HoopGurlz

HoopGurlz

The dynamics of political campaigns seems to change every few days, but don't look for the race to be the nation's No. 1 high school girls basketball team for 2008 to change much until early March.

It's still California squad Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco at the top with an unbeaten record. The Irish, however, are projected to play also-unbeaten St. Mary's of Stockton in the CIF Northern California Division III championship. If it gets through that game, head coach Brian Harrigan's team will be a heavier favorite the next week to win the CIF Division III state title and complete a mythical national title season.

Scott Kurtz
Even if Jasmine Dixon leads Long Beach Poly to its third consecutive CIF Div. I state title, they might not finish ranked No. 1 in the state of California, let alone the nation.

If St. Mary's were to win that game and then go on to finish unbeaten itself, it would have the edge over Long Beach Poly in the final state rankings for California even if the Jackrabbits win their third straight CIF Division I state title. Whether the Rams can be No. 1 in the nation or not also depends on what happens in New York where perennial power Murry Bergtraum remains unbeaten and although the Blazers haven't played the national schedule this year that they have in years past there still looks like some difficult potential opponents they are going to have to beat down the road in the New York Federation Tournament of Champions.

One team that took a hit over the last two weeks in its hopes to be No. 1 in the nation is Winter Haven of Florida. The Blue Devils, who are shooting to win their third state title in four years, dropped a district championship game, 57-54, to Lake Gibson. They have since come back to beat Lake Gibson again, but the second loss dropped them from No. 4 to No. 8 in this week's FAB 50.

The highest-ranked team to drop out from the previous FAB 50 was No. 9 Regis Jesuit of Aurora, Colo. The Raiders faced the state's other FAB 50-ranked squad, Highlands Ranch, and were completely outclassed in a 74-49 defeat.

Among a group of five newcomers this week is Ursuline Academy of Wilmington, Del. Ursuline was without EA SPORTS National Player of the Year candidate Elena DelleDonne for the early part of the season due to a bout with mononucleosis, but she's back now and the Raiders have been impressive. They defeated the top team from Pennsylvania, Cardinal O'Hara of Springfield, and already this week won a big in-state game against rival St. Elizabeth, 54-40, as DelleDonne scored 31 points and had 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Many of the top teams in the land are beginning their roads to state championships with playoff games this week. Don't look for too many of them, outside of one especially stacked region in Texas, to face tough competition until the later rounds of those playoffs.


(All teams listed with most current win-loss record; Preseason ranking listed in parentheses; Look for the next Rivals.com FAB 50 girls basketball rankings in two weeks.)

1. Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco, Calif.) 23-0 (1)

2. Murry Bergtraum (New York, N.Y.) 19-0 (2)

3. St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.) 25-0 (3)

4. Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) 21-2 (5)

	VirginiaPreps.com
	Azania Stewart of No. 6 Notre Dame Academy (Fitchburg, Va.).

5. Notre Dame Academy (Fitchburg, Va.) 22-2 (6)

6. Cy-Fair (Houston, Texas) 32-2 (7)

7. Dunbar (Louisville, Ky.) 27-1 (8)

8. Winter Haven (Winter Haven, Fla.) 27-2 (4)

9. DeSoto (DeSoto, Texas) 33-1 (10)

10. St. Michael Academy (New York, N.Y.) 21-1 (11)

11. Prairie (Brush Prairie, Wash.) 17-3 (13)

12. Lakota West (West Chester, Ohio) 21-1 (12)

13. Southridge (Beaverton, Ore.) 19-4 (14)

14. Highlands Ranch (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) 17-3 (15)

15. Sapulpa (Sapulpa, Okla.) 20-1 (16)

16. Lower Richland (Hopkins, S.C.) 19-0 (17)

17. Bellaire (Houston, Texas) 34-1 (18)

18. Hinsdale Central (Hinsdale, Ill.) 24-1 (21)

19. Centennial (Circle Lakes, Minn.) 21-0 (20)

20. Stephenson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) 21-3 (22)

21. Murrah (Jackson, Miss.) 24-1 (23)

22. T.C. Williams (Alexandria, Va.) 17-0 (24)

23. Coffman (Dublin, Ohio) 22-0 (25)

24. Buffalo Grove (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) 27-3 (29)

25. Washington (South Bend, Ind.) 20-2 (30)

26. Shabazz (Newark, N.J.) 18-1 (26)

27. Lake Gibson (Lakeland, Fla.) 26-3 (28)

28. Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) 23-1 (32)

