points and 9 rebounds.
With the four wins at the Sweet 16, including two on Saturday, Lyon County breaks into the FAB 50 at No. 47. Great Crossing, which didn't lose to another Kentucky team and fell in the regular season in overtime to Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) member Bishop O'Connell of Virginia (which beat two FAB 50 ranked teams), remains in at No. 50 this week.
The highest ranked newcomer this week is actually No. 44 Jackson-Reed (Washington, D.C.), which played its final game on March 1. While considering many teams for this week's second newcomer along with Lyon County, the resume of the Tigers kept coming up. Jackson-Reed owns an overtime victory over No. 29 Bullis (Potomac, Md.) and owns wins over South Shore (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah).
We strongly considered Chicago Public League champ Curie (Chicago, Ill.), but that club has a loss to South Shore. Imhotep Charter, who captured the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Class 6A state title on Friday, didn't lost any games in state and also has a loss to South Shore. With Independence (Thompson’s Station, Tenn.), another team from the Southeast Region we considered for entry also losing to South Shore, it was clear Jackson-Reed from the East Region was the logical choice.
The only state still playing is Indiana because of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament first two rounds being played at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. On March 30, No. 10 Fishers (Fishers, Ind.) will face Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.).
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Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by Ballislife.com
(14th poll of 2023-24 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, March 24; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included; ***Indicates season not complete.)
| No. | Prev. | High School (City) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) | 29-0*** |
| 2 | 2 | Columbus (Miami, Fla.) | 27–4*** |
| 3 | 3 | Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) | 33-2*** |
| 4 | 4 | Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) | 21-4**** |
| 5 | 5 | Plano East (Plano, Texas) | 40-0 |
| 6 | 6 | Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) | 33-5*** |
| 7 | 7 | Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) | 33-3 |
| 8 | 8 | Central Cabarrus (Concord, N.C.) | 33-0 |
| 9 | 9 | Wisconsin Lutheran (Milwaukee, Wis.) | 30-0 |
| 10 | 10 | Fishers (Fishers, Ind.) | 28-1*** |
| 11 | 11 | Link Academy (Branson, Mo.) | 25-6*** |
| 12 | 12 | AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) | 27-5*** |
| 13 | 13 | Stony Point (Round Rock, Texas) | 38-2 |
| 14 | 14 | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) | 18-8*** |
| 15 | 15 | St. Rose (Belmar, N.J.) | 29-2 |
| 16 | 16 | Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) | 26-4 |
| 17 | 17 | Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) | 29-3 |
| 18 | 18 | St. Mary Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.) | 27-1 |
| 19 | 19 | Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.) | 27-2 |
| 20 | 20 | Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) | 31-4 |
| 21 | 21 | Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.) | 24-6 |
| 22 | 22 | Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) | 30-2 |
| 23 | 23 | McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) | 26-6 |
| 24 | 24 | North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.) | 30-3 |
| 25 | 26 | Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) | 27-4 |
| 26 | 27 | Myers Park (Charlotte, N.C.) | 27-4 |
| 27 | 28 | John Marshall (Richmond, Va.) | 25-3 |
| 28 | 29 | Bullis (Potomac, Md.) | 27-3 |
| 29 | 30 | Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) | 27-4 |
| 30 | 31 | Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) | 28-6 |
| 31 | 32 | St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) | 28-7 |
| 32 | 33 | Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) | 31-2 |
| 33 | 34 | La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) | 23-5 |
| 34 | 35 | Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.) | 27-7 |
| 35 | 37 | Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.) | 28-4 |
| 36 | 38 | Camden (Camden, N.J.) | 30-2 |
| 37 | 39 | Kell (Marietta, Ga.) | 28-3 |
| 38 | 40 | Homewood Flossmor (Flossmor, Ill.) | 33-4 |
| 39 | 41 | Reidsville (Reidsville, N.C.) | 29-0 |
| 40 | 42 | Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) | 26-3 |
| 41 | 44 | St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) | 26-3 |
| 42 | 43 | Millennium (Goodyear, Ariz.) | 25-5 |
| 43 | 45 | Winter Haven (Winter Haven, Fla.) | 27-2 |
| 44 | NR | Jackson-Reed (Washington, D.C.) | 33-3 |
| 45 | 50 | Bellevue West (Bellevue, Neb.) | 27-1 |
| 46 | 46 | Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) | 29-6 |
| 47 | 47 | Lyon County (Eddyville, Ky.) | 36-3 |
| 48 | 48 | Beaumont United (Beaumont, Texas) | 34-4 |
| 49 | 49 | Northwest (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) | 25-0 |
| 50 | 25 | Great Crossing (Georgetown, Ky.) | 36-2 |
Dropped Out: Previous No. 36 Wayzata (Plymouth, Minn.), No. 47 Newport (Newport, Ky.).
Bubble Teams: Arrowhead (Heartland, Wis.) 27-3; Bartlett (Bartlett, Tenn.) 32-5; Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 24-5; Brennan (San Antonio, Texas) 31-5; Centerville (Centerville, Ohio) 20-9; Central Catholic (Portland, Ore.) 28-3; Christian (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 26-3; Combine Academy (Lincolnton, N.C.) 23-3; Curie (Chicago, Ill.) 31-3; Dale (Dale, Okla.) 30-2; De Paul Prep (Chicago, Ill.) 35-2; De Pere (De Pere, Wis.) 26-2; Edmond North (Edmond, Okla.) 24-4; Fort Bend Clements (Sugar Land, Texas) 32-1; Hayes (Delaware, Ohio) 27-2; Hickory (Hickory, N.C.) 31-1; Hoover (Hoover, Ala.) 30-3; Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) 29-3; Independence (Thompson’s Station, Tenn.) 32-6; Kennedy (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) 25-1; Kokomo (Kokomo, Ind.) 25-4; Lehi (Lehi, Utah) 24-4; Lexington (Lexington, S.C.) 28-2; Lexington Catholic (Lexington, Ky.) 32-3; Liberty Magnet (Baton Rouge, La.) 33-4; Lincoln (Warren, Mich.) 24-4; Lincoln Park (Midland, Pa.) 27-3; Marquette University (Milwaukee, Wis.) 26-4; Millard North (Omaha, Neb.) 23-3; Minnetonka (Minnetonka, Minn.) 25-6; Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio) 26-2; Mt. St. Joseph (Baltimore, Md.) 36-5; Noblesville (Noblesville, Ind.) 22-3; Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) 31-4; Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 21-6; Owasso (Owasso, Okla.) 26-4; Pewaukee (Pewaukee, Wis.) 25-5; Raymond (Raymond, Miss.) 31-4; Seven Lakes (Katy, Texas) 35-4**; Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 26-4; St. Anne’s-Bellfield (Charlottesville, Va.) 26-4; St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.) 31-4; St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City, N.J.) 26-3; Totino-Grace (Fridley, Minn.) 27-5; Valley (West Des Moines, Iowa) 21-5; Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch, Col.) 26-2; Vashon (St. Louis, Mo.) 26-6; Volcano Vista (Albuquerque, N.M.) 30-1; Lincoln (Warren, Mich.) 24-4; Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) 15-7; Wayzata (Plymouth, Minn.) 29-2; Westfield (Westfield, Ind.) 19-3; Whitmer (Toledo, Ohio) 25-3; Woodside (Newport News, Va.) 27-1.
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 24 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