Defending FAB 50 champion Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) remains in the top spot after staying unbeaten against tough opponents at the Culligan City of Palms Classic, the Wild Wing Café High School Hoops Classic and Cancer Research Classic. The Eagles have some tough upcoming games as well. With a mixed bag of results so far, we reward teams that have played a national schedule. Unbeaten teams that haven’t played as many games or stayed local over the holidays will move up slower.
By Ronnie Flores & Mark Tennis
Contributing: Doug Huff
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) is about halfway home through a tough stretch of games that will show head coach Kevin Boyle what kind of team he has. So far, his club has the look of an undefeated wire-to-wire Student Sports FAB 50 national champion.
After defeating No. 23 Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.), No. 12 Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.) for the second time this season and No. 5 Paul VI (Farfaix, Va.) to capture the prestigious Culligan City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla., Montverde Academy captured the Wild Wing Café High School Hoops Classic in Charlotte, N.C., with a 83-60 victory over No. 11 Northside Christian Academy of Charlotte. After the turn of the year, Boyle’s team won a showcase game against No. 33 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) at the Cancer Research Classic in Wheeling, W.Va.
All-American candidate D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State) did not play in the City of Palms tournament due to injury, but he came off the bench to score a team-high 13 points in the 74-46 victory over Wheeler. On January 11, Montverde Academy faces Oak Ridge of Orlando on ESPN (4 p.m. ET), then travels to the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Mo., where it could run into Paul VI once again. Last year at the same event, Paul VI upset the Eagles. On January 20, Montverde will face No. 10 Curie (Chicago) at the Spaulding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass.
Curie is led by Mr. Basketball USA candidate and Kansas recruit Cliff Alexander, who is off to a strong start to his senior campaign. Alexander had to sit out Curie’s road game versus Muskegon (Mich.) and though his team had a late lead, it ended up losing 73-66. We don’t penalize Curie in the rankings because Alexander sat out — and because Curie has a tough upcoming slate of games to prove its ratings worth. The reward for Muskegon was a No. 36 slot in this week’s rankings even though the Big Reds have only played four games.
That’s the theme of the FAB 50 as it moves into 2014 — rewarding the teams that have played a tough schedule — even with a loss or two. There is still time for unbeaten clubs to move up — especially teams along the eastern seaboard who started their season later than the rest of the country or had key games cancelled because of inclement weather.
New No. 3 White Station (Memphis) had an early game versus No. 16 Prime Prep at the Marshall County Hoopfest in Kentucky cancelled, but the Spartans showed what they could do on the court by capturing the Iolani Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii with a 65-41 victory over previous No. 48 Westchester (Los Angeles).
New No. 4 Rainier Beach is the top team in the West Region after previous No. 2 Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) dropped two games at the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas. According to respected observers, the Vikings looked like a top five team at the Les Schwab Invitational in Hillsboro, Ore. Louisville recruit Shaqquan Aaron earned MVP honors after Rainier Beach downed No. 11 Whitney Young (Chicago) and 40 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) to capture the tourney crown.
Updated Student Sports FAB 50
Boys Basketball National Team Rankings
(Second poll of the 2013-14 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, January 5; Previous ranking in parentheses)
[contentblock id=fab-50-2013-14]
| No. | Prev. | High School | City | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Montverde Academy | (Montverde, Fla.) | 15-0 |
| 2 | 3 | Oak Hill Academy | (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) | 19-1 |
| 3 | 4 | White Station | (Memphis, Tenn.) | 10-0 |
| 4 | 12 | Rainier Beach | (Seattle, Wash.) | 10-0 |
