By Ronnie Flores

It's not how you start, but how you finish and for teams that do suffer a loss at an inopportune time, the hope should be that their foes do well the rest of the way. That theme definitely applied to the team at Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.). The Pumas began No. 33 in the preseason FAB 50 after capturing the first ever Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) open division state tile in 2222-23. Perry dropped out of the nation's longest-running weekly national rankings earlier this season after dropping games to Arizona clubs, including Sunnyslope (Phoenix, Ariz.), the team it beat in last year's open title game.

This week the Pumas made a grand return as the highest of six newcomers at No. 34 after defeating then No. 38 Millennium (Goodyear, Ariz.), 71-67, to repeat as AIA open division state champs. Millennium had an early 17-point lead, but Perry chipped away at its deficit behind some big shots by guard Barron Silsby down the stretch and the clutch play of All-American Koa Peat. Silsby had 10 second half points to help Perry overcome a 41-32 halftime deficit, while Peat, still a junior and a returning first team Elite All-American, finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.

Millennium's Sabien Cain finished with 33 points, including an incredible seven 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game for a team that drops five spots this week. Sunnyslope was the only in-state team Perry didn't end up defeating, as its out of state losses were to No. 18 Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) and to No. 10 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.), twice. On Tuesday, Harvard-Westlake hosts No. 24 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) in the California InterscholasticFederation (CIF) SoCal open division regional title game with the winner taking on either No. 37 Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) or unranked Riordan (San Francisco, Calif.) for the CIF Open Division state title on March 9 at the Golden One Center in Sacramento.

It goes without saying Perry would benefit from Harvard-Westlake winning back-to-back open state crowns, while Salesian would hop the Pumas if it goes on to win its final two games to capture its first CIF open state title. Perry has now won three consecutive AIA state titles and Peat has never lost a AIA playoff game in his stellar three-year career. Perry defeated Basha (Chandler, Ariz.) in the semifinals, 83-79, as Peat poured in 35 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

Another team enjoying a three-peat that finished strong is No. 28 Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.), which captured the District of Columbia State Athletic Association (DCSAA) Class AA title with a 47-37 victory over St. John's (Washington, D.C.). The Quakers got 16 points from Acaden Lewis and 15 from Jalen Rougier-Roane in the title game victory. The big win in terms of rankings position, was the 53-52 semifinal victory over then No. 16 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), as the Quakers' Lewis was a difference-maker in a tight game with 21 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Sidwell Friends has now won three consecutive DCSAA state titles and four in the past five seasons and is up 18 spots this week. The Purple Eagles, who were runners-up in the WCAC Tournament to No. 3 Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) on Monday, drop 13 spots but can't go down any further. No. 30 Great Crossing (Georgetown, Ky.) has only lost in overtime to WCAC member Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.), a team Gonzaga split with. No. 31 Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) has also lost to Bishop O’Connell with another loss to a club Gonzaga beat: Westminster Academy (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.). Oak Ridge's third loss is to FAB 50 No. 1 Montverde Academy of Florida.

This Friday, Oak Ridge will battle No. 46 Winter Haven (Winter Haven, Fla.) in the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Class 7A semifinals. The other semifinal pits Evans (Orlando, Fla.) vs. No. 2 Columbus (Miami) with the winners of each game playing on Saturday evening.

In addition to Florida and California, another power state that will crown state champions this week is Texas. The University Interscholastic League (UIL) Class 6A Final Four will take place at The Alamodome in San Antonio. No. 5 and unbeaten Plano East (Plano, Texas) will take on Lake Ridge (Mansfield, Texas) in one semifinal, with No. 6 Stony Point (Round Rock, Texas) facing new No. 49 Beaumont United (Beaumont, Texas) in the other. Beaumont United will be making its fourth consecutive state Final Four appearance, while Stony Point has only lost to Plano East.

Another attractive state final takes place in Georgia, where the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Class AAAAAAA title game at the Macon Coliseum pits No. 20 McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) vs. No. 35 Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) on Saturday evening. Grayson has only lost to state champ and No. 25 Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.) and to Perry.

The 2023-24 season will conclude with the Chipotle High School Basketball Nationals, April 4-6, at Brownsburg (Ind.) just outside of Indianapolis. Expect an invite for Columbus provided it captures a state title and the other top four teams in the FAB 50. All games at the event will be broadcast live on ESPN platforms.

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

The post UPDATED FAB 50: State Championships On The Line! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

By Ronnie Flores

Good team have a group of realistic goals it sets at the beginning of each season. One is to win league or conference titles and go on to capture regional or sectional titles. The big prize for many, obviously, is a state championship.

For some, those goals were realized this past week and for another highly-ranked club the dream came to fruition on Monday evening.

One club that is actually outside the latest FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com is bubble club Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.). The Gaels took some lumps early, but avenged losses to Liberty (Henderson, Nev.) and Coronado (Henderson, Nev.) to capture the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) Class 5A state title.

Coach Grant Rice's club defeated Coronado in the state championship game, 63-60, as senior Noah Westbrook, playing high school basketball for the first time, had 13 points and nine rebounds and did his best to thwart Coronado junior big man Tee Bartlett. Bishop Gorman doesn't quite have a resume strong enough to crack into the FAB 50, but its final positioning won't be determined into all the results of the season are complete. For now, Gorman and other state champions who have competed its season is listed by an asterisk (***).

Rice has now coached the Gorman program to 14 state titles, and its first since 2020 right before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rice has coached many FAB 50 ranked state champs, but even though this team is a notch below its national competition, this is one of the most satisfying of the 14 state titles considering where the program began last fall with player defections and a young roster.

Hawaii has also crowned its state champs and after this week Mississippi will also be complete. This week's lone newcomer is No. 50 Pascagoula (Pascagoula, Miss.), the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) top-ranked Class 6A club that is two wins away from a coveted state crown. On Wednesday, the Panthers take on 23-9 Ridgeland (Miss.) and will face either Olive Branch (Miss.) or Terry (Miss.) on Saturday for the title if they win in the semis. Pascagoula has avenged its only loss to Madison Central (Madison, Miss.).

For some teams that took a recent loss, such as No. 19 Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.), the season is not over and those teams will look to bounce back in the regional or state playoffs. Stepinac fell to unranked St. Raymond (Bronx, N.Y.), a team it had already beaten twice, in the New York Archdiocesan Class AA Championship and will look to bounce back in the upcoming Intersectional AA tourney after dropping two spots this week.

Last season, Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) captured the coveted California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Open Division state crown after bouncing back from losing in the CIF Southern Section Open Division pool play format and failing to advance to the section title game. This year, one of the Wolverines' main goals was to win the Mission League Tournament (which they did) and repeat as state champions while capturing the sectional crown.

The No. 10 ranked Wolverines completed goal No. 2 by defeating then No. 21 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.), 54-47, in the CIFSS open title game at Cal Baptist University in Riverside to capture the program's first ever section open crown. As has been the case in the post-season, Harvard-Westlake clamped down on defense and worked the boards, holding Roosevelt to 30 percent shooting from the field while limiting star guard Brayden Burries to 4-of-14 shooting from the field in a 14-point performance. Doing alot of the work defensively on Burries was junior forward Nik Khamenia, who has drawn many tough assignments in the playoff the past two seasons and came up with passing grades. Khamenia had 15 points and seven rebounds, while Harvard-bound Robert Hinton also had 15 points, including two free throws that iced the game with 13 seconds to go after a loose ball foul was called on the snake-bit Mustangs off a Harvard-Westlake missed free throw.

Harvard-Westlake is now the No. 1 seed in the upcoming CIF SoCal Open Regional Playoffs, which get underway on Wednesday. The Mustangs come in as the No. 2 seed and FAB 50 No. 26 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) is the No. 3 seed. The top seed in the NorCal open playoffs is No. 36 Salesian (Richmond, Calif.), which has only lost to No. 35 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.), the top seed in the CIF SoCal D1 regional tournament.

The top two seeds in both the NorCal and SoCal open regional have byes. The open regional finals are set for March 5 with the CIF Open State Championship set for March 9 at the Golden One Center in Sacramento.

League/Conference titles are huge in many regions of the country, and not many are more prestigious than the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) tournament title. The WCAC title game was held on Monday night, so its result won't be credited until next week's FAB 50, but the result is more than newsworthy now.

FAB 50 No. 3 Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) captured its second WCAC title in three seasons with a 63-51 victory over No. 16 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) at American University. Duke-bound Darren Harris led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds for a program that is in the thick of the FAB 50 national title race.

With the win, Paul VI is the first team to go unbeaten in WCAC play and capture the tournament title in the same season since 2011-12. That season, Paul VI pulled off the WCAC double in addition to winning the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) title when it finished No. 12 in the FAB 50.

In what spot will the Panthers finish this season?

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

The post NEW FAB 50: Champions Crowned! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

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FAB 50 ranked and quality teams usually win big in early round playoff games, so there isn't much movement at the top of the latest FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com.

The only team in the Top 25 to lose last week was previous No. 6 Columbus (Miami, Fla.). The Explorers fell to unranked Palmetto (Fla.) in overtime in the Class 7A, District 16 title game, 66-64. It was Columbus' first loss of the season to a team from South Florida. Because of the quality wins on its resume and by defeating Palmetto by a combined 67 points in handing that team two of its four losses, Columbus only drops three spots in this week's rankings. The Explorers fall to No. 9 right in front of the Camden (N.J.) team it beat in early January. Columbus is still seeded No. 1 in its eight-team region in the FHSAA Class 7A power rankings and have home court priority in the regional. ?

This week's highest rated newcomer is another team that went into overtime last week. In fact, No. 41 Simeon (Chicago, Ill.) played five overtimes in two games over a period of 48 hours to capture the 2023 Chicago Public League?(CPL) crown in coach Robert Smith's final season. Simeon also avenged two of its regular season losses to move back up in front of Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.). Benet Academy, which has one regular season loss to Simeon, moves up five spots to No. 43 this week.

Simeon outlasted Curie (Chicago, Ill.) in the semifinals, 64-60, in an incredible four-overtime affair. Unsigned senior guard Jalen Griffith had 21 points for Simeon in the gut-check win. With no shot clock in play, each team only scored two points in the third extra period. Curie had multiple opportunities to win, but the Wolverines' Miles Rubin came up with a clutch block and Simeon senior point guard Kaiden Space nailed two free throws to seal the semifinal victory.

