We now know who is going to play in end-of-the season events and just under 20 percent of the teams in this week's FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com are still going and looking to close strong.

Among the state champs who wrapped up their season this weekend include Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Division 4 champ Richmond Heights (Ohio), which finished unbeaten and as the state's top ranked team with a 70-26 stomping of Convoy Crestview (Convoy, Ohio) on Sunday afternoon. The Spartans led 31-22 at the half, but completely blew open the game with a massive third quarter run, as the program won its second consecutive state crown to move up six spots in this week's rankings. Dorian Jones, one of the better sophomores (2025) in the Midwest, went bonkers from 3-point range and nearly outscored Convoy Crestview by himself, making 7-of-10 3-pointers and finishing with 25 points.

One of the two newcomers is OHSAA D1 champ Archbishop Hoban (Akron, Ohio), which took down defending D1 champ Pickerington Central (Pickerington, Ohio) on Sunday evening, 53-47, at the University of Dayton. Senior Logan Vowles led the way offensively for Hoban with 17 points, while senior Will Scott Jr. (13 points) and freshman Sam Greer (12 points) also hit double figures. In a game where points were at a premium, Vowles made five of the game's 10 3-pointers. Offensive rebounds were also a key to the game and Vowles and Greer came up with a combined nine, as the Knights grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to Pick Central's 11, even though the defending champions held the rebounding advantage by one (32-31).

Pick Central was looking to finish FAB 50 ranked for the second consecutive season, but had a rough go offensively, making only 3-of-16 3-point attempts and 4-of-7 free throws. Ohio Mr. Basketball Devin Royal scored a team-high 15 points, but made only 5-of-15 shot attempts.

Up three spots this week is No. 37 Warren Central (Bowling Green, Ky.), which only lost one game all season and captured the coveted UK HealthCare Sweet 16 title with a 64-60 victory over defending Kentucky High School Athletics Association (KHSAA) Sweet 16 champ George Rogers Clark (Winchester, Ky.) at Rupp Arena. In the single elimination, winner-take-all format, Warren Central looked to erase some of the painful memories of last year's final, when George Rogers Clark defeated the Dragons, 43-42, as a missed free throw late was a key factor in the outcome.

This time around, junior Kade Unseld hit two clutch free throws with 8.1 seconds remaining to seal with win for coach Will Unseld, his father. Unseld, who had a 26-point effort at the Sweet 16, was one of three Warren Central players to finish the championship game with 17 points. The others were Damarion Walkup and Omari Glover, both seniors. The Dragons' only other state crown came in 2004, when it won their last 21 games after seven regular season losses to finished No. 35 in the FAB 50 that season.

The two highest ranked teams looking to win state titles this week are unbeaten and No. 5 Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) and No. 11 Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.). Ben Davis will play bubble club Kokomo (Ind.) on March 25 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Class 4A state crown. Kokomo knocked off previous No. 22 Penn (Wishawaka, Ind.), 58-57, in the state semifinals. Imhotep Charter, meanwhile, is gunning for its second consecutive Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Class 5A state crown. It will play Archbishop Ryan (Philadelphia, Pa.), the club that knocked off previous No. 41 Radnor (Radnor, Pa.) in the state quarterfinals, in the semifinal on March 20. The state championship game is set for March 24.

Teams marked with an asterisk by their won-loss record are still playing, including the six state champions that will participate in the second annual State Champions Invitational set for April 6-8 at McDonough Arena at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

No. 41 Curtis (University Place, Wash.) plays No. 20 Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.), with the winner of that game meeting No. 33 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) in one semifinal contest. No. 14 Sidwell Friends (DC) is already slated in the other semifinal and will take on the winner of No. 45 Corner Canyon (Draper, Utah) and bubble club Yazoo City (Yazoo City, Miss.). The SCI championship game is set for 12 pm ET on April 8.

RELATED:  2023 GEICO Nationals Field Announced |  Updated 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: Closing Strong! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

By Ronnie Flores

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The playoffs are kicking off around the country, so after the early rounds when the top seeds often easily advance, the competition gets tougher and the chance to move up, or tumble down, in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com becomes a greater possibility. Those opportunities (and land-mines) are clearly reflected in this week's rankings, as we continue to reward still unbeaten teams and don't overly punish those that play national schedules during the regular season.

Unbeaten teams making major moves up this week include No. 8 Salesian (Richmond, Calif.), No. 13 Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio) and No. 29 Millbrook (Raleigh, N.C.). Salesian was able to move up eight spots this week because previous Cal-Hi Sports No. 1 Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.) was stunned, 54-50, in its pool play opener in the CIF Southern Section Open playoffs by unranked Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.).

