Video: Xcellent 25 Girls Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
See a video update from last week's rankings.In boxing or mixed martial arts, it's known as "a puncher's chance" -- the heavy hitter might not be that good of a boxer, but if they can land that one big blow, they can shock the world.
In basketball, the 3-pointer is the puncher's chance, and little Pinewood (210 students) made 16 of them to knock off previous No. 1 St. Mary's of Stockton in the Northern California Regional Open Division semifinal, 72-69. St. Mary's led by 10 in the second half in its home gym, but Pinewood kept bombing away -- and never seemed to miss -- to hold on for the biggest upset of this season, if not the last several.
Pinewood played a tough schedule; all of its five losses came at the hands of quality teams; starting point guard Bri Carlos missed the last 13 games; there's no player taller than 5-foot-10, and there's only one senior on the roster. And if you like comparative scores, try this: Pinewood lost in overtime to Brookside Christian, and Brookside Christian trailed No. 6 Miramonte 100-28 after three quarters last Friday.
And so St. Mary's, the consensus No. 1 since preseason, is done for the year, losing its top ranking, unbeaten record and shot at a state title on its home court to a tiny school that not that long ago would have been playing in Division V rather than pulled up to the Open Division to play with the big schools.
But sometimes all you need is a puncher's chance.
Check out girls basketball playoff brackets from around the nationMaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Girls Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
Kayla Rogers and Ribault moved into the Xcellent 25 and are headed to the Dick's Invitational.
Photo by Gary McCullough
Patience pays off, as Duncanville moves to No. 1 thanks to the St. Mary's upset -- and of course, Duncanville is 39-0 and survived the very tough Texas gantlet, so it's not as if they didn't prove themselves.
2. (1) St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.), 28-1 *Season completeIt's hard to drop St. Mary's down too far, as a 72-69 loss to a quality team (24-5 Pinewood) can't erase wins over a lot of quality teams all over the country. Most prominent among them is the win over No. 3 Riverdale Baptist in the Nike TOC, which makes it easier to not slide St. Mary's down too far.
3. (3) Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.), 35-3Riverdale Baptist has ducked no one all year, and will finish the season in the best-ever Dick's Invitational. If Riverdale Baptist gets by No. 8 St. Francis, the winner of No. 14 Seton Catholic and No. 18 Ribault awaits.
4. (4) Centennial (Las Vegas), 31-1 *Season completeSeason complete.
5. (5) Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), 33-1 *Season completeSeason complete.
6. (6) Miramonte (Orinda, Calif.), 31-0Salesian, Miramonte's opponent Tuesday, took No. 2 St. Mary's to overtime earlier this year, and had cut the margin to five early in the fourth quarter -- and then
Sabrina Ionescu rattled off 10 straight points to create the separation that moved Miramonte into the NorCal Regional Open Division final against Pinewood Saturday. Note that Miramonte beat Pinewood 73-57, at Pinewood, on Feb. 20.
7. (7) Forestville (Md.), 25-2 *Season completeIn some situations, size matters. But in Maryland public schools, the 1A champion -- Forestville -- is the best of the bunch.
8. (8) St. Francis (Alpharetta, Ga.), 31-1The good news is that St. Francis got invited to the Dick's Invitational. The bad news is that they won't have 6-3
Kasiyahna Kushkituah -- she'll be out with an injury.
9. (9) Bellevue (Wash.), 29-0 *Season complete Season complete.
10. (12) Villa Maria Academy (Erie, Pa.), 29-0At one point, Archbishop Wood was 4-6, including a 1-3 showing at the Nike TOC. Since then, Wood has not lost, and handed No. 12 Neumann-Goretti its only loss. If Villa Maria can avoid getting pecked to death by Wood's deliberate style Saturday, it will have earned its top 10 ranking.
11. (13) St. John-Vianney (Holmdel, N.J.), 29-1St. John-Vianney is the top seed in New Jersey's Tournament of Champions, and will face the winner of Old Tappan and Lenape in the New Jersey semifinals this weekend. Rutgers Prep, which made a brief appearance in the Xcellent 25 earlier this year, is expected to be in the finals as well.
12. (17) Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia), 28-1Neumann-Goretti must get by 27-2 North Star to win the 2A title, but unfortunately, the two best Pennsylvania teams -- at least at this point -- are in different divisions and will never play each other.
13. (19) Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.), 29-4After disposing of Mission Hills 79-59, Chaminade and Long Beach Poly will resume their Southern California basketball war on Saturday. Poly won round one, 50-39, back in December, but Chaminade knocked off Poly 72-63 on March 5. The winner will move on to the state Open Division championship March 26 in Sacramento.
14. (15) Seton Catholic (Chandler, Ariz.), 31-1Seton Catholic took one trip to the West Coast earlier this year, and lost to Archbishop Mitty. Now they're heading east for the Dick's Invitational in a bracket with three other ranked teams, and a chance to show the doubters they belong in the top 15.
15. (16) Dekaney (Houston), 37-2 *Season completeSeason complete.
16. (NR) ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), 25-3 *Season completeThunderRidge earned this spot partly by beating No. 24 Highlands Ranch in the Colorado 5A finals, but also by going 3-1 in one the "lesser" brackets in the Nike TOC. The four ThunderRidge opponents there had a combined 104-21 record and the two worst were in their states' respective final fours.
17. (18) Argyle (Texas), 35-1 *Season completeSeason complete.
18. (NR) Ribault (Jacksonville, Fla.), 28-1Ribault has been on the fringes of the Xcellent 25 because of two things: a loss to Flagler Palm Coast that looked worse before that team went 24-2, and a lack of quality wins. With the Dick's Invitational on tap, quality wins are in reach, and so is a higher ranking.
19. (20) South (Wichita, Kan.), 25-0 *Season completeWe won't ever really know how good Wichita South, or any Kansas team, is because of the restrictive rules on number of games and the ability to play over Christmas break. But winning four state titles in a row is an achievement that can't be dulled by state rules.
20. (NR) Wadsworth (Ohio), 28-1 *Season completeThe only loss was to Mason back in January, but Wadsworth turned the tables in the Ohio Division I finals to not only claim a state championship but also jump into the Xcellent 25. That's Wadsworth's first title since 1997.
21. (21) Konawaena (Kealakekua, Hawaii), 27-1 *Season completeSeason complete.
22. (22) LeFlore (Mobile, Ala.), 35-0 *Season completeSeason complete.
23. (NR) Princess Anne (Virginia Beach, Va.), 29-2 *Season completePrincess Anne jumps into the Xcellent 25 after winning the Virginia 5A title. One of the two losses was to No. 3 Riverdale Baptist, and the other was to Salem, by one point, a team Princess Anne later beat three times.
24. (14) Highlands Ranch (Colo.), 26-2 *Season completeThe two losses were to No. 9 Bellevue and No. 16 ThunderRidge, and a collection of solid if not spectacular intersectional wins keeps Highlands Ranch in the Xcellent 25.
25. (25) Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.), 32-3 *Season completeSeason complete.
Dropped out: No. 10 Archbishop Mitty, No. 14 Grandview, No. 23 Northwest Guilford, No. 24 Mason.
