By Ronnie Flores

The weekend of March 8-10 was an epic one for high school basketball across the country. That's because many power states conclude their state championship events, and it caused plenty of change to the new FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com. Let's run down the key results:

* Plano East (Plano, Texas) made history by capturing a University Interscholastic League (UIL) state title in the highest classification (Class 6A) by going undefeated. In the final, the Panthers downed then FAB No. 6 Stony Point (Round Rock, Texas), 53-41, before 8,812 at The Alamodome in San Antonio. Leading the way was junior forward D.J. Hall with 18 points in a game Plano East was in control of throughout. Joining Hall on the all-tournament team was Plano East's Jordan Mizell, a 6-foot-2 senior guard.

With the victory, No. 5 Plano East (40-0) guaranteed itself a top five finish in the final 2023-24 FAB 50, which will be published on April 8. Stony Point, which downed No. 49 Beaumont United (Beaumont, Texas) in the semifinals, 54-46, dropped seven spots this week to No. 13, although its final ranking will not be determined until all the results across the country play out. Stony Point's only two losses in 40 games were to the Panthers.

* In the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Class AAAAAAA title game, No. 35 Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) captured its first-ever state crown with a 51-41 victory over then No. 20. McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.). Junior forward Jacob Wilkins, already committed to Georgia, led the way for the Rams with some big plays down the stretch after McEachern was threatening with one final push. Wilkins finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Purdue signee Gicarri Harris, a 6-foot-4 senior, added nine points and five rebounds for the victorious Rams. Grayson (which beat McEachern twice this season), held Indians star forward and Mr. Basketball USA candidate Ace Bailey to four points in the second half, as he netted 18 points on 8-of-20 shots from the field.

McEachern came into the game ranked higher in the FAB 50 because some of its previous national results, including a victory over new No. 25 North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.) and an overtime loss to No. 7 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.). Benefitting from Grayson's title game victory the most is new No. 23 Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.), which moves up 11 spots this week because it handed the Rams one of its only two losses with the other coming to No. 22 Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.). Perry was able to avenge two of its in-state losses with the out-of-state losses coming against Harvard-Westlake (twice) and No. 16 Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.).

"It’s something these kids will take with them forever," Grayson coach Geoffrey Pierce told www.ebooksnet.com. "They will forever be know as state champions in the largest classification in Georgia. I can guarantee there are a lot of former players and coaches from Grayson that are celebrating with us."

*At the Golden One Center in Sacramento, Calif., Harvard-Westlake downed No. 37 Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Open Division title game, 50-45, in a hard-fought game before approximately 5,000 fans. The game was close for the final three quarters after the Wolves took a 21-11 lead after one period. Salesian took its final lead (45-44) with 1:31 to go on a lay-up by sophomore Elias Obenyah, but Harvard-Westlake's McDonalds' All-American, USC-bound Trent Perry, scored the game's final six points and came up with a steal with just under a minute remaining to put his team in position to win its second consecutive CIF open state crown, the third program to do that since the advent of the open division in 2013. Perry, who finished with 17 points, hit an elbow jump shot with 26 seconds remaining and two free throws with under 10 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

Harvard-bound Robert Hinton scored a team-high 19 points for Harvard-Westlake, which defeated No. 21 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) in Tuesday's SoCal open final, 63-59, behind 28 points from Perry. It was the same team the Wolverines defeated for the CIF Southern Section open title. Harvard-Westlake not only beat Roosevelt and Perry twice, it also defeated McEachern and No. 36 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.), which captured the CIF D1 crown on Friday night and handed Salesian its only regular season loss in overtime. The out-of-state loss for Harvard-Westlake came in a one possession game to No. 2 Columbus (Miami, Fla.).

* Columbus became eligible for the Chipotle High School Basketball Nationals (April 4-6) by capturing the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Class 7A title, the Explorers' third consecutive state crown. The Explorers needed overtime to turn back then No. 31 Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.), 72-67, after giving up a 13-point lead in the third period. Battle-tested Oak Ridge, which downed No. 46 Winter Haven (Winter Haven, Fla.) in the semifinals, 85-74, used a 13-0 run late in the third quarter to get back in the game.

Cameron Boozer, last season's Mr. Basketball USA as a sophomore, came up with a thunderous slam dunk with five seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. Boozer finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals in the big victory. His brother Cayden Boozer added 16 points, while Michigan St.-bound Jase Richardson added 14 points.

In addition to defeating Harvard-Westlake, which moves up three spots to No. 7 this week, the Explorers own victories over No. 3 Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.), No. 4 Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) and No. 6 Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.).

Expect the FAB 50's No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 teams to join top-ranked Montverde Academy at Chipotle High School Basketball Nationals. The eight-team field for the event is expected to be announced this week and all its games will be broadcast live on ESPN platforms.