We had a decision to either move previous No. 11 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) in front of the Rancho Christian team it just lost to two weekends ago, and place Salesian right behind them in the California pecking order, or hop Salesian in front of both teams. We decided to move The Pride in front of Sierra Canyon (even though it won its pool play opener) and leave Rancho Christian in front of Sierra Canyon because of the head-to-heh result. That prompted Salesian moving up eight spots and Sierra Canyon falling one spot in this week's FAB 50.

Salesian is not only unbeaten, its victory over Illinois No. 1 Curie (Chicago, Ill.) continues to loom big because the Condors have not dropped another game, as Curie moves up ten spots this week to No. 11 right in front of Sierra Canyon. Salesian also won the Chick-Fil-A Classic in South Carolina versus strong competition and defeated the Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.) team (77-59) that earlier defeated Bishop Montgomery. The post-season competition for Salesian isn't nearly what Rancho Christian, Sierra Canyon and Bishop Montgomery potentially face in the CIFSS Open playoffs and the SoCal regional, so should Salesian lose in the post-season, it is unlikely The Pride will drop just two spots as Rancho Christian did this week. The same holds true for Moeller and Millbrook and others that don't play in loaded district, section or regional playoff situations. The Pride could see Sheldon once again in the NorCal open playoffs, but it will be a slow move up from its current position as the intensity and pressure grows with each passing playoff round.

Previous No. 6 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) is in the same boat as Rancho Christian in that it won't fall so quickly after a loss against a tough foe. In its case, Sunrise Christian Academy faced Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) at the Heartland Hoops Classic in Grand Island, Neb., and fell 65-53 in a game Wasatch took control of from the start. We had to drop Wasatch Academy all the way down to No. 38 two weeks ago after some shaky wins against unranked foes and losses versus Rancho Christian (74-47) and No. 28 Vashon (St. Louis, Mo.). Perhaps it was an omen of things to come when Wasatch Academy took No. 1 La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) down to the wire two weekends ago, but with its win over Sunrise Christian (combined with Sunrise's wins over the course of the season), coach David Evans' club hops back in front of Vashon and likely played itself back into GEICO Nationals slated for the end of the season in New York City.

This week there are five newcomers, including Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) as the highest rated at No. 44. Coach Steve Turner's club defeated No. 5 DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.), 65-58, to hand the Stags their only loss in WCAC play so far this season. Gonzaga's earlier win over No. 45 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) also comes into play this week and the Eagles will get its second shot at No. 20 Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) on February 12.

For the first time since it became a FAB 50 eligible program in 2008-09, Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) is out of the FAB 50 and it looks like it will miss GIECO Nationals for the first time since, In 2008-09, Findlay Prep captured the tournament and FAB 50 national title. One of the teams replacing the Pilots and four lower ranked teams this week is No. 47 Carmel (Ind.). Carmel got to as high as No. 40 in the FAB 50 earlier in the season before dropping its first game and falling out. Carmel will have a big rankings opportunity on February 15 when it takes on No. 7 Warren Central (Indianapolis, Ind.) in a showdown between the Hoosier State's top two ranked teams.

RELATED: NCAA and NFHS Limit June Live Period Opportunities |?Subscribe on iTunes to new "In the Paint Show” podcast

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

(Tenth poll of 2018-19 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, February 10; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included; ***Indicates scrimmages and foundation games not included; ****Indicates season not complete)

No.	Prev.	High School (City)	Record
1	1	La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.)	26-0
2	2	McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.)	27-0
3	3	Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)	21-2
4	4	IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)	26-1
5	5	DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.)	23-3
6	7	Mountain Brook (Mountain Brook, Ala.)	27-3
7	10	Warren Central (Indianapolis, Ind.)	20-1
8	16	Salesian (Richmond, Calif.)	27-0
9	9	Ranney School (Tinton Falls, N.J.)	20-3
10	8	Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.)	23-5**
11	21	Curie (Chicago, Ill.)	26-1
12	11	Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)	25-3
13	23	Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio)	20-0
14	6	Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.)	18-5
15	13	Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.)	18-5
16	14	Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.)	23-3
17	29	Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah)	23-3
18	15	University School (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)	20-4
19	17	Shadow Mountain (Phoenix, Ariz.)	22-3
20	20	Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.)	20-6
21	22	Nicolet (Glendale, Wis.)	17-1
22	24	Guyer (Denton, Texas)	28-4
23	12	Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.)	21-3
24	25	Gonzaga Prep (Spokane, Wash.)	19-2
25	26	Federal Way (Federal Way, Wash.)	20-2
26	27	Lancaster (Lancaster, Texas)	26-2
27	19	Belleville West (Belleville, Ill.)	23-3
28	28	Vashon (St. Louis, Mo.)	17-5
29	36	Millbrook (Raleigh, N.C.)	23-0
30	30	Centennial (Corona, Calif.)	26-3
31	31	Scott County (Goergetown, Ky.)	27-1
32	32	Cox Mill (Concord, N.C.)	21-1
33	34	Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, N.C.)	27-1
34	35	Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.)	19-2
35	38	Fairfax (Los Angeles, Calif.)	25-1
36	41	Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas)	24-7
37	37	South Central (Winterville, N.C.)	21-1
38	42	St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.)	29-4
39	43	Abington (Abington, Pa.)	21-1
40	45	Memphis East (Memphis, Tenn.)	18-7
41	39	Olive Branch (Olive Branch, Miss.)	21-6
42	18	Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.)	28-4
43	40	Bartlett (Bartlett, Tenn.)	27-2
44	NR	Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.)	21-5
45	44	Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.)	22-4
46	47	Pickerington Central (Pickerington, Ohio)	20-1
47	NR	Carmel (Carmel, Ind.)	17-1
48	NR	River Rouge (River Rouge, Mich.)	15-1
49	NR	Dublin Coffman (Dublin, Ohio)	19-0
50	NR	Edmond Memorial (Edmond, Okla.)	20-1