In Saturday's championship game at UIC Credit Union 1 Arena, it must of felt like no sweat to play an extra period against Kenwood Academy (Chicago, Ill.), the other team that beat the Wolverines earlier in the season. Simeon dominated the extra period, rolling to a 72-64 victory to give Smith his eighth CPL title.

Simeon, which was led by Wes Rubin with 21 points with his brother Miles chipping in 15 vs. Kenwood Academy, will now look to capture a seventh IHSA state crown under Smith's leadership in Class 3A.

Senior Dai Dai Ames, bound for Kansas St., led Kenwood Academy with 22 points and scored his team's only points in overtime on two free throws.

A newcomer that has a big game coming up on Tuesday is No. 44 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.), a participant in the CIF Southern Section open division playoffs. In a format with two pools of four teams each, Notre Dame defeated previous No. 34 Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.), 71-63, in the number four vs. number five seed pool game. Notre Dame was the only victor in one of the four CIFSS open pool games as the lower, visiting seed, as its defense played superbly in the second and third quarter while the offense nailed 13-of-21 3-pointers. Notre Dame’s "big three" guards all made an impact with Gonzaga-bound Dusty Stromer scoring 20 points, Duke-bound Caleb Foster hitting for 18 points and Houston-bound Mercy Miller, a junior, netting 17 points.

The Knights can really make some FAB 50 noise on Tuesday when they hit the road to take on number one seed and FAB 50 No. 6 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) in their second pool play game. If Notre Dame can win its second consecutive road pool play game, it would capture Pool “A” and its Mission League rematch with Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) on Friday (the third pool game) wouldn’t have any bearing other than SoCal regional placement.

Notre Dame took No. 11 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) into double overtime in one of the two games versus its Mission League foe during the regular season. In Pool "B" should the Wolverines and No. 19 West Ranch (Valencia, Calif.) win pool play games at home on Tuesday, the two ranked clubs would meet Friday in a defacto semifinal game to determine the winner of that pool. That game would be at Harvard-Westlake, as the Wolverines are the number two seed and West Ranch the number three. The CIFSS open championship game is set for February 25 at the Honda Center in Orange County.

No. 1 Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) plays for the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) state title. The VISAA playoffs are not sanctioned by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). In order for teams to qualify for the end-of-season State Champions Invitational, it must capture a NFHS-sanctioned state championship in its respective state. This opens the door for the Panthers to compete at GEICO Nationals, which is slated for March 30 - April 1 and has been a tournament for top independent programs since the 2008-09 season and National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (NIBC) clubs since its inception in 2020-21.

Paul VI is in consideration for a GEICO Nationals berth and coach Glen Farello told Ballislife his team would accept an invitation to the event if it was chosen to participate.

Paul VI is the No. 1 team in the FAB 50, but the team likely to earn the No. 1 seed is No. 2 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.). The Eagles, GEICO Nationals tournament champions the past two seasons, closed out their regular season with a 62-52 victory over No. 20 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) to finish 11-1 in NIBC play in 2022-23. MVA defeated IMG Academy twice during the regular season and only lost to No. 21 AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) in conference play.

Montverde Academy only scored five points in the first quarter and trialed 23-18 at halftime, but executed and made the extra passes down the stretch. At one point, IMG Academy led by as many as 12 points. Junior forward Derik Queen had another strong game for a MVA club that won its final 11 NIBC games with its non-NIBC loss to No. 27 Mt. St. Joseph (Baltimore, Md.), a team No. 1 Paul VI defeated.

While Montverde Academy and IMG Academy are already done with the regular season (per FHSAA rules which both programs follow in order to be eligible to play those full member programs), Paul VI still has plenty of games to go in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC), which is the strongest parochial high school conference in the country. From the results so far this season, Paul VI would be a fine addition to GEICO Nationals.

According to event organizers with Skokie, Ill.-based Paragon Marketing, new state associations sanctioned by the NFHS are going to allow their state championship teams the opportunity to play in the State Champions Invitational if selected.

RELATED: ?Preseason 2022-23 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

The post NEW FAB 50: Teams Dig Deep appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

By Ronnie Flores

As did many of the nation's top teams, FAB 50 No. 1 ranked Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) ventured to the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mo., to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and play a showcase game. The Panthers took on battle-tested and then FAB 50 No. 23 Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.) and came away with a 72-59 victory. Mr. Basketball USA candidate DeShawn Harris-Smith had a big game for Paul VI with 23 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

While Paul VI left the birthplace of basketball with a victory, not all top-ranked teams were so lucky and the results at that four-day event, in addition to the games at the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Mo., led to major changes in this week's FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com.

FAB 50 No. 3 Link Academy stamped itself as a major FAB 50 national title contender by defeating then No. 13 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) in the Bass Pro TOC title game, 72-66, to remain unbeaten. Baylor-bound shooting guard Ja'Kobe Walter knocked down key shots and finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Coach Bill Armstrong also had high praise for junior point guard Elliot Cadeau, as the North Carolina-bound playmaker had 16 points and eight assists while controlling the game's tempo.

Sunrise Christian attempted the "Springfield Double" and traveled to the Eastern Seaboard on Sunday to take on No. 2 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) on MLK Monday after its TOC championship loss on Saturday. The Buffaloes were flat and Montverde Academy rolled to a 64-51 victory it was in control of the entire way. A balanced MVA effort included 13 points from junior junior guard Curtis Givens, 11 points from senior wing K.J. Evans and 10 points and eight assists from junior forward Liam McNeeley. The Eagles also defeated NIBC club La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) to remain at No. 2 in this week's rankings.

Miro Little, a 6-foot-4 guard bound for Baylor, was the lone offensive bright spot vs. MVA for Sunrise Christian Academy, netting 17 points of 7-of-9 shooting. The Buffaloes actually move up two spots in this week's FAB 50 because they own a NIBC victory over No. 16 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), which knocked off previous No. 5 AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.), 58-53, in the event's final game. It was the Dragons' second loss to IMG Academy in NIBC play this season, so the Dragons fall to No. 17 behind the Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) club it lost to earlier in the season. Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.), which beat bubble club Oak Hill Academy of Virginia in its Hoophall game, has losses to No. 2 MVA and to No. 16 IMG Academy, which remains ranked lower than LuHi because of losses to No. 12 St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) and unranked Huntington Prep of West Virginia.

St. John's fell from the ranks of the unbeaten and five spots to No. 12 after its Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) 72-64 loss to Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.). The Cadets can't fall any further, however, because of the quality of their schedule and an earlier victory over No. 16 IMG Academy. WCAC club Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) dropped its first game of the season to unranked Woodside (Newport New, Va.) at the DTLR MLK Classic on MLK Monday. The Purple Eagles, now at No. 20 in the FAB 50, were playing without sophomore point guard Nyk Lewis and remain tied for first place in the WCAC standings with top-ranked Paul VI and Bishop Ireton (Alexandria, Va.).

Two teams that moved up in the rankings following the Hoophall Classic are No. 6 Columbus (Miami, Fla.) and No. 7 Centennial (Corona, Calif.). Centennial defeated No. 10 Camden (N.J.), 66-62. Camden took a 39-38 lead mid-way through the third period, but Duke-bound guard Jared McCain answered with a 3-pointer and after a turnover and dunk by LMU-bound forward Aaron McBride, the Huskies kept their claws on the Panthers the rest of the way. McCain hit six dagger 3-pointers and scored 27 points, while McBride finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds and a handful of his trademark hustle plays that often make the difference in close games.

Mr. Basketball USA candidate D.J. Wagner finished with 27 points (12-of-23 field goal attmepts) in the loss to Centennial. On MLK Monday, the Panthers bounced back from the Centennial loss with a resounding 90-54 win over No. 39 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.). Six players netted double figures for Camden against a team that earlier defeated No. 41 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) at the event, 82-66.

Columbus also owns a win over Camden and left Massachusetts with two victories of its own. The Explorers easily downed unranked San Ysidro (Calif.), 74-67, as Mr. Basketball USA candidate Cam Boozer, a sophomore, finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals. On MLK Monday, Columbus defeated No. 32 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) to move up three spots in the rankings right in front of Centennial, the season-long top ranked team in the Cal-Hi Sports state Top 25 rankings.

Sierra Canyon went on a 11-0 run to take a 42-32 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the game. Columbus cut its deficit to one point (46-45) with 15.4 seconds remaining on two free throws by Boozer, and won the game 47-46 on a put-back layup off a Boozer miss by junior forward Malik Abdullahi with just over a second remaining after Sierra Canyon's Isaiah Elohim missed the front end of a one-and-one situation. Boozer finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Elohim scored 16 points for Sierra Canyon.

Columbus remains in front of Centennial mainly because of the Huskies' loss to Wheeler. Both clubs have lost to No. 5 Duncanville (Texas), with Centennial's third loss coming to No. 21 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.), a team that lost to Camden. Columbus' other losses are to No. 14 Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.), which plays Camden on January 28, and to No. 4 John Marshall (Richmond, Va.).

Unbeaten John Marshall is able to hop Duncanville, the defending FAB 50 champions, after previous No. 12 West Linn (Ore.) was shocked at the MLK Holiday Classic at De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), 63-53, by the host school. West Linn suffered its first loss and has earlier wins over Duncanville, Sierra Canyon and bubble club Modesto Christian (Modesto, Calif.).

The highest rated of the six newcomers this week is Kenwood (Chicago, Ill.) at No. 27. For the first time ever, Mike Irvin's club is the top-rated club in the greater Chicago Metro after downing previous No. 14 Simeon (Chicago, Ill.), 46-43, in a Chicago Public League showdown. Kenwood, which began at No. 39 in the preseason rankings and plays Camden on Jan. 20 at Depaul University’s McGrath-Phillips Arena, got two clutch free throws from leading player Dai Dai Ames with five seconds remaining to seal the win.

Kenwood guard calmly sank two free throws with five seconds left to seal the victory. Kenwood defeated Simeon for the first time in program history, as the Kansas St.-bound guard finished with 20 points, six rebounds and four steals. Irvin pointed to the rugged play of 6-foot-8 Solomon Mosley as a key to victory.

Shout out to Kenwood and the other clubs that broke into the nation's longest-running weekly national rankings. Kudos also go out to those event directors that took a moment during their busy events to honor Dr. King and his legacy.

