For the third consecutive week, FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com shows three newcomers led by No. 31. Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.). The true storyline this week, however, is the upcoming games this week, as teams position themselves to win state titles or accept invites to post-season tournaments. It's win or go home time, while others hope teams they lost to hold up championship trophies.
By Ronnie Flores
"Root For Your Rivals" is a theme we've held as one of the rankings factors in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com for decades. What it means specifically is teams that took a loss to a ranked team, usually in their district, conference or league, should then root for that team to do well the rest of the season. It's not easy to root for a rival, but it's a bit of a necessary evil when compiling credible national rankings.
Head-to-head is obviously the critical factor and now that "high major" high school basketball is a national affair on a weekly basis until the state playoffs begin, rooting for another team no longer just applies to a team in one's backyard. For the talented teams at Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) and Perry (Chandler, Ariz.), they would like nothing more than to see FAB 50 No. 16 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) bounce back from a loss in the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs and win the CIF open state tournament, which begins this Wednesday with six teams in the Southern region and five teams from the Northern region in the country's most populous state.
There are three teams in the SoCal regional currently ranked ahead of Harvard-Westlake: No. 14 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.), No. 15 St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.) and No. 5 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.). St. Joseph, which easily captured the CIF Central Section D1 title Saturday evening at Selland Arena, could have been slotted North by CIF officials to be in the same bracket with No. 35 Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco, Calif.), but were seeded No. 2 in the south behind Roosevelt. Central Section teams can be slotted North or South for the regional playoffs.
This past Saturday evening at Toyota Arena in Ontario, Roosevelt defeated then No. 13 Notre Dame, 74-67, as McDonald's All-American Brayden Burries scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half to power his team to victory before approximately 7,000 fans. Senior point guard Myles Walker nailed five 3-pointers and also had 19 points for Roosevelt, which has lost to No. 3 Brennan (San Antonio, Texas) and Gonzaga, which checks in at No. 22 this week.
Should top seeded Roosevelt and No. 2 seed St. Joseph, which has only lost to FHSAA Class 3A state champion and No. 12 Calvary Christian Academy (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), meet in the SoCal open final on March 11, the game will take place in Roosevelt's backyard, instead of in the Central California farming town of Santa Maria. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Calvary Christian Academy would love to see St. Joseph win that game and go on to win the CIF State Open Division Championship March 15 in Sacramento.
Calvary Christian's K.J. Francis offensive rebound put back make off a driving field goal attempt by teammate and McDonald's All-American Shon Abaev with under four seconds remaining in a tie game gave his team a dramatic 66-64 win over The Villages Charter (Fla.) in the Class 3A state title game on Friday evening. Abeav, headed to Cincinnati, finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but it was Francis who will be remembered as the hero for the Eagles, which won their fourth overall FHSAA state crown and denied The Villages Charter its first.
Should St. Joseph win its first CIF open title, it would be the first time in over one hundred years that a team designated as being from the CIF Central Section would finish as California's No. 1 ranked team, according to Cal-Hi Sports. That, however, is a long ways away, and Harvard-Westlake, which is the No. 4 seed in the SoCal open regional, is looking to make a bit of history of its own. It is looking to become the first program ever to win three consecutive CIF open state titles, and if that happens two of them will occur after losing in the CIF Southern Section open playoffs.
In a majority of the states around the country, the district or sectional playoffs are now complete and its "win or go home" time for the country's best teams. Gonzaga and Perry hope to see Harvard-Westlake stay alive, as the Wolverines host FAB 50 No. 40 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) in the regional quarterfinals on Wednesday. The winner would hit the road to face top seed Roosevelt on Saturday, March 8.
As for Gonzaga, it drops five spots to No. 22, as it must be behind No. 21 Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.), which captured the WCAC Tournament title last Monday evening with a 58-54 victory over the Purple Eagles. Jordan Smith Jr., one of the nation's top guards regardless of class, led the way for the Panthers with 29 points. With the crunch time victory, Paul VI won its second consecutive WCAC title and its third in the last four years in arguably the nation's toughest conference.
Later in the week, Paul VI fell to No. 30 Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.) in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) D1 semifinals, 59-57. O'Connell then fell to No. 20 Highland (Warrenton, Va.) in the championship game, 56-51, in overtime. For Highland, it was its second state title, but first at the D1 level. Mr. Basketball USA candidate Nate Ament led the way with 24 points and 18 rebounds and showed why he is one of the nation's best players.
