POWERADE FAB 50 Rankings: Final
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Anyone who expected a down year for California on the high school girls' basketball national scene likely was basing expectations on the impossibly high standards of last season.
In 2011, California had four teams (No. 1 Mater Dei, No. 5 Brea Olinda, No. 7 St. Mary's, Stockton, and No. 12 Long Beach Poly) among the POWERADE FAB 50's