RELATED:  Preseason 2022-23 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

The post NEW FAB 50: Special MLK Edition! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

By Ronnie Flores

After a majority of the nation's top teams traveled to holiday events in late December to test their wares against top competition, those same clubs returned home and stayed local to begin league, conference and/or district play. Predictably, they won most of those games and there isn't as much volatility in this week's FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com.

That could change in next week's special FAB 50 MLK edition as a plethora of ranked teams participate in showcase events centered around Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, particularly the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., and the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Mo. No. 13 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) is actually doing the "Springfield Double", playing No. 2 Montverde Academy on MLK Monday (3 pm ET, ESPNU) after traveling from Missouri on Sunday. The Buffaloes will look to capture the Bass Pro TOC title over the likes of No. 3 Link Academy (Branson, Mo.), No. 40 Staley (Kansas City, Mo.) and No. 43 Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.).

Link Academy has a perfect opportunity in this year's TOC to propel itself into serious FAB 50 title contention after advancing to the championship game of GEICO Nationals last season. Unbeaten Staley also has a great opportunity to prove its rankings worth on a national scale, opening the prestigious tournament with battle-tested bubble club Calvary Christian Academy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). As for Christ the King, the Royals' two losses to Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) and Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) are not looking bad at all. Paul VI, of course, is the No. 1 team in the FAB 50 and the Trailblazers took down previous No. 13 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.), 66-55, in front of approximately 2,500 fans at the Chosen 1’s Invitational in Southern California. Senior sharp-shooter Ashton Hardaway, the son of former NBA player and current Memphis coach Penny Hardaway who will play for his father in college, nailed four 3-pointers and had 18 points to lead the comeback win, while uncommitted senior guard Bronny James also played well with 22 points. With its big Saturday win over Wheeler, Sierra Canyon is up to No. 32 in this week's rankings. Sierra Canyon will make the trek to the Hoophall Classic to take on No. 9 Columbus (Miami, Fla.) on MLK Monday (1 pm ET, ESPN).

While most of the country was at home this past week, previous No. 2 Camden (N.J.) made the trek down to Miami to take on battle-tested Columbus in what was its first major test of the season. Camden couldn't overcome a slow offensive start and couldn't slow down sophomore forward and Mr. Basketball USA candidate Cam Boozer down the stretch, as he finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds in the 75-66 victory. The loss drops Camden eight spots to No. 10, while Columbus moves up two spots No. 9. The Explorers have three overall losses and have now done enough to hop in front of No. 15 Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.). Columbus' other two losses are to No. 4 Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas) and to No. 6 John Marshall (Richmond, Va.).

Camden, who bounced back from the loss with a 83-68 win over No. 26 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) at the Iverson Classic in New Jersey, has two big games at the Hoophall Classic. The Panthers will take on No. 16 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) on Jan. 14 (6 pm ET, ESPN) and take on No. 38 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) on MLK Monday (11 am ET, ESPN).

The three teams right in front of Columbus in the rankings are all unbeaten with tough games coming up in either a tournament or conference play. We are at the point in the season where we must begin to reward unbeaten clubs, as No. 11 Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) and No. 12 West Linn (West Linn, Ore.) also get nice bumps up in the rankings. There are now 15 unbeaten clubs in the FAB 50, including the three newcomers who occupy spots No. 48-50 in the nations' longest running weekly national high school basketball rankings.

As is customary after MLK weekend in a tradition we started nearly 20 years ago and has been followed by other national pollsters, next week's FAB 50 will be pushed back a day to account for all the Monday MLK results.

Can Link Academy remain unbeaten, or will Sunrise Christian Academy successfully pull off the "Springfield Double"? How many unbeaten clubs will remain after this upcoming special weekend for high school basketball?

RELATED: ?Preseason 2022-23 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

The post UPDATED FAB 50: Looking Up & Ahead! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

By Ronnie Flores

Despite a plethora of of results from all over the country following the holiday tournament season, the third edition of the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com for the 2022-23 season shows Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) maintaining its No. 1 spot despite a third place finish in the prestigious City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla. That event was captured by No. 5 Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) with a 61-44 victor over No. 11 Columbus (Miami, Fla.), the team that defeated Paul VI in the semifinals.

Imhotep Charter's Florida Gulf Coast-bound point guard Rahmir Barno made all of his three 3-point attempts and finished with 21 points, while Kentucky-bound forward Justin Edwards added 16 points and six rebounds in the title game win. The margin of victory over Columbus helps the defending PIAA Class 5A state champs move up five spots in the latest FAB 50 update, despite later taking a 65-55 loss to No. 25 Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) at the Jumpman Classic in the Bronx, N.Y. Unlike many years ago, taking an early-season loss doesn't put a team out of FAB 50 title contention.

Let's take a look at why Paul VI remains No. 1:

What's Coming Up Is Important
For the Panthers, it's not about being No. 1. They certainly have the talent and resume for that. It's about remaining No. 1. It's alot easier to get there than to stay there. That's why what No. 3 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) has accomplished in recent seasons is so impressive. When you're on top, every team is gunning for you and a win over a top-ranked team can make a team's season.

Paul VI not only has wins over No. 13 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.), 63-61, and No. 15 Lake Highlands (Dallas, Texas), 64-58, it blasted No. 16 Mt. St. Joseph (Baltimore, Md.), 87-52, and No. 36 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 75-47. On top of that, the Panthers' conference is so strong. They'll have to defeat No. 8 St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) and No. 9 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) in Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) games, not to mention bubble clubs DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) and Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.), to stay on top. If the Panthers survive their WCAC regular season slate and defeat No. 26 Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.) on January 15, they'll have the resume of a season-ending No. 1 team. Then they'll still have to win the WCAC playoff tournament, their own state tournament and likely beat tough teams at the Alhambra Catholic Invitational.

Camden (N.J.) comes in at No. 2 this week for the same reason. Since its season in New Jersey starts much later than other clubs, it's about what is coming down the line. Camden takes on Columbus on January 4 in Florida and faces No. 20 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) two nights later. The Panthers also take on the No. 14 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) club Don Bosco Prep just defeated and No. 40 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) at the Spalding Hoophall Classic, Jan. 14-16. There is a game reportedly getting finalized with Imhotep Charter as well.

That means the top of the rankings will take care of itself. If Camden defeats the Columbus club Paul VI lost to and remains unbeaten throughout the regular season, D.J. Wagner and company will have one impressive resume.

Doing The Research On Top Teams
One of the main reasons Paul VI remains No. 1 is the schedule it had coming into the season and how good the team is. If we didn't think coach Glenn Farello's club was one of the best in the country, we wouldn't have started them No. 3 in the preseason. Seeing No. 8 St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) remain unbeaten by capturing the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic in Del Mar, Calif., and realizing the Cadets could finish No. 3 or No. 4 in the WCAC standings and still have a solid season is eye-opening because they have a fine team. Similar to the teams in the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (NIBC), it's extremely difficult to win each conference game and the teams don't just automatically drop far down after a loss. On the flip side, it's not that easy for a team to just come out of nowhere and appear in the Top 10.

Most of the country's top teams have taken a loss or started later and are just now getting into the meat of their schedule. That's why teams such as No. 6 Link Academy (Branson, Mo.), No. 7 John Marshall (Richmond, Va.) and No. 18 Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) get nice bumps up as unbeaten clubs. John Marshall also defeated Columbus, with the Justices' 50-47 victory coming in the Chick-fil-A Classic (Columbia, S.C.) American Bracket semifinals. In the final, John Marshall downed No. 13 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.), 68-55, as North Carolina State-bound guard Dennis Parker netted a game-high 22 points, while junior point guard Damon "Redd" Thompson Jr. scored 17 points and was named tourney MVP.

Scheduling Is Paramount
It would have been interesting if previous No. 6 Duncanville (Texas) would have defeated No. 19 West Linn (Ore.) in the championship game of the Les Schwab Invitational in Hillsboro, Ore., because the defending FAB 50 champs had more quality wins in November and December than any other team. The 24 points and 12 rebound of Mr. Basketball USA candidate Ronald Holland was not enough to offset a scintillating performance by Oregon-bound point guard Jackson Shelstad. He scored a game-high 30 points, including 12-of-13 from the charity stripe, and had eight rebounds. For the tournament, in which West Linn downed No. 37 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) in the semifinals, 86-69, Shelstad averaged 33 ppg, including a 38-point performance against the Trailblazers.

Duncanville scheduled to compete for the FAB 50 title and it's reflected in its current ranking. The Panthers drop four spots to No. 10, and remain nine spots ahead of West Linn, because you can't ignore their other quality wins. Duncanville has defeated No. 11 Columbus, No. 14 Centennial and No. 15 Lake Highlands (Dallas, Texas), among others. Should West Linn continue to win, the gap between it and Duncanville will shrink. It would also bode well for West Linn if Sierra Canyon would defeat No. 13 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) at the Chosen 1's Invitational this weekend in Southern California at USC's Galen Center. Wheeler owns a win over Centennial.

The same holds true for the gap between No. 16 Mt. St. Joseph (Baltimore, Md.) and No. 3 Montverde Academy should the Gaels continue to win in the Baltimore Catholic League (BCL). We're at the point where every single head-to-head result can't put the winner in front of the loser. That result, however, becomes more important as we reach the season's finish line.

Parity Is Good
There might not be a super team or all-time great like the 2019-20 Montverde Academy club, and that's okay. We mentioned that in the preseason and it's actually a good thing. Long gone are the days in the early years of the National Prep Poll (FAB 50 precursor) that began in 1987-88 where many of the top 10 teams finished unbeaten. There are more programs than ever that feel they have a legitimate shot at the FAB 50 title by finishing No. 1 and there is truth in that sentiment. As long as those teams schedule as if they are playing for No. 1 and have the talent and coaching to win the games on that schedule, then the results usually take care of rest.

RELATED:  Preseason 2022-23 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

The post NEW FAB 50: Who Can STAY No. 1? appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

By Ronnie Flores

With the second edition of the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com for the 2022-23 season comes a new No. 1 team. Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) began as preseason No. 1, AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) took over the top spot after knocking off the Eagles and preseason No. 2 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.). After being shocked by Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah), 61-48, at the Air Capital Hoopfest on Dec. 1, the Dragons looked for revenge against the same club at Hoophall West in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Coach Ed Gipson's club was able to avenge the loss to Wasatch Academy with a 58-46 victory on Dec. 9, but the following day the Dragons found out just how hard it will be to win every night in the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (NIBC) and with the bulls-eye of being the nation's No. 1 team when it fell to No. 5 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), 67-61. In the loss to Wasatch Academy at the Air Capital Hoopfest, the Utah club dared the Dragons to beat them from the outside by sitting in a zone defense and AZ Compass Prep failed to make a 3-pointer. In the rematch, the Dragons went 0-of-14 from 3-point range, but made 18-of-21 free throws, held the Tigers to 17 first half points and got 17 points and four steals from Oregon-bound Mookie Cook to seal the avenging win. The next night against IMG Academy the outside shooting was better (6-of-16), but IMG Academy made 10-of-17 3-pointers and out-rebounded the Dragons, 33-28, to propel the Ascenders to victory.

With its earlier victory at the event over No. 25 Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.), 68-62, IMG Academy moved up two spots to No. 3 this week. Montverde Academy stayed put at No. 2 because of its 80-55 win over the Ascenders in their first game of the season. MVA has done enough to be in front of AZ Compass Prep for now, despite the head-to-head result, because the Eagles now have a one half game lead in the NIBC standings and AZ Compass Prep has two overall losses.

Those results mean preseason No. 3 Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) is now the top-ranked team in the FAB 50 for the first time in program history. The Panthers easily downed No. 19 Christ The King (Middle Village, N.Y.), 56-31, and traditional California power Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 75-47, at the Hoophall International in London, England to open the season. Back home, coach Glen Farello's club served notice with a 87-52 win over Baltimore Catholic League power and No. 20 Mt. St. Joseph (Baltimore, Md.) at Separation Sports'?National High School Hoops Fest.

Paul VI arguably has the deepest roster in program history and comes at teams in waves. Isaiah Abraham, a 6-foot-6 junior (2024) has played well so far and the leadership of 6-foot-5 Maryland-bound DeShawn Harris-Smith and the talent of Duke-bound junior Darren Harris has made a difference. Paul VI also benefits from playing in the toughest traditional high school basketball conference in the country. Before the creation of the NIBC, the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) was the league from around the country you could point to every night where it is extremely tough to win road games, even for FAB 50 ranked teams.

"Junior point guard Ben Hammond has been the catalyst, dictating tempo and has set the tone and has made sure his teammates get into a rhythm," coach Farello said.

Getting through its WCAC games will be a gauntlet for Paul VI, as No. 18 St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) has a terrific club and No. 23 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) is playing well so far. Gonzaga recently captured the championship of its own Gonzaga DC Classic by downing previous No. 34 Jackson-Reed (Washington, D.C.), 64-58, as unsigned senior guard Ryan Sabol took home tourney MVP honors for the Purple Eagles. It was Jackson Reed's first loss of the season, as that club downed No. 30 Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) in the semifinals, 55-53, after opening the tourney with a 66-65 victory over bubble club Whitney Young (Chicago. Ill.).

Similar to AZ Compass Prep, Paul VI is going to have to beat a plethora of quality teams to prove its rankings worth and it won't be easy. In addition to WCAC games down the line, Paul VI opens as the top seed in the prestigious City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla., Dec. 17. Paul VI should have no problem with nearby Canterbury (Ft. Myers, Fla.) to open the event, and could face No. 15 Lake Highlands (Dallas, Texas) or battled-tested Newton (Ga.) in the quarterfinals. A likely semifinal showdown with No. 12 Columbus (Miami, Fla.) would take place on Dec. 20.

Will the Panthers be able to capture the COP crown and head into 2023 as the nation's best team? or will another club lay claim to the top spot in our next FAB 50 rankings update slated for January 2?

Another tournament that will have big rankings implications is the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas, which begins Dec. 19. Host and No. 22 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) will look to bounce back from its 72-53 loss to City of Palms participant and No. 8 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) at Hoophall West. Gorman opens with bubble club Putnam City West (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and could face No. 40 Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) in a quarterfinal contest. Oak Ridge will be coming off a trip to the Bahamas for the Hoopfest in Paradise, where it will face No. 9 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) and No. 6 Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas) Dec. 16-17 before flying in to Sin City.

Gorman's side of the bracket also features a big first round game between two unbeaten clubs: No. 42 Oak Cliff Faith Family (Dallas, Texas) and bubble club St. Bernard (Playa del Rey, Calif.). The opposite bracket features No. 34 West Ranch (Valencia, Calif.), No. 48 Durango (Las Vegas, Nev.), which lost to Oak Cliff Faith Family by one possession, plus still unbeaten Kell (Marietta, Ga.) and battle-tested Calvary Christian Academy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).

The most impressive team at Hoophall West was nearby Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.), which checks in to the rankings as one of 10 newcomers at No. 28. By dispatching previous No. 24 Cardinal Hayes (Bronx, N.Y.), 79-47, Perry showed it could very well challenge Centennial for the claim as best public school team in the West Region. Perry, however, will be slowed played in the rankings because Cardinal Hayes is likely the best team it will face the rest of the season. For more on Hoophall West, CLICK HERE.

RELATED: ?Preseason 2022-23 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

The post UPDATED FAB 50: Who's No. 1 Now? appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

By Ronnie Flores

In last week's FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com the program at Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) took over the top spot for the first time in program history. This season it's been awfully tough for teams to remain in the pole position and this week Buffaloes coach Luke Barnwell found out just how tough it is.

His team ventured to the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mo., to play two games. In the first one against then No. 32 Combine Academy (Lincolnton, N.C.), Sunrise Christian needed overtime to outlast its foe, 72-68. The hero in the extra period was junior point guard Layden Blocker. His clutch 3-pointer gave Sunrise Christian a one point lead and he then made two free throws with 1:30 remaining in the extra period. After Combine Academy cut its deficit to one point, Blocker secured an offensive rebound and made another 3-pointer with 36 seconds remaining to seal the deal.

Blocker finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists against only one turnover. Duke-bound Mark Mitchell had 23 points and eights rebounds, while Kansas-bound Gradey Dick added 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The next evening, Sunrise Christian played fellow National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (NIBC) member Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) and built a sizable lead. Wasatch Academy came into the game unranked, but nearly erased a 18-point deficit in the final 5:32 of the game. Willie Lightfoot, who previously played for the Buffaloes, gave a valiant effort but his jumper on the final possession that would have knocked off the No. 1 team in the FAB 50 was just off the mark as Sunrise prevailed, 63-62.

Mitchell had another quality game with 27 points and 12 rebounds as the Buffaloes retained their No. 1 ranking this week.

The 20th anniversary of the event in the birthplace of American basketball did cause some one team to drop out of the top five of the nation's longest-running weekly rankings (by a large gap). On last week's , we mentioned this was a huge week for then No. 5 Camden, as The High had an opportunity to put itself firmly in the national title hunt.

The two losses dropped the Panthers 11 spots to No. 16 in this week's FAB 50 MLK edition and behind Calvary Christian Academy, which is now up to No. 11 with only one loss on its resume and four wins over FAB 50 ranked foes. Ironically, the one team Calvary Christian Academy lost to, No. 38 Milton (Ga.), is the club Camden ended its skid against on Monday at Hoophall Classic. Junior point guard Cian Medley led the way with 22 points in the 63-55 bounce back victory while top-notch junior DJ Wagner added 21 points.

Camden can't drop any further because it owns an earlier win over Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.), but that club and others from New Jersey and along the Eastern Seaboard had to take a rankings hit because of Camden's 1-2 week. Roselle Catholic fell four spots to No. 18 despite quality wins last week over No. 20 Long Island Lutheran (62-59) and No. 40 Kenwood Academy (79-70).

Duncanville (Texas) remains at No. 2, as it handed new No. 5 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) its only loss of the season back in November. No. 3 and No. 4 remain the same as IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) beat Montverde Academy for the second time this season at the Hoophall Classic, 57-53. Baylor-bound guard Keyonte George netted a game-high 17 points for IMG. Duncanville also owns a win over No. 4 Montverde Academy.

Centennial supplants previous No. 6 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) as the highest rated team in the Cal-Hi Sports state rankings after the Trailblazers fell to Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), 72-65, in the title game of the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Mo., in front of over 10,00 fans on Saturday evening. Deshawn Harris-Smith made 13-of-16 free throws and netted a game-high 23 points to lead a young Panthers club. Paul VI held a 34-9 free throw advantage in the game.

UCLA-bound Amari Bailey led Sierra Canyon with 18 points. Sierra Canyon fell four spots to No. 10 and remains in front of Paul VI because it owns a split, having beat that club in the title game of the Iolani Classic in December. Its other loss is to No. 2 Duncanville.

Paul VI does move up nine spots to No. 24, but is now behind Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) rival Bishop McNamara (Forrestville, Md.), this week's highest ranked newcomer at No. 22. The Mustangs handed Paul VI its other loss, 64-61. Bishop McNamara does have other quality wins and is scheduled to face No. 12 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) on Tuesday in a battle of clubs still unbeaten in WCAC play. Gonzaga suffered its first loss of the season at the Hoophall Classic to new No. 8 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), 70-56.

This week's second highest newcomer among seven of them, No. 26 Simeon (Chicago), must remain behind Bishop McNamara because of the common opponent factor. Simeon's only loss of the season is to Dream City Christian (Glendale, Ariz.), a program that carries post-graduates on its roster that lost to Bishop McNamara, 67-51.

What will this week hold in store for the nation's best teams? There are still more showcase games to be played and the pressure of playoff basketball is just around the corner as COVID-19 looms. The ongoing pandemic still affects results on a weekly basis because of postponed games and player sit-outs.

RELATED:??Preseason 2021-22 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

The post NEW FAB 50: Special MLK Edition! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

RELATED: Preseason East Region Top 20 | Preseason Southeast Region Top 20 ?| Preseason Midwest Region Top 20?| Preseason Southwest Region Top 20 | Preseason West Region Top 20 | Preseason 2019-20 FAB 50 (1-15)?|?Preseason 2019-20 FAB 50 (16-30)?|?Preseason 2019-20 FAB 50 (31-50)?| A Season Unlike Any Other

Preseason 2020-21 FAB 50
Region-By-Region Rankings

By Ronnie Flores

(Final 2019-20 regional ranking in parentheses; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included; ***Indicates season cut short due to COVID-19 Pandemic.)

FAB 50 Preseason?
EAST Region Top 20
(Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia)

1. (4) Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) 27-8***
2. (1) DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) 29-3***
3. (2) St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.) 38-4***
4. (16) Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.) 22-5***
5. (3) Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 37-3***
6. (5) Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) 22-3***
7. (7) Camden (Camden, N.J.) 29-1***
8. (NR) Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.) 24-3
9. (NR) John Marshall (Richmond, Va.) 24-2
10. (13) St. Raymond (Bronx, N.Y.) 22-5***
11. (12) Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.) 21-7***
12. (8) Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) 25-10***
13. (6) Poly (Baltimore, Md.) 24-2***
14. (11) Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) 18-9***
15. (17) Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.) 20-7
16. (10) St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) 24-9
17. (NR) King’s Fork (Suffolk, Va.) 24-3***
18. (NR) Christ The King (Middle Village, N.Y.) 14-11
19. (14) Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) 24-4***
20. (NR) Our Savior Lutheran (Bronx, N.Y.) 36-4

RELATED: Preseason East Region Top 20 | Preseason Southeast Region Top 20 ?| Preseason Midwest Region Top 20?| Preseason Southwest Region Top 20 | Preseason West Region Top 20 | Preseason 2019-20 FAB 50 (1-15)?|?Preseason 2019-20 FAB 50 (16-30)?|?Preseason 2019-20 FAB 50 (31-50)?| A Season Unlike Any Other

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

The post Preseason 2020-21 EAST Region Top 20 Rankings! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

By Ronnie Flores

RELATED: FAB 50 - Past, Present, Future

It's always fun to take in and follow the results of showcases all across the country over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. We hope participants, spectators and event directors don't forget the premise of the weekend as the events unfold: to celebrate the legacy of one of the great Americans on the 20th Century.

Over the last 20 years, MLK weekend has yielded spectacular results in terms of quality competition and movement in the rankings and 2020 was no different. This week's updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com shows six newcomers and a ton of movement.

The big storyline was how perennial FAB 50 power Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) and Washington Catholic Athletic Conference power Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) was going to handle the "Springfield Double", which comprised of competing in the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Mo. and playing in a showcase game on MLK Monday at the Spaulding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass. As expected the Warriors and Panthers met in Saturday's Bass Pro TOC championship game and Oak Hill Academy came away victorious, as LSU-bound guard Cam Thomas netted 26 points, including three 3-pointers, in a 72-57 victory. The Warriors captured their fourth tourney title and have yet to lose at the event.

The pressure was on Paul VI to rebound on Monday and Oak Hill had added incentive after previous No. 2 Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.) fell to then No. 4 Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah), 94-82, in Springfield, Va., at the Kevin Durant MLK Classic. Richard Isaacs Jr., one of the top sophomore guards in the country, nailed 7-of-12 3-pointers and finished with 29 points, five assists and two steals to lead the Tigers to their big win. Coach Steve Smith's club took care of business on its end, as it dispatched then No. 36 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.), 84-70, as Arkansas-bound guard K.K. Robinson made 9-of-10 shots from the field and finished with 24 points, four rebounds and two assists.

With Oak Hill owning a victory over Wasatch Academy, the Warriors naturally move up to No. 2 this week, with the Tigers coming up a spot after their big win over Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (which dropped another game on Monday to Westtown School of Pennsylvania). Coach David Evans' charges, however, battled Oak Hill in the Iolani Classic title game in December without the services of Michigan St.-bound Mady Sissoko. The Tigers would love to get another crack at the Warriors with a full deck lineup, and Wasatch Academy just might get that opportunity at GEICO Nationals.

As for Paul VI, it rebounded nicely from its loss to Oak Hill with a critical 70-62 victory over previous No. 16 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.). Paul VI's guard duo of junior Trevor Keels and senior Jeremy Roach made the difference down the stretch. Sierra Canyon made some critical turnovers and could not overcome a big late 3-pointer by Keels, which received a scholarship offer from North Carolina on Monday. Keels finished with three 3-pointers in the game and 24 points, while the Duke-bound Roach had 16 points, seven assists and five steals.

With its win, Paul VI moved up nine spots to No. 10 despite the loss to Oak Hill. It new ranking was bolstered after fellow WCAC club DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) downed previous No. 25 Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.), which has a split with Sierra Canyon, 72-65, while unranked Bishop O'Connell (Fairfax, Va.), pulled off a 73-72 upset of previous No. 34 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) in Springfield, Mass.

It was definitely a good MLK weekend for the WCAC and not so good of one for teams from the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF).

Looking Ahead

Top-ranked Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), which beat No. 5 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) for the second time this season at Hoophall Classic, will host the 2020 Montverde Academy Invitational this week, beginning January 23. The field includes No. 11 Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.), No. 24 Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.) and La Crosse Central (La Crosse, Wis.), which is one of the six teams that fell out of the rankings this week after an upset loss. Montverde Academy will likely meet Scotlandville in Friday's semifinal and, if the rankings hold up, Long Island Lutheran in the title game.

No. 14 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.) and No. 15 Poly (Baltimore, Md.) will battle for Charm City supremacy this Saturday at Morgan St. University.

This Friday, No. 32 Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) takes on No. 41 Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.) in a Philly Catholic League showdown. After losing in its opener, Wood has only lost to Paul VI (in seven overtimes) and to Wasatch Academy.

Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by www.ebooksnet.com

(Fifth poll of 2019-20 regular season; Through games played on Monday, January 20; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included)

No.	Prev.	High School (City)	Record
1	1	Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)	19-0
2	3	Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.)	27-1
3	4	Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah)	21-1
4	7	Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.)	14-2
5	5	IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)	12-4
6	6	Dorman (Roebuck, S.C.)	17-1
7	8	DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.)	17-2
8	10	Grayson (Loganville, Ga.)	20-1
9	2	Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.)	18-2
10	19	Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.)	14-4
11	13	Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.)	14-2
12	12	La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.)	13-3
13	14	Minnehaha Academy (Minneapolis, Minn.)	10-2
14	11	St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.)	21-3
15	15	Poly (Baltimore, Md.)	12-1
16	26	St. Stephen's & St. Agnes (Alexandria, Va.)	15-2
17	27	Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Ind.)	14-0
18	28	Shiloh (Snellville, Ga.)	20-1
19	16	Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)	18-3
20	17	Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas)	18-2
21	21	Westlake (Austin, Texas)	24-1
22	9	St. John's (Washington, D.C.)	15-3
23	32	Collinsville (Collinsville, Ill.)	18-0
24	18	Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.)	23-2
25	35	Eastside Catholic (Sammamish, Wash.)	13-1
26	20	Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.)	12-6
27	24	Centennial (Corona, Calif.)	18-2
28	29	Mountain Brook (Birmingham, Ala.)	23-1
29	37	North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.)	16-1
30	30	Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.)	15-2
31	31	Lancaster (Lancaster, Texas)	21-2
32	43	Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.)	13-2
33	33	St. Raymond (Bronx, N.Y.)	13-3
34	40	Lee (Montgomery, Ala.)	22-0
35	50	Curie (Chicago, Ill.)	16-1
36	23	West Oaks Academy (Orlando, Fla.)	14-5
37	25	Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.)	17-5
38	45	Cardozo (Bayside, N.Y.)	17-0
39	NR	Evanston (Evanston, Ill.)	18-0
40	39	Lawrence Central (Indinapolis, Ind.)	14-2
41	NR	Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.)	13-3
42	44	Eden Prairie (Eden Prairie, Minn.)	13-0
43	NR	Millbrook (Raleigh, N.C.)	17-1
44	41	Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.)	8-5
45	36	Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.)	15-3
46	NR	Etiwanda (Etiwanda, Calif.)	19-2
47	NR	Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.)	10-2
48	42	Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.)	9-5
49	22	Odea (Seattle, Wash.)	10-3
50	NR	Beecher (Flint, Mich.)	10-1

Dropped Out: Previous No. 34 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), No. 38 La Crosse Central (La Crosse, Wis.), No. 46 Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.), No. 47 Woodward Academy (College Park, Ga.), No. 48 (St. Mary’s Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.), No. 49 Hamilton (Sussex, Wis.).

Bubble Teams:  Beaumont United (Beaumont, Texas) 22-2; Bloomington South (Bloomington, Ind.) 15-0; Bogan (Chicago, Ill.) 18-2; Brookfield Central (Brookfield, Wis.) 10-1; Callaway (Jackson, Miss.) 16-4; Camden (Camden, N.J.) 11-1; Clarkston (Clarkston, Mich.) 7-1; Cleveland (Rio Rancho, N.M.) 17-0; Concord First Assembly (Concord, N.C.) 24-3; Davidson Day (Davidson, N.C.) 19-1; Davis (Kaysville, Utah) 12-1; Del City (Del City, Okla.) 10-0; Dickinson (Dickinson, Texas) 19-5; Eastside Catholic (Manchester, Conn.) 10-0; Eleanor Roosevelt (Greenbelt, Md.) 8-1; Elizabeth (Elizabeth, N.J.) 9-1; Farmville Central (Farmville, N.C.) 14-2; Hamilton (Sussex, Wis.) 11-1; Harrison Central (Gulfport, Miss.) 18-3; Hilliard Bradley (Hilliard, Ohio) 12-1; Huron (Ann Arbor, Mich.) 8-0; Grand Prairie (Grand Prairie, Texas) 17-1; Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) 19-2; Hilliard Bradley (Hilliard, Ohio) 12-1; Homewood Flossmoor (Flossmoor, Ill.) 15-2; Jackson South Side (Jackson, Tenn.) 17-0; Jemison (Huntsville, Ala.) 20-2; John Hardin (Elizabethtown, Ky.) 20-0; John Paul II (Plano, Texas) 29-1; La Crosse Central (La Crosse, Wis.) 7-1; Layton (Layton, Utah) 13-0; Lincoln (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 6-1; Lithonia (Lithonia, Ga.) 20-1; McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) 13-6; Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio) 12-1; Mount Tabor (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 17-0; Muskegon (Muskegon, Mich.) 5-1; Niles Notre Dame (Niles, Ill.) 20-2; Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 20-2; North Shore (Houston, Texas) 24-2; Oak Grove (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 15-1; Rangeview (Aurora, Col.) 13-0; Ribet Academy (Los Angeles, Calif.) 15-1; River Rouge (River Rouge, Mich.) 9-1; Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.) 7-3; Rutgers Prep (Somerset, N.J.) 13-0; Salpointe Catholic (Tuscon, Ariz.) 19-0; Shadow Creek (Pearland, Texas) 18-2; Southmoore (Moore, Okla.) 9-1; St. Anthony (Long Beach, Calif.) 22-1; St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) 9-1; St. Mark’s (Dallas, Texas) 19-4; St. Mary’s Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.) 8-1; St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) 8-3; Summer Creek (Houston, Texas) 24-4; Thornton (Harvey, Ill.) 18-0; Union (Vancouver, Wash.) 15-0; Waxahachie (Waxahachie, Texas) 21-4; Wildwood Catholic (North Wildwood, N.J.) 11-2; Yates (Houston, Texas) 12-4.

