
Top-ranked Mater Dei will face a familiar playoff foe Tuesday in Etiwanda. The Monarchs and Eagles split a pair of postseason contests a year ago.
Photo by Louis Lopez
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
1. (No. 1 last week) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 32-0The Monarchs handled St. Augustine (San Diego) 65-38 on Friday night in the first round of Open Division state tournament action. Joining Mater Dei in the SoCal final four is Tuesday's opponent Etiwanda along with Redondo Union and Westchester (Los Angeles) on the opposite side of the bracket.
2. (2) Montverde Academy (Fla.), 25-0 *Montverde Academy is the top seed for the Dick's Sporting Goods High School National Tournament scheduled for April 3-5 in New York City. The Eagles face No. 4 Sagemont in the opening round.
3. (3) Rainier Beach (Seattle), 29-0Also headed to Dick's Nationals, the Vikings will meet No. 15 Findlay Prep in quarterfinal play.
4. (4) Sagemont (Weston, Fla.), 33-0In a bit of a bracketing oddity considering both teams are from Florida, Sagemont opens at Dick's Nationals against No. 1 Montverde Academy. The Lions are pegged No. 18 nationally by USA Today, the rankings favored by organizers and used to help seed bracket.
5. (5) Northside Christian Academy (Charlotte, N.C.), 28-1Another program headed the Dick's Nationals, the Knights will play against storied No. 10 Oak Hill Academy.