Two top five spots in the final Rivals.com FAB 50 girls basketball rankings for the season have been secured by Notre Dame Academy of Virginia and Cy-Fair of Houston with two more probably being wrapped up this weekend in California.
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| Sophomore sensation Afure Jemerigbe may have been fouled while trying to score on a potential game-winning layup against top-ranked Sacred Heart Cathedral, but regardless of the outcome the Rams will definitely have a fine team next season. |
Top-ranked Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco barely escaped in its showdown with previous No. 3 St. Mary's of Stockton in the CIF Northern California Div. III championship with a 46-45 victory last Saturday. The Irish will now face Magnolia of Anaheim, a state-ranked team but not one ranked nationally, in the CIF Div. III state final this Saturday. A win would give head coach Brian Harrigan's squad a third straight state title and would cement its status as the nation's No. 1 team for the 2008 season.
With St. Mary's dropping down to No. 8 this week, Cy-Fair moved up from No. 6 to No. 5. That team had already ended its season the previous weekend with a Class 5A state title in Texas. Notre Dame Academy, meanwhile, ended its season with a 61-42 win over Bishop McNamara of Forestville, Md., and will be no lower than No. 4 in the final rankings.
One of the teams that defeated Notre Dame Academy, Long Beach Poly of California, will play in this weekend's CIF Division I state championship against Berkeley. The Jackrabbits, like No. 1 Sacred Heart Cathedral, are a strong favorite and are going for their third straight state title.
If the top-ranked Irish were to get upset in their final game, the No. 2 team that could move up would be unbeaten Murry Bergtraum of New York. The Lady Blazers are in the Public School Athletic League championships of New York City this weekend at Madison Square Garden (they play on Sunday after the Big East Conference men's tourney concludes) and then would play the following weekend at the New York Federation state championships.
Read on for this week's Rivals.com FAB 50 girls basketball rankings:
(All teams listed with most current win-loss record; Previous ranking listed in parentheses; The next Rivals.com FAB 50 girls basketball national rankings will be the season final.)
1. Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco, Calif.) 32-0 (1)
2. Murry Bergtraum (New York, N.Y.) 21-0 (2)
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| Michelle Jenkins of No. 9 Southridge (Beaverton, Ore.) |
3. Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) 30-2 (4)
4. Notre Dame Academy (Fitchburg, Va.) 28-2 (5)
5. Cy-Fair (Houston, Texas) 39-2 (6)
6. Lewis & Clark (Spokane, Wash.) 29-0 (8)
7. Gentry (Indianola, Miss.) 36-0 (9)
8. St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.) 32-1 (3)
9. Southridge (Beaverton, Ore.) 25-4 (12)
10. Highlands Ranch (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) 23-3 (13)
11. Lower Richland (Hopkins, S.C.) 26-0 (15)
12. DeSoto (DeSoto, Texas) 37-2 (17)
13. Bob Jones (Madison, Ala.) 35-2 (16)
14. Murrah (Jackson, Miss.) 31-1 (21)
15. Prairie (Brush Prairie, Wash.) 21-4 (19)
16. Union (Tulsa, Okla.) 27-0 (nr)
17. Baron Collier (Naples, Fla.) 31-3 (28)
18. Winter Haven (Winter Haven, Fla.) 30-3 (30)
19. Stephenson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) 29-3 (20)
20. Sapulpa (Sapulpa, Okla.) 27-2 (14)
21. Midfield (Midfield, Ala.) 32-1 (24)
22. Shabazz (Newark, N.J.) 28-2 (25)
23. Heritage Christian (Indianapolis, Ind.) 28-2 (27)
24. Whitney Young (Chicago, Ill.) 30-3 (31)
25. Hoover (Hoover, Ala.) 30-2 (32)
26. Woodson (Washington, D.C.) 27-5 (34)
27. Narbonne (Harbor City, Calif.) 32-5 (48)
28. Mt. Notre Dame (Cincinnati, Ohio) 26-2 (nr)
29. Lakota West (West Chester, Ohio) 26-2 (11)
30. Ursuline (Wilmington, Del.) 19-6 (36)
31. Cardinal O'Hara (Springfield, Pa.) 25-2 (37)
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| Ashley Gayle of No. 36 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) |
32. Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.) 24-9 (nr)
33. St. Frances (Baltimore, Md.) 25-5 (nr)
34. St. John the Baptist (West Islip, N.Y.) 24-4 (35)
35. Paint Branch (Paint Branch, Md.) 23-0 (41)
36. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 32-4 (nr)
37. Buffalo Grove (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) 33-4 (38)
38. Lake Gibson (Lakeland, Fla.) 26-4 (39)
39. Carmel (Carmel, Ind.) 23-4 (42)
40. Washington (South Bend, Ind.) 23-3 (43)
41. Heritage (Virginia Beach, Va.) 24-1 (49)
42. Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) 26-2 (50)
43. Auburn Riverside (Auburn, Wash.) 22-3 (nr)
44. Cinco Ranch (Katy, Texas) 30-8 (44)
45. Bellaire (Houston, Texas) 36-2 (45)
46. Detroit Country Day (Birmingham, Mich.) 26-1 (nr)
47. St. Michael's Academy (New York, N.Y.) 23-2 (7)
48. Central (Andover, Kan.) 26-0 (nr)
49. Trenton Central (Trenton, N.J.) 31-1 (nr)
50. Lincoln (Dallas, Texas) 29-4 (nr)
Dropped Out:
Previous No. 10 Dunbar (Lexington, Ky.); No. 18 Centennial (Circle Lakes, Minn.); No. 22 Oak Ridge (Oak Ridge, Tenn.); No. 23 Heights (Wichita, Kan.); No. 26 Wakefield (Raleigh, N.C.); No. 27 Sequoyah (Tahlequah, Okla.); No. 30 Lexington Catholic (Lexington, Ky.); No. 40 Incarnate Word (St. Louis, Mo.); No. 46 Redondo (Redondo Beach, Calif.); No. 47 Mill Creek (Hoschton, Ga.);