29. Bob Jones (Madison, Ala.) 29-2 (33)

30. Oak Ridge (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) 25-1 (34)

31. Lewis & Clark (Spokane, Wash.) 20-0 (40)

	Junior sensation Skylar Diggins of No. 25 Washington (South Bend, Ind.).

32. Hoover (Hoover, Ala.) 29-1 (37)

33. Heights (Wichita, Kan.) 16-1 (36)

34. Gentry (Indianola, Miss.) 30-0 (42)

35. Hope (Chicago, Ill.) 26-1 (41)

36. Wakefield (Raleigh, N.C.) 22-0 (44)

37. Edison (Alexandria, Va.) 18-1 (45)

38. Sequoyah (Tahlequah, Okla.) 20-2 (47)

39. Woodson (Washington, D.C.) 21-5 (39)

40. Skyview (Vancouver, Wash.) 19-2 (27)

41. Seton Keough (Baltimore, Md.) 24-3 (46)

42. St. John the Baptist (West Islip, N.Y.) 18-4 (48)

43. Dulles (Sugar Land, Texas) 31-4 (49)

44. Baron Collier (Naples, Fla.) 27-3 (50)

45. Lexington Catholic (Lexington, Ky.) 22-4 (nr)

46. Hillsboro (Hillsboro, Tenn.) 26-0 (nr)

47. Clovis West (Fresno, Calif.) 22-2 (nr)

48. Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.) 23-3 (nr)

49. Ursuline Academy (Wilmington, Del.) 14-6 (nr)

50. Cardinal O'Hara (Springfield, Pa.) 20-2 (35)

	Scott Kurtz
	Lola Wells hopes to help bubble squad A.B. Miller make a deep run in the post-season.

35 More On The Bubble Teams:
A.B. Miller (Fontana, Calif.) 22-2
Auburn Riverside (Auburn, Wash.) 17-3
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 27-4
Central (Andover, Kan.) 16-0
Central Catholic (Portland, Ore.) 17-3
Detroit Country Day (Birmingham, Mich.) 16-1
Dickinson (Dickinson, Texas) 30-4
Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas) 30-4
Eleanor Roosevelt (Greenbelt, Md.) 14-2
Frisco (Frisco, Texas) 33-3
Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) 23-2
Heritage Christian (Indianapolis, Ind.) 23-2
Highland (Gilbert, Ariz.) 27-3
Huntington (Huntington, W. Va.) 19-1
Incarnate Word (St. Louis, Mo.) 22-3
King (Milwaukee, Wisc.) 16-1
Leesburg (Leesburg, Fla.) 28-1
Madison (Houston, Texas) 24-2
Marietta (Marietta, Ga.) 23-2
McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) 22-3
Midfield (Midfield, Ala.) 26-1
Midwest City (Midwest City, Okla.) 19-0
Millikan (Long Beach, Calif.) 23-3
Mt. Lebanon (Mt. Lebanon, Pa.) 23-2
Mt. Notre Dame (Cincinnati, Ohio) 20-2
Norwin (Norwin, Pa.) 24-1
Paint Branch (Paint Branch, Md.) 16-0
Princess Anne (Virginia Beach, Va.) 20-0
Raymond (Raymond, Miss.) 27-1
Redondo (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 22-3
Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.) 18-2
Skyline (Salt Lake City, Utah) 17-2
Southwood (Shreveport, La.) 31-3
Sparkman (Harvest, Ala.) 25-3
Whitney Young (Chicago, Ill.) 23-3