Dropped Out: Previous No. 33 Hilliard Bradley (Hilliard, Ohio), No. 46 East Coweta (East Coweta, Ga.), No. 48 Bishop Loughlin (Brooklyn, N.Y.), No. 49 Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.), No. 50 Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.).

Bubble Teams:? Beecher (Flint, Mich.) 14-2; Bellevue West (Bellevue, Neb.) 22-1; Benton Harbor (Benton Harbor, Mich.) 16-1; Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) 17-3; Bettendorf (Bettendorf, Iowa) 17-1; Biloxi (Biloxi, Miss.) 27-1; Bishop Loughlin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 20-2; Bishop Miege (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) 13-2; Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) 23-4; Bogan (Chicago, Ill.) 22-2; Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.) 18-2; Boys Latin (Baltimore, Md.) 27-4; Brentwood (Brentwood, N.Y.) 19-1; Briarcrest Christian (Eads, Tenn.) 21-2; Buford (Buford, Ga.) 24-2; Cardinal Hayes (Bronx, N.Y.) 19-5; Center Hill (Olive Branch, Miss.) 25-3; Central Plains (Claflin, Kan.) 17-0; Clark (Las Vegas, Nev.) 21-4; Dorman (Roebuck, S.C.) 23-3; East Coweta (East Coweta, Ga.) 24-3; East St. Louis (East St. Louis, Ill.) 22-5; Elizabeth (Elizabeth, N.J.) 21-0; Etiwanda (Etiwanda, Calif.) 25-3; Gilbert (Gilbert, Ariz.) 25-1; Gill St. Bernard’s (Gladstone, N.J.) 18-4; Grandview (Grandview, Mo.) 16-2; Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) 24-3; Haverford School (Haverford, Pa.) 21-0; Hilliard Bradley (Hilliard, Ohio) 18-1; Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) 21-3; John Hardin (Elizabethtown, Ky.) 28-0; Keenan (Columbia, S.C.) 25-1; Kennedy Catholic (Hermitage, Pa.) 17-3; Las Cruces (Las Cruces, N.M.) 23-0; Lewis-Palmer (Monument, Col.) 21-0; Longwood (Middle Island, N.Y.) 19-1; Mansfield Timberview (Arlington, Texas) 30-2; Meadowcreek (Norcross, Ga.) 22-5; Memorial (Tulsa, Okla.) 18-3; Minnehaha Academy (Minneapolis, Ky.) 15-2; Morgan Park (Chicago, Ill.) 24-3; New Haven (New Haven, Mich.) 16-1; Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 19-8; North Scott (Eldridge, Iowa) 18-0; Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) 15-5; Patterson (Baltimore, Md.) 16-3; Pinnacle (Phoenix, Ariz.) 24-3; Pleasant Grove (Pleasant Grove, Utah) 18-2; Poly (Baltimore, Md.) 15-4; Prior Lake (Prior Lake, Minn.) 16-2; Rockhurst (Kansas City, Mo.) 15-2; Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) 20-4; Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.) 30-2; South Shore (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 20-4; Southwest Guilford (High Point, N.C.) 22-0; Springfield Southeast (Springfield, Ill.) 22-2; Starkville (Starkville, Miss.) 25-1; St. Raymond’s (Bronx, N.Y.) 19-5; Trinity Catholic (St. Louis, Mo.) 20-3; University of Detroit Jesuit (Detroit, Mich.) 15-2; Upson-Lee (Thomaston, Ga.) 24-1; Wagner (San Antonio, Texas) 26-5; Westchester (Los Angeles, Calif.) 22-3; Wright (New Orleans, La.) 29-4.

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 19 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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