Note: The FAB 50 powered by www.ebooksnet.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 20 years ago.

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

The post NEW FAB 50 Rankings: 6 Newcomers After MLK Weekend! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

By Ronnie Flores

As the results of the holiday tournaments played out, the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com looked strong, as a majority of the higher ranked teams beat lower ranked or bubble teams throughout the country. Perhaps because teams were a bit weary with travel, or perhaps because the middle of the pack teams are all on the same level and can't beat each other on any given night this season, the rankings were turned upside down in the short week after New Year's 2020.

When this happens, there are a five key factors to keep in mind to help navigate the waters and come up with a credible rankings order that make sense.

The first one is to rely on the previous set of rankings and move the teams up and down from their previous position and not make snap judgements. That's why preseason rankings are important, because it give compilers (and fans) a base of how good teams might be as the season plays out.

Second would be a focus on results, with an emphasis on most recent games played. Enough time has passed that teams have the ability to improve since November. That's the case with newcomer Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.), which looked shaky in its season-opener and lost two games in November. The Eagles, particularly their guards, are playing much better recently and Rancho Christian was able to knock off previous No. 6 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 85-81 in overtime, in the championship game of The Classic at Damien in Southern California on December 30. The Eagles check in at No. 17 and in front of the Centennial (Corona, Calif.) team it lost to early that went on to capture the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas and The King Cotton Classic in Pine Bluff, Ark., behind Portland St.-bound guard Paris Dawson, who was MVP at both tourneys. The Huskies are one of 11 newcomers this week and check in at No. 24.

The third factor to consider is what's coming up. Even though Rancho Christian is now California's top-ranked team, it will have to gear up for another showdown with Sierra Canyon on January 11 at the Elite Invitational Showcase at Pasadena City College. Should the Eagles beat Sierra Canyon for the second time in two weeks, they will undoubtedly deserve to be ranked higher than Centennial despite the early head-to-head result. Should they lose, however, that result will come more into play.

The fourth factor is to look for any details that might have affected the outcome of a big game and to not forget about the big wins a team has on its resume in light of a recent skid. That's the case with No. 8 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), which fell to No. 30 Briarcrest Christian (Eads, Tenn.), 32-22, at the ARS Hoopfest in Memphis on January 4. Tennessee-bound Jaden Springer did not play in the low-scoring contest while nursing a foot injury, but earlier in the season the Ascenders showed what they are capable of with wins over No. 15 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) and No. 19 Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) at the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla. before falling to No. 1 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) in the title game, 63-55. The fact IMG Academy is the only team to stay even remotely in the game with the Eagles is another reason why it stays put at No. 8 in the most updated rankings. This is on top of Duke-bound Jalen Johnson no longer being part of the team and not playing in any of IMG's big games.

A fifth factor is to not put too much emphasis on the result of one game and ignore a team's talent level or the rest of its resume. St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.) did not play good in its 73-55 loss to No. 6 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.), but there is not doubt coach Nicholas Myles has a fine team that will win big games throughout the season. The No. 3 spot in the previous FAB 50 might have been high, but there is little doubt the Panthers are one of the nation's finest teams as they fall to No. 10. Sunrise also owns wins over No. 9 DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.), No. 12 La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.), and No. 15 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.). That strong resume not only helps St. Frances Academy, it also keeps the Buffaloes from falling too much (two spots) following a recent 62-54 loss to Huntington Prep of West Virginia at the Cancer Research Classic in West Virginia.

"St. Frances Academy is better than they were in that game they lost," remarked Hoop Scoop publisher Clark Francis, who was in attendance at that City of Palms game and also attended the DC Hoopfest, John Wall Invitational, Beach Ball Classic and Memphis ARS Hoopfest in recent weeks. "IMG is good, but Montverde Academy is way ahead of the pack. Sunrise Christian Academy might be better than Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, but of course you can't rank it that way. Nobody else (besides Montverde Academy) has separated themselves."

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL NEEDS A SHOT CLOCK!!!!

— Jaden Springer (@jadenspringer11) January 5, 2020

Besides crys for a shot clock (which eight states employ) in light of the IMG-Briarcrest Christian score, there was another key factor in the result of that game.

"Kennedy Chandler of Briarcrest Christian is one of the best point guards in the country, regardless of class," Francis said. "He controlled the tempo. He can stop on a dime and is very quick with ball. If Springer plays, they beat Briarcrest."

Which brings us to top-ranked Montverde Academy. Some veteran observers are calling this year's MVA club the best team they have ever seen. The Eagles have all the ingredients to run the tables against one of the nation's toughest schedules: size, athleticism, shooting, a deep bench, unselfish players, and coaches with experience in wining high level high school basketball games. We always focus on results, not what could happen or how a team looks on paper, so we'll wait to pass judgment before publishing any proclamations of Montverde's standing among the all-time great teams. As we've already seen this season, we know things can (and will) happen that will affect the results of matchups before the final game at 2020 GEICO Nationals in New York.

A focus on results not only keeps things in proper perspective, it led to a sense of excitement, as opposed to a feeling of anxiety, about compiling this week's FAB 50 rankings.

Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by www.ebooksnet.com

(Third poll of 2019-20 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, January 5; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included)

No.	Prev.	High School (City)	Record
1	1	Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)	15-0
2	9	Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.)	16-0
3	10	Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.)	21-1
4	21	Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah)	17-1
5	24	Dorman (Roebuck, S.C.)	13-1
6	4	Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.)	11-2
7	NR	St. John's (Washington, D.C.)	13-1
8	8	IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)	8-3
9	12	DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.)	10-2
10	3	St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.)	16-1
11	14	Grayson (Loganville, Ga.)	14-1
12	7	La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.)	10-2
13	18	Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.)	10-2
14	25	Minnehaha Academy (Minneapolis, Minn.)	8-2
15	15	Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.)	10-3
16	36	Poly (Baltimore, Md.)	8-1
17	NR	Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.)	15-2
18	26	Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.)	19-2
19	20	Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.)	7-2
20	6	Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)	15-2
21	2	Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.)	7-3
22	22	Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas)	14-2
23	23	O'Dea (Seattle, Wash.)	7-2
24	NR	Centennial (Corona, Calif.)	14-2
25	49	Westlake (Austin, Texas)	20-1
26	28	West Oaks Academy (Orlando, Fla.)	11-4
27	35	St. Stephen's & St. Agnes (Alexandria, Va.)	11-2
28	31	Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Ind.)	8-0
29	NR	Shiloh (Snellville, Ga.)	15-1
30	34	Briarcrest Christian (Eads, Tenn.)	13-3
31	27	Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.)	10-2
32	NR	Lancaster (Lancaster, Texas)	18-2
33	13	Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.)	7-2
34	NR	Mountain Brook (Birmingham, Ala.)	19-1
35	19	Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)	13-3
36	NR	Eastside Catholic (Sammamish, Wash.)	9-1
37	5	Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.)	10-2
38	42	Collinsville (Collinsville, Ill.)	14-0
39	39	Lawrence Central (Indianapolis, Ind.)	8-1
40	NR	North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.)	12-1
41	45	La Crosse Central (La Corsse, Wis.)	6-0
42	NR	Lee (Montgomery, Ala.)	17-0
43	17	Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.)	9-2
44	37	St. Raymond (Bronx, N.Y.)	8-3
45	NR	Cardozo (Bayside, N.Y.)	12-0
46	43	Jemison (Huntsville, Ala.)	17-1
47	46	Woodward Academy (College Park, Ga.)	14-1
48	48	Eden Prairie (Eden Prairie, Minn.)	10-0
49	11	Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.)	4-2
50	NR	St. Mary's Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.)	5-0

Dropped Out: Previous No. 16 McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.), No. 29 Norcross (Norcross, Ga.), No. 30 Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.), No. 32 Milton (Milton, Ga.), No. 33 Vashon (St. Louis, Mo.), No. 38 Knoxville Catholic (Knoxville, Tenn.), No. 40 Gray Collegiate Academy (West Columbia, S.C.), No. 41 Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.), No. 44 Tri-Cities (East Point, Ga.), No. 47 Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.), No. 50 Concord First Assembly (Concord, N.C.).

Bubble Teams:  Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.) 7-3; Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) 7-1; Bloomington South (Bloomington, Ind.) 12-0; Bogan (Chicago, Ill.) 14-1; Brooklyn Collegiate (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 10-1; Callaway (Jackson, Miss.) 11-4; Camden (Camden, N.J.) 4-1; Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) 8-0; Clarkston (Clarkston, Mich.) 5-1; Concord First Assembly (Concord, N.C.) 18-3; Curie (Chicago, Ill.) 12-1; Del City (Del City, Okla.) 7-0; Dickinson (Dickinson, Texas) 16-5; East Lake (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 11-0; Edmond Memorial (Edmond, Okla.) 7-1; Eleanor Roosevelt (Greenbelt, Md.) 5-1; Episcopal (Alexandria, Va.) 7-1; Etiwanda (Etiwanda, Calif.) 13-2; Evanston (Evanston, Ill.) 13-0; Farmville Central (Farmville, N.C.) 10-2; Hamilton (Sussex, Wis.) 7-0; Harrison Central (Gulfport, Miss.) 15-3; Hilliard Bradley (Hilliard, Ohio) 9-1; Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.) 19-2; Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) 15-2; Homewood Flossmoor (Flossmoor, Ill.) 11-1; Impact Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.) 9-2; Jackson South Side (Jackson, Tenn.) 13-0; John Hardin (Elizabethtown, Ky.) 13-0; John Paul II (Plano, Texas) 26-1; Lincoln (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 3-1; McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) 10-4; Millbrook (Raleigh, N.C.) 13-1; Milton (Milton, Ga.) 12-3; Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) 10-1; Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio) 8-1; Muskegon (Muskegon, Mich.) 2-1; Niles Notre Dame (Niles, Ill.) 15-2; Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 15-2; North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.) 12-1; Oak Grove (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 11-1; Rangeview (Aurora, Col.) 9-0; River Rouge (River Rouge, Mich.) 4-1; Rogers (Rogers, Ark.) 11-0; Shadow Creek (Pearland, Texas) 15-2; South County (Lorton, Va.) 11-0; Southmoore (Moore, Okla.) 6-1; St. Anthony (Long Beach, Calif.) 18-1; St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) 4-1; St. Mark’s (Dallas, Texas) 14-4; St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) 6-2; Teays Valley Christian Prep (Scott Depot, W. Va.) 10-3; Thornton (Harvey, Ill.) 14-0; Tri-Cities (East Point, Ga.) 14-1; University Lab (Baton Rouge, La.) 14-1; Volcano Vista (Albuquerque, N.M.) 10-0; Waxahachie (Waxahachie, Texas) 18-3; Whitehaven (Memphis, Tenn.) 10-0; Xaverian (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 11-1; Yates (Houston, Texas) 8-4.

