With Thanksgiving now a must-see weekend throughout the country, it's necessary to update our preseason national rankings following the holiday. The first edition of the <\/b>2019-20 FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com shows six new teams, including two from Georgia. Fast-risers include The Rock (Gainesville, Fla.), Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.) and St. Stephen\u2019s & St. Agnes (Alexandria, Va.). Our next set of rankings will be December 16.<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By Ronnie Flores<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Although some states have not yet opened up their 2019-20 campaign, Thanksgiving has become a must-see-hoops weekend across the country. Compiling the rankings 10 years ago, the results over Thanksgiving weekend were sporadic and not crucial. That's clearly not the case anymore, so it's a must to update the FAB 50 National Team Rankings<\/strong> powered by Ballislife.com<\/em> for the first time during the regular season.<\/p>\n The interest in high school hoops over the holiday reached its crescendo this year, as over 12,000 fans piled into American Airlines Arena<\/em> in Dallas on Saturday evening to see four-time FAB 50 champion Monteverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), the nation's preseason No. 2 ranked team, and star-studded Sierra (Canyon, Chatsworth, Calif.), the No. 6 team, do battle as part of the Thanksgiving Hoopfest<\/em>.<\/p>\n Montverde played twice at the two-day event (with a majority of the games played at Sandra Meadows Arena in Duncanville) and came away with two impressive victories. On November 29, the Eagles downed preseason No. 28 Duncanville (Duncanville), 84-51, as four players scored in double figures, including 17 for Mr. Basketball USA candidate<\/a> Day'Ron Sharpe<\/strong> and 15 for Oklahoma St.-bound Cade Cunningham<\/strong>, one of the leading national player of the year candidates who was playing in his hometown for the first time in a Montverde uniform. The next night at American Airlines Arena, No. 33 Yates proved to be no match for Montverde Academy without its full strength lineup and fell, 98-46.<\/p>\n The Yates-Montverde Academy game was a bit anti-climatic as the last game of the event following the matchup between Duncanville and Sierra Canyon. Sure, many curious onlookers wanted to get a glimpse of Sierra Canyon freshman reserve Bronny James<\/strong>, the son of the Los Angeles Lakers' superstar LeBron James<\/strong>, and the other celebrities in tow, but the added bonus was a terrific game that came down to the wire. Sierra Canyon pulled out a 66-63 victory behind 24 points and 10 rebounds from senior transfer B.J. Boston<\/strong> and 12 points from sophomore Amari Bailey<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The demand was great enough to see James and Sierra Canyon, plus Cunningham and Montverde against a Texas power, that Thanksgiving Hoopfest tournament director Glenn Smith<\/strong> moved the event's final four games to the home of the Dallas Mavericks after tickets sold out in 48 minutes when first available. It's easy to see that where ever Sierra Canyon plays this season, it will draw an overflow crowd and that it's going to take a special effort to knock off Montverde Academy.<\/p>\n Sharife Cooper went OFF for 52 points tonight!! @CooperSharife<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/xK0C7Z3TMS<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) December 1, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n