| 5 | 9 | Paul VI | (Fairfax, Va.) | 9-1 |
| 6 | 6 | Mater Dei | (Santa Ana, Calif.) | 14-0 |
| 7 | 16 | Sunrise Christian Academy | (Bel Aire, Kan.) | 9-1 |
| 8 | 33 | Archbishop Carroll | (Radnor, Pa.) | 7-1 |
| 9 | 20 | Germantown | (Germantown, Wis.) | 11-0 |
| 10 | 10 | Curie | (Chicago) | 10-1 |
| 11 | 15 | Whitney Young | (Chicago) | 8-4 |
| 12 | 19 | Providence | (Jacksonville, Fla.) | 12-3 |
| 13 | 22 | Loyola | (Los Angeles) | 13-0 |
| 14 | NR | Arsenal Tech | (Indianapolis, Ind.) | 11-1 |
| 15 | NR | La Lumiere | (La Porte, Ind.) | 13-2 |
| 16 | 8 | Prime Prep Academy | (Fort Worth, Texas) | 8-3 |
| 17 | 2 | Findlay Prep | (Henderson, Nev.) | 18-3 |
| 18 | 39 | Northside Christian Academy | Charlotte, N.C.) | 12-1 |
| 19 | 18 | Apple Valley | (Apple Valley, Minn.) | 11-1 |
| 20 | NR | Stevenson | (Lincolnshire, Ill.) | 13-0 |
| 21 | 13 | Blue Valley Northwest | (Overland Park, Kan.) | 2-1 |
| 22 | 47 | St. John's College | (Washington, D.C.) | 10-1 |
| 23 | 11 | Lincoln | (Brooklyn, N.Y.) | 9-3 |
| 24 | 28 | Moeller | (Cincinnati, Ohio) | 8-1 |
| 25 | 17 | Neuman-Goretti | (Philadelphia) | 8-2 |
| 26 | 38 | Roselle Catholic | (Roselle, N.J.) | 4-0 |
| 27 | 41 | Sagemont | (Weston, Fla.) | 17-0 |
| 28 | 45 | St. Joseph | (Metuchen, N.J.) | 6-0 |
| 29 | 50 | Orlando Christian Prep | (Orlando, Fla.) | 15-0 |
| 30 | NR | Sierra Canyon | (Chatsworth, Calif.) | 13-1 |
| 31 | 24 | Arlington Country Day | (Jacksonville, Fla.) | 12-3 |
| 32 | NR | Morgan Park | (Chicago) | 10-2 |
| 33 | 5 | Wheeler | (Marietta, Ga.) | 9-4 |
| 34 | NR | Greater Atlanta Christian | Norcross, Ga.) | 15-0 |
| 35 | 36 | Centennial | (Corona, Calif.) | 12-2 |
| 36 | NR | Muskegon | (Muskegon, Mich.) | 4-0 |
| 37 | NR | Hopkins | (Minnetonka, Minn.) | 10-1 |
| 38 | NR | Cardinal Hayes | (Bronx, N.Y.) | 8-0 |
| 39 | 27 | Bishop O'Dowd | (Oakland, Calif.) | 5-3 |
| 40 | 14 | Bishop Gorman | (Las Vegas) | 11-4 |
| 41 | NR | Jackson | (Mill Creek, Wash.) | 8-0 |
| 42 | 42 | Hickman | (Columbia, Mo.) | 10-0 |
| 43 | 44 | Iowa City West | (Iowa City, Iowa) | 7-0 |
| 44 | 31 | Corona del Sol | (Tempe, Ariz.) | 13-1 |
| 45 | NR | DeMatha | (Hyattsville, Md.) | 11-0 |
| 46 | 25 | Callaway | (Jackson, Miss.) | 11-1 |
| 47 | NR | Carmel | (Carmel, Ind.) | 7-0 |
| 48 | NR | Judson | (Converse, Texas) | 21-1 |
| 49 | NR | Jefferson | (Portland, Ore.) | 7-1 |
| 50 | 7 | Etiwanda | (Etiwanda, Calif.) | 13-3 |
Dropped Out: Previous No. 21 Denver East (Denver, Colo.); No. 23 Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.); No. 26 St. Rita (Chicago, Ill.); No. 29 De La Salle (Minneapolis, Minn.); No. 30 Wenonah (Birmingham, Ala.); No. 32 Simeon (Chicago, Ill.); No. 34 Christ The King (Middle Village, N.Y.); No. 35 Madison (Dallas, Texas); No. 37 Parkview (Little Rock, Ark.); No. 40 Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.); No. 43 Benedictine (Richmond, Va.); No. 46 Redondo Union (Redondo, Calif.); No. 48 Westchester (Los Angeles, Calif.); No. 49 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.).
Bubble Teams: Ballard (Louisville, Ky.) 11-3; Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) 13-1; Capital Christian (Sacramento, Calif.) 14-2; Central (Omaha, Neb.) 9-1; Chester (Chester, Pa.) 6-1; Denver East (Denver, Colo.) 8-2; De Soto (De Soto, Texas) 15-3; Gulfport (Gulfport, Miss.) 15-1; Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) 13-0; Hamilton (Memphis, Tenn.) 6-2; Irmo (Irmo, S.C.) 10-1; Lone Peak (Highland, Utah) 7-2; Montrose (Rockville, Md.) 6-3; Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) 5-1; North Little Rock (North Little Rock, Ark.) 10-1; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 12-3; Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 14-2; Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.) 19-1; Simeon (Chicago, Ill.) 9-3; St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) 4-1; St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) 8-1; Westchester (Los Angeles, Calif.) 12-4.
Note: The STUDENT SPORTS FAB 50 is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and they were compiled by the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 14 years ago.
Ronnie Flores is the Publisher and Editor of GrassrootsHoops.net. He can be reached at ronlocc1977@yahoo.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
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