Note: The FAB 50 powered by www.ebooksnet.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 20 years ago.

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

The post NEW FAB 50 Rankings: MAJOR Shakeup For 2020! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

There wasn't a FAB 50 update this week, as we'll update our national team rankings on December 16 right before the start of the nation's top pre and post-holiday tournaments, which include a vast majority of the top ranked teams, and then come back and begin our weekly updates beginning January 6, 2020. One thing we know for sure, is there will be a new No. 1 team next week as No. 1 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) fell to No. 4 Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), 67-56.

Paul VI has turned in plenty of significant regular season victories over highly-ranked foes in recent years, including a win over 2013 FAB 50 national champ Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) at the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions, but last weekend's win at the National High School Hoops Festival was quite impressive as it's clear the Panthers will be a viable FAB 50 title contender all season. We began the Panthers at No. 4 in the preseason and not any higher because of some concerns about their interior prowess, but with the level of talent their backcourt plays at, it might not make any difference. Paul VI led by as much as 17 points with just under four minutes in the game after IMG Academy quickly went up 5-0. Paul VI held a 32-29 halftime lead.

The Panthers were led to victory by Duke-bound Jeremy Roach, who has successfully recovered from ACL surgery that caused him to miss his junior season, and junior guard Trevor Keels. Roach finished with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and knocked down three critical 3-pointers. Keels had a team-high 25 points, four rebounds, two steals and knocked down 5-of-12 3-point attempts as the Panthers got rolling from the outside. When you add in Josiah Freeman, who knocked down 4-of-10 3-pointers the following night in Paul VI's 78-75 win over Word of God Academy (Raleigh, N.C.), and sophomore Knasir “Dug” McDaniel, it just might be the best quartet of guards we've seen on one team in recent memory.

Tennessee-bound Jaden Springer led IMG Academy with 18 points in the loss. The Ascenders won't fall too far in the rankings because we know they are one of the best teams in the nation and were playing Paul VI without the services of Duke-bound Jalen Johnson and guard Matthew Murrell. IMG Academy was able to bounce back the next evening and take some of its frustrations out on Cornerstone Christian (San Antonio, Texas) with a 85-51 victory. Once again Springer was a catalyst, as he finished with 22 points, including 3-of-5 3-pointers, nine rebounds and eight assists. He's the one guy IMG Academy cannot afford to be without.

Big Weekend For Sunrise Christian, Hamilton Heights

A Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) program got the big win at the DC Hoopfest, but it's not often that a program knocks off two WCAC powers in back-to-back outings, but that's exactly what happened for No. 10 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.). The Buffaloes defeated No. 12 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), 61-55, and came back the next night in the event's final game to shock host and No. 3 DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) 75-67.

The best player on the floor in the Sunrise-Gonzaga game was 6-foot-7, 2021 prospect Kendall Brown, who made some clutch plays and finished with 18 points on 7-of-8 field goals with his only miss coming from behind the arch. Senior point guard Ty Berry was also integral in the win, with good decision-making, ball-handling and outside shooting. He finished with 14 points, including two 3-pointers and is a terrific recruiting coup for Northwestern. Against DeMatha, Berry was the catalyst with 21 points, including 3-of-6 3-pointers, four rebounds and two steals. The Buffaloes were in control throughout, even though Brown didn't have his best outing.

DeMatha was plagued by poor shooting and the foul trouble of Michigan-bound center Hunter Dickinson. The Stags will also need their complimentary components to step up if they are going to challenge Paul VI for the WCAC crown. As of now, it looks like the Panthers rate as the favorites. DeMatha will look to turn it around quickly as it faces conference foe Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.) on Tuesday night and will have a chance to atone for the loss to Sunrise Christian when it travels to face No. 2 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) on Thursday night in a nationally-televised matchup.

Keels and Brown are not the only players who impressed over the weekend and merit serious All-American acclaim. The same holds true for wing Samson Ruzhentsev of No. 15 Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.), which upped its record to 9-0 with a 67-52 dispatching of Hillcrest Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.) in the final game at Hoophall West in Phoenix.

Ruzhentsev showed everyone in attendance and a national stream audience why he's quite underrated nationally by major recruiting services. He can handle and shoot it well, can score on all three levels and has pro athleticism. Ruzhentsev led a balanced attack against Hillcrest Prep with 17 points. We also liked what we saw from junior point guard Dominiq Penn and senior forward Andersson Garcia. Hamilton Heights has a complete team and it will take a supreme effort to knock it off.

With just 2 minutes remaining in the game, @SencireH made 2 HUGE plays to propel @STVMAthletics to a 64-59 win over Cincinnati Moeller.

Prior to yesterday, Moeller had won 50 games in a row with their last in state loss coming to Massillon Jackson in March of 2017. pic.twitter.com/SGvV7YkRLJ

— T.J. Peatross (@NEO_Spotlight) December 8, 2019

More FAB 50 Notes and Tidbits

While we wished he'd started Hamilton Heights Christian Academy a tad higher than No 19 in the preseason FAB 50, there's another team we wished we had given more preseason consideration to that comes out of the West Region. That would be Mount Si (Snoqualmie, Wash.), which actually was impressive at this summer's Section 7 Team Camp in Phoenix during the NCAA's new June live period. Mount Si should have been in front of a few of the California teams in our preseason West Region Top 20 as Washington's No. 2 team behind current FAB 50 No. 28 O’Dea (Seattle)...
After the Hoophall West event, it was announced on Monday that Hillcrest Prep (Pheonix), which was touted as a top five team nationally in rankings in which the Bruins are eligible for, parted ways with head coach Mike Bibby. Hillcrest Prep has a talented roster but were out of sync and unfocused at the event....
No. 23 Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio) saw its 50-game winning streak snapped in a 65-59 loss to St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio), which barely missed out on a preseason Midwest Region Top 20 rankings spot. St. Vincent-St. Mary will be in the national spotlight this weekend when it faces FAB 50 No. 6 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) at the Ohio Play-By-Play Classic at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on December 14. SV-SM, of course, is the alma mater of two-time Mr. Basketball USA LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and his son is a rotation player as a freshman for Sierra Canyon. The Trailblazers will be without Ziaire Williams until December 30, but with B.J. Boston playing terrific, were no match for No. 47 Millennium (Goodyear, Ariz.) at Hoophall West. James led "St. V's" to the No. 1 FAB 50 ranking in 2002-03 with an unbeaten on-court record....
Two major developments for high school basketball fans to keep an eye took place over the last four days. It was announced Sports Illustrated will take a deep dive into collegiate recruiting in both football and boys basketball with the creation of SI All-American. The company has already announced a director of recruiting whose expertise is college football. It will undoubtedly announce a director of college basketball recruiting at some point in the future. It will be interesting to see how SI creates national player rankings as the industry continues to evolve and move away from traditional journalism work...
Speaking of traditional media and journalism, we learned USA Today will close its high school department and many people who covered high school sports for the nationally circulated newspaper are out of a job. It was known in industry circles that USA Today would be moving away from high school human interest and news content, but the slashing of the entire department still sent shockwaves through the industry. No word yet on how or whom will spearhead USA Today's Super 25 team rankings, which have been around since the fall of 1982. They were most recently spearheaded by Jason Jordan, and previously by Jim Halley, Chris Lawlor (who currently does a Top 25 for Blue Star Media) and originally by Dave Krider. Krider began weekly national rankings for Basketball Weekly in 1974-75 and actually wasn't able to complete them that first year due to a disagreement or misunderstanding with management. He compiled them from 1976 to 1983 and then switched over to USA Today, which helped grow the popularity of national high school rankings. The first end-of-season national rankings were compiled by the late Art Johlfs, and the Minnesota multi-sport high school coach and official originated his National Sports News Service rankings at age 21. Those original national rankings continue today as the FAB 50 National Team Rankings, which originated as a weekly under the National Prep Poll in 1987-88 and have continued in its current FAB 50 format for the past 20 seasons.

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

The post Cleaning Out The FAB 50 Notebook appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

RELATED:?Preseason East Region Top 20 | Preseason Southeast Region Top 20 ?| Preseason Midwest Region Top 20?| Preseason Southwest Region Top 20 | Preseason West Region Top 20 | Preseason 2018-19 FAB 50 (1-15)?|?Preseason 2018-19 FAB 50 (16-30)?|?Preseason 2018-19 FAB 50 (31-50)

Preseason 2019-20 FAB 50
Region-By-Region Rankings

By Ronnie Flores

(Final 2018-19 regional ranking in parentheses; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included)

FAB 50 Preseason?
EAST Region Top 20
(Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia)

1. (2) DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) 33-5
2. (5) Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) 23-6
3. (6) St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.) 37-7
4. (3) Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 33-5
5. (7) Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) 28-9
6. (4) Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.) 28-4
7. (NR) Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.) 17-10
8. (NR) Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) 21-8
9. (8) Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) 25-2
10. (NR) Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.) 20-9
11. (NR) Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) 14-16
12. (12) Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) 26-5
13. (NR) Wildwood Catholic (North Wildwood, N.J.) 27-2
14. (NR) First Love Christian Academy (Washington, Pa.) 18-11
15. (NR) Brooklyn Collegiate (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 19-10
16. (10) Gill St. Bernard’s (Gladstone, N.J.) 26-5
17. (NR) Bullis (Potomac, Md.) 13-14
18. (15) South Shore (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 27-5
19. (NR) Camden (Camden, N.J.) 17-10
20. (NR) Sanford School (Hockessin, Del.) 20-4

RELATED:?Preseason East Region Top 20 | Preseason Southeast Region Top 20 ?| Preseason Midwest Region Top 20?| Preseason Southwest Region Top 20 | Preseason West Region Top 20 | Preseason 2018-19 FAB 50 (1-15)?|?Preseason 2018-19 FAB 50 (16-30)?|?Preseason 2018-19 FAB 50 (31-50)

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

The post Preseason 2019-20 EAST Region Top 20 Rankings! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

By Ronnie Flores

After the grueling MLK weekend when many of the nation's elite teams travel and take on tough foes, it was a short week and light work a majority of the teams in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com. In addition, the inclement weather that has battered the East and parts of the Southeast caused the cancellation of many games in states such as Tennessee and Virginia.