There will be more movement in the coming weeks based on the results in the states where the playoffs are still going such as Indiana and Pennsylvania, plus Chipotle Nationals. For many of the nation's best teams, however, this past weekend was big and capturing state titles on-the-court is something that can never be taken away, regardless of their final position in the FAB 50.

We'll give our take on the big off-court happenings in New Jersey later this week.

RELATED: ?Preseason 2023-24 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker | | ??

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

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By Ronnie Flores

This weekend some big matchups will take place that will crown league or section titles for highly-regarded teams in the latest FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com. In the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Open Division title game, No. 10 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) will take on No. 21 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.), as no matter the outcome there will be a first-time winner for the prestigious sectional crown.

Teams advance to the CIFSS open championship game by winning their respective pool of four teams each among the eight teams chosen by the section's open playoff committee. It's only right the Wolverines and Mustangs face each other Friday night at Cal Baptist University in Riverside after each going 3-0 in pool play the past two weeks.

For Roosevelt, which moves up one spot in this week's FAB 50, it clinched a spot in the section title game after its second of three pool games, a 64-59 victory over bubble club St. Pius X-St. Matthias (Downey, Calif.). Roosevelt trailed by eight points in the third period and didn’t take control of the game until the final six and a half minutes of the game. Junior guard and All-American candidate Brayden Burries scored a game-high 21 points for Roosevelt. Even though a trip to the section title game was already secure, the Mustangs pulled out a 80-76 overtime victory over 11-time CIF state champ Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) after junior guard Isaac Williamson sent the game in an extra stanza with a clutch 3-pointer.

We gave some thought about moving up Roosevelt a few more spots, but for now it can't be in front of No. 20 McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.). The Indians took Harvard-Westlake to overtime before bowing to the CIF's top-ranked team in a showcase game at the Spalding Hoophall Classic on MLK Monday, 60-59. Obviously, that comparative score criteria between Roosevelt and McEachern could change next week.

McEachern, the Region 3-AAAAAAA champions, will enter the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Class AAAAAAA state tournament as one of its favorites along with No. 40 Grayson (Loganville, Ga.), which has lost to No. 39 Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.) and to highly-regarded Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.). Should our rankings hold up, McEachern would meet Grayson in the GHSA's highest classification state title game on March 9.

After returning from Springfield, Mass., Harvard-Westlake had a tough week, losing to both Mission League foes Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.). Harvard-Westlake is able to move up two spots this week after avenging the loss to Sierra Canyon in resounding fashion in its second pool play game, 72-38. The Wolverines defense was stifling last week and role players Christian Horry and Amir Jones were hitting their outside shots to make this team the favorite to capture the CIF state open title on March 9 at the Golden One Center in Sacramento.

It's no secret Harvard-Westlake is extremely motivated to win both the section and state open titles after winning last year's CIF open crown in Sacramento after failing to advance to the CIFSS open final two weeks prior. Harvard-Westlake, which avenged the earlier loss to Notre Dame this season with a 60-56 victory in the Mission League Tournament semifinals, punched its ticket for this year's CIFSS title game with a 64-40 victory over No. 34 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) in its third pool game. McDonalds' All-American Trent Perry had 24 points and the defense once again was the difference-maker, as Bosco converted a mere three field goals in the first half and trialed 29-9 at halftime in a game that wasn’t really as close as the final score indicated.

This week's top newcomer is Notre Dame, which was not chosen for the CIFSS open playoffs even though it split with Harvard-Westlake, the top seed. Notre Dame is the top seed in the CIFSS D1 playoffs and advanced to Saturday's title game at the Toyota Arena in Ontario vs. No. 2 seed Windward (Los Angeles) courtesy of victories over state ranked clubs Santa Margarita of Orange County (63-50) and Redondo Union of Los Angeles County (67-60).

Notre Dame was able to leapfrog St. John Bosco and No. 35 Salesian (Richmond, Calif.), which has only lost to Bosco in overtime, because of Harvard-Westlake’s dominance in its pool game victories over St. John Bosco and Sierra Canyon. The Wolverines dominated those two teams and for now, Notre Dame owning a victory over the CIF’s top ranked team and playing them close in another game carries plenty of weight in our rankings criteria. Obviously, that could change going into next week when we once again update the FAB 50.

We'll look to get it out as soon as we can, because next Monday evening the Philadelphia Catholic League final will take place at The Palestra. Wednesday's semifinals will pit No. 24 Roman Catholic (Philadelphia) vs. Father Judge (Philadelphia) and No. 38 Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) vs. Archbishop Ryan (Philadelphia). Roman Catholic could avenge on of its two losses in the semifinals vs. Father Judge.

Also taking place on Feb. 26 is the championship game of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) tournament at American University. WCAC regular season champion and FAB 50 No. 3 Paul VI is the top seed and has only lost to the two teams ranked ahead of it in the nation's longest running weekly national poll.

RELATED: ?Preseason 2023-24 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker | | ??

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

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