Since it got a bye and doesn't have to play until Saturday in its regional semifinal contest, Roosevelt would likely keep its eye on the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Class 6A, Division I state semifinals on Tuesday involving FAB 50 No. 3 Brennan (San Antonio, Texas) and No. 4 Allen (Allen, Texas). Brennan will take on 10-loss Bellaire (Texas) in one semifinal at Texas Southern University and Allen, which has only lost to Brennan in overtime, will face battle-tested and previously FAB 50-ranked Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas) at Coppell High School. The winners of each semifinal game will face each other at The Alamodome in San Antonio on March 8.
Teams with an asterisk (***) have now completed their respective seasons, but for teams such as Calvary Christian, Gonzaga, which rebounded from the loss to Paul VI later in the week to capture the DCSAA championship with a 67-51 victory over top newcomer and No. 31 Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.), and a few others, there is no asterisk. That is because they are in a running for a berth in Chipotle High School Nationals, the annual end-of-season tourney in Indiana, April 3-5.
The top 10 teams in the EYBL Scholastic standings will compete in the inaugural EYBL Scholastic Tournament taking place at the Riverview Park Activities Center in North Augusta, S.C., March 5-8. The winner of that conference tournament earns an automatic invite to Chipotle Nationals.
There will also be an additional eight-team qualifier down in North Augusta for teams not part of the EYBL Scholastic League. The winner will earn a berth, with potentially another entrant coming from the field. Here is the schedule for Thursday, March 6 (FAB 50 rank listed where applicable):
Game 1 - No. 36 Christ School (Arden, N.C.) vs SoCal Academy (Calif.), 2 pm ET
Game 2 - Patrick School (Hackettstown, N.J.) vs No. 28 Utah Prep (Hurricane, Utah), 3:30 pm ET
Game 3 - Iowa United vs No. 26 Dream City Christian (Glendale, Ariz.), 5 pm
Game 4 - PDI Prep (Urbana, Ohio) vs. Dynamic Prep (Texas), 6:30 pm ET
There will no doubt be plenty of FAB 50 ranked teams taking losses this week, as the EYBL Scholastic Tournament features eight of the top 17 teams in this week's FAB 50 rankings.
You can be sure some of them will be dropping in next week's rankings, and for teams such as Calvary Christian, Gonzaga, Perry and more, they will be closely watching which teams in California and in North Augusta go down in defeat.
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Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by Ballislife.com
(11th poll of 2024-25 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, March 2; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included; ***Indicates season complete)
| No. | Prev. | High School (City) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Columbus (Miami, Fla.) | 25-3 |
| 2 | 2 | Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.) | 27-3 |
| 3 | 3 | Brennan (San Antonio, Texas) | 33-2 |
| 4 | 4 | Allen (Allen, Texas) | 34-1 |
| 5 | 5 | Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) | 32-2 |
| 6 | 6 | Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) | 24-4** |
| 7 | 7 | Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) | 18-5 |
| 8 | 8 | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) | 21-6 |
| 9 | 9 | Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) | 18-6 |
| 10 | 10 | CIA Bella Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.) | 20-4 |
| 11 | 11 | Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) | 25-5 |
| 12 | 12 | Calvary Christian Academy (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) | 22-1 |
| 13 | 14 | AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) | 15-6 |
| 14 | 13 | Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) | 26-7 |
| 15 | 15 | St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.) | 31-1 |
| 16 | 16 | Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) | 30-2 |
| 17 | 18 | Link Academy (Branson, Mo.) | 16-8 |
| 18 | 25 | John Marshall (Richmond, Va.) | 22-2 |
| 19 | 21 | Fishers (Fishers, Ind.) | 24-0 |
| 20 | 33 | Highland (Warrenton, Va.) | 36-5 |
| 21 | 19 | Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) | 27-6 |
| 22 | 17 | Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) | 29-5 |
| 23 | 20 | Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.) | 25-2 |
| 24 | 22 | Hoover (Hoover, Ala.) | 35-0*** |
| 25 | 31 | Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) | 28-3 |
| 26 | 23 | Dream City Christian (Glendale, Ariz.) | 21-6 |
| 27 | 27 | Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) | 15-6 |
| 28 | 28 | Utah Prep (Hurricane, Utah) | 18-10 |
| 29 | 30 | Kenwood (Chicago, Ill.) | 29-1 |
| 30 | 42 | Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.) | 23-10 |
| 31 | NR | Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) | 24-6 |
| 32 | 32 | Owasso (Owasso, Okla.) | 23-4 |
| 33 | 34 | Oak Park (Kansas City, Mo.) | 25-1 |
| 34 | 35 | Webb (Knoxville, Md.) | 33-2 |
| 35 | 36 | Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco, Calif.) | 27-1 |
| 36 | 37 | Christ School (Arden, N.C.) | 26-2 |
| 37 | 39 | Reidsville (Reidsville, N.C.) | 27-0 |
| 38 | 40 | Combine Academy (Lincolnton, N.C.) | 21-7 |
| 39 | 26 | Lake Ridge (Mansfield, Texas) | 34-2* |
| 40 | 38 | St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) | 26-6 |
| 41 | 43 | DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) | 22-6 |
| 42 | 44 | Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) | 23-4 |
| 43 | 45 | Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Baltimore, Md.) | 33-4 |
| 44 | 46 | St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) | 28-2 |
| 45 | NR | Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.) | 25-1 |
| 46 | 47 | Vashon (St. Louis, Mo.) | 21-2 |
| 47 | 48 | DME Academy (Daytona Beach, Fla.) | 22-11 |
| 48 | 49 | Winston-Salem Christian (Winston-Salem, N.C.) | 34-6 |
| 49 | 50 | Lake Norman (Mooresville, N.C.) | 27-1 |
| 50 | NR | Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) | 27-1 |
Dropped Out: Previous No. 24 Huntsville (Huntsville, Ala.), No. 29 Grayson (Loganville, Ga.), No. 41 St. John’s (Washington, D.C.).
Bubble Teams: Aiken (Cincinnati, Ohio) 23-1; Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) 23-5; Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 24-5***; Bolingbrook (Bolingbrook, Ill.) 28-4; Brother Rice (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) 22-2; Cathedral (Indianapolis, Ind.) 19-4; Chambers (Charlotte, N.C.) 21-8; De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 27-4; De Pere (De Pere, Wis.) 23-1; Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas) 25-7; East Lansing (East Lansing, Mich.) 22-1**; Father Judge (Philadelphia, Pa.) 19-7; Ft. Bend Marshall (Missouri City, Texas) 36-2; Glens Falls (Glens Falls, N.Y.) 20-0; Great Crossing (Georgetown, Ky.) 28-4; Gibbs (St. Petersburg, Fla.) 26-4; Gonzaga Prep (Spokane, Wash.) 23-2; Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) 28-3***; Homewood Flossmor (Flossmor, Ill.) 29-3; Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) 25-1; Huntsville (Huntsville, Ala.) 32-2***; Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) 23-5; Jordan (Fulshear, Texas) 34-3; Liberty Magnet (Baton Rouge, La.) 26-3; Lincoln (Warren, Mich.) 18-4; Marist (Chicago, Ill.) 31-2; Milwaukee Academy of Science (Milwaukee, Wis.) 15-1; North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.) 26-3; Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) 26-7; Notre Dame (West Haven, Conn.) 22-2; Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 17-10; Olentangy Orange (Lewis Center, Ohio) 22-2; Olympus (Salt Lake City, Utah) 24-3***; Quincy (Quincy, Ill.) 29-3; Pace Academy (Atlanta, Ga.) 27-4; Patrick School (Hackettstown, N.J.) 27-7; Principia (St. Louis, Mo.) 27-1; Rangeview (Aurora, Col.) 24-0; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 25-5; Reynoldsburg (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) 23-1; Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) 21-5; Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) 26-3; Shadow Creek (Pearland, Texas) 32-3***; Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 22-7; St. Francis Prep (Fresh Meadows, N.Y.) 22-3; St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) 26-6; St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) 21-11; St. Mary Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.) 16-6; St. Michael’s (Austin, Texas) 32-4***; St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.) 28-2; Tartan (Oakdale, Minn.) 25-0; Tri-Cities (East Point, Ga.) 25-6; Trotwood-Madison (Trotwood, Ohio) 23-2; U of D Jesuit (Detroit, Mich.) 21-2**; Upper Dublin (Ft. Washington, Pa.) 27-1; Veterans Memorial (Corpus Christi, Texas) 39-0; Weatherford (Weatherford, Okla.) 27-1; Windermere (Windermere, Fla.) 25-5; Wisconsin Lutheran (Milwaukee, Wis.) 22-2; Woodside (Newport News, Va.) 24-1; Woodward Academy (College Park, Ga.) 27-4.
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 25 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