In fact, the only team among the first 25 in the FAB 50 to lose was previous No. 4 DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.), which fell to previous No. 10 Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) 93-78 in Washington Catholic Athletic Conference play. Sophomore sensation Jeremy Roach led the way for the Panthers, which is still unbeaten in WCAC play. Two weeks ago, Paul VI handed new No. 10 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) its first WCAC and overall loss, 67-53.

The Stags drop from No. 4 to No. 11, as they fall in line behind the Gonzaga team that beat them 71-62 in conference play where they now stand at 6-2. The second round of conference play won't begin for at least another week, but DeMatha does play 6-3 St. John's (Washington, D.C.) on January 23.

Paul VI moves up one spot to No. 9 in front of Gonzaga and one spot behind the Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) team it lost to. The Panthers also have a split with No. 14 Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.). Steve Reece's talented club not only has the Paul VI split, it has lost to DeMatha and No. 7 Memphis East (Memphis, Tenn.), which recently had some games wiped out by the cold weather.

The pecking order among the Top 15 falls well in line as No. 13 Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) also has a loss to DeMatha, Memphis East has a split with No. 5 Simeon (Chicago, Ill.), which has a loss to No. 4 McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) and must behind City of Palms Tournament Champion and No. 3 University (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.).

There could be some shake up next week as Findlay Prep and still unbeaten and No. 6 Shadow Mountain (Phoenix, Ariz.) head to Florida to participate in the Montverde Academy Invitational. Naturally, the Pilots and Shadow Mountain after scheduled to meet in a semifinal showdown on Friday, while the top-ranked Eagles could face a talented Madison Prep Academy (Baton Rouge, La.) club that has recorded some solid wins and is on the radar of the FAB 50 bubble.

Among this week's six FAB 50 newcomers, three are unbeaten and the others return after being ranked in the 2017-18 preseason FAB 50 rankings. New No. 47  Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.) had done enough to recover from its December 7 loss to Edina (Minn.) after beginning the season at No. 47. Romeo Langford and new No. 50 New Albany (New Albany, Ind.) lost to Floyd Central (Floyd Knobs, Ind.) by two points on December 8 after beginning the season at No. 32. New No. 49 Westlake (Austin, Texas), Texas' No. 2 ranked Class 6A club, has done enough to overcome its hard-to-explain 54-52 loss to Catalina Foothills (Tucson, Ariz.) in the first round of the Rancho Mirage Holiday Classic in California after Christmas. Westlake, which began the season one spot ahead of New Albany at No. 31, has also lost twice to Class 6A No. 1 and No. 15 Guyer (Denton, Texas).

Get Ready For Mac McClung

Gate City (Va.) is a FAB 50 bubble club at 13-1 and in order to get a shot at cracking the FAB 50, the Blue Devils must win two big games this weekend. Gate City, which has a single loss to 16-1 North Mecklenburg, is led by high-flying point guard and Georgetown commit Mac McClung.

You can catch both Gate City Games this weekend live on the Ballislife HS Basketball Weekly Showcase. On January 26, the Blue Devils host Union (Tenn.) at 7:45 pm (ET) and the next night Gate City hosts highly-regarded Cleveland (Tenn.) at 6 pm (ET). Make sure to check the Ballislife Show Page to get a reminder link for both games and for other game updates.

RELATED: Ballislife HS Basketball Weekly Showcase | Gate City (VA) vs. Union (VA) Game Link | Gate City (VA) vs. Cleveland (TN) Game Link 

Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
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(Sixth poll of 2017-18 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, January 21; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included)

No.	Prev.	High School (City)	Record
1	1	Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)	25-0
2	2	Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.)	29-0
3	3	University School (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)	20-1
4	5	McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.)	15-2
5	6	Simeon (Chicago, Ill.)	17-3
6	7	Shadow Mountain (Phoenix, Ariz.)	14-0
7	8	Memphis East (Memphis, Tenn.)	13-3
8	9	Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.)	22-2
9	10	Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.)	16-2
10	11	Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.)	15-1
11	4	DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.)	16-3
12	12	La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.)	16-3
13	13	Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.)	14-2
14	14	Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.)	19-3
15	15	Guyer (Denton, Texas)	27-1
16	16	Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.)	19-0
17	17	Garfield (Seattle, Wash.)	16-0
18	18	Hudson Catholic (Jersey City, N.J.)	9-3
19	19	Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.)	19-5
20	20	Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.)	13-2
21	21	Riverside Academy (Reserve, La.)	23-0
22	22	Riley (South Bend, Ind.)	15-0
23	23	Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.)	13-2
24	24	Upson-Lee (Thomaston, Ga.)	20-0
25	25	Cox Mill (Concord, N.C.)	15-3
26	26	Warren Central (Indianapolis, Ind.)	15-0
27	30	Trinity (Louisville, Ky.)	17-1
28	28	Clarkston (Clarkston, Mich.)	10-1
29	29	St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.)	21-2
30	32	Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio)	12-3
31	31	Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.)	15-2
32	36	Wayne (Huber Heights, Ohio)	12-0
33	33	Scott County (Georgetown, Ky.)	18-1
34	34	Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.)	16-4
35	35	Salesian (Richmond, Calif.)	19-1
36	44	Waxahachie (Waxahachie, Texas)	20-4
37	NR	Seton Hall Prep (West Orange, N.J.)	13-0
38	46	John Carroll (Bel Air, Md.)	15-5
39	41	Clark (Las Vegas, Nev.)	17-3
40	39	Jefferson (Portland, Ore.)	13-3
41	47	Mt. St. Joseph (Baltimore, Md.)	16-3
42	40	Gill St. Bernard's (Gladstone, N.J.)	9-3
43	43	IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)	14-5
44	NR	Hazel Park (Hazel Park, Mich.)	10-0
45	49	Gonzaga Prep (Spokane, Wash.)	16-0
46	NR	Plymouth-Whitemarsh (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.)	14-0
47	NR	Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.)	12-1
48	50	Etiwanda (Etiwanda, Fla.)	21-1
49	NR	Westlake (Austin, Texas)	25-3
50	NR	New Albany (New Albany, Ind.)	13-1

Dropped Out: Previous No. 27 Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.), No. 37 Bishop Miege (Shawnee Mission, Kan.), No. 38 Iowa City West (Iowa City, Iowa), No. 42 Huffman (Birmingham, Ala.), No. 45 West Oaks Academy (Orlando, Fla.), No. 48 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.).

Bubble Teams:  Bishop Miege (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) 9-1; Belleville West (Belleville, Ill.) 17-2; Broken Arrow (Broken Arrow, Okla.) 14-1; Camel Christian (Matthews, N.C.) 20-3; Canton (Canton, Miss.) 18-2; Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) 14-2; Curie (Chicago, Ill.) 17-2; Cypress Falls (Houston, Texas) 22-3; DeKaney (Houston, Texas) 25-3; Federal Way (Federal Way, Wash.) 18-0; Gate City (Gate City, Va.) 13-1; Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.) 20-3; Hazelwood Central (Florissant, Mo.) 17-1; Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) 16-1 Iowa City West (Iowa City, Iowa) 11-1; Lake Taylor (Norfolk, Va.) 14-0; Las Cruces (Las Cruces, N.M.) 19-0; Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 15-3; Lincoln (Tacoma, Wash.) 16-0; Lincoln East (Lincoln, Neb.) 15-0; Loundon Valley (Purcellville, Va.) 14-1; Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 13-6; McPherson (McPherson, Kan.) 12-1; Memorial (Tulsa, Okla.) 13-1; Mills University Studies (Little Rock, Ark.) 15-2; Meridian (Meridian, Miss.) 23-1; Morgan County (Madison, Ga.) 20-1; Mountain Brook (Mountain Brook, Ala.) 22-5; Mt. Vernon (Mt. Vernon, N.Y.) 12-1; Newton (Covington, Ga.) 17-3; Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 17-3; North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.) 16-1; Northwest Classen (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 15-1; Olive Branch (Olive Branch, Miss.) 13-4; Olympus (Salt Lake City, Utah) 15-0; Osceola (Kissimmee, Fla.) 15-5; Oshkosh North (Oshkosh, Wis.) 14-1; Pickerington North (Pickerington, Ohio) 10-2; Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.) 13-3; Ranney School (Tinton Falls, N.J.) 11-3; Richland (Richland, Wash.) 16-0; Rock Canyon (Highlands Ranch, Col.) 15-0; Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 14-3; Skyline (Ann Arbor, Mich.) 10-0; Solon (Solon, Ohio) 10-0; South Central (Winterville, N.C.) 15-0; South Garland (Garland, Texas) 25-3; Southwind (Memphis, Tenn.) 19-1; Trinity Episcopal (Richmond, Va.) 15-2; Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) 16-2; Webster Groves (Webster Groves, Mo.) 9-6; Westchester (Los Angeles, Calif.) 17-4**.

Note: The FAB 50 powered by www.ebooksnet.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 18 years ago.

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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- Chris Lykes hangs in the air for nice finish.
- Jeffrey Dowtin with the block then dunk on the break.
- DJ Harvey with 2 nice blocks in the WCAC conference tourney.
- Jamir Moultrie puts defender on ground and finishes through the tough foul.
- Anthony Cowan with a nice crossover and finish in the lane.
- Brandon Slater denies the would be dunk on.
- Khalia Skyes follows up with a putback dunk.
- Markelle Fultz throws down a nice reverse dunk after the PRO euro step.
- Freshman Anwar Gill posterizes defender on break for the and 1 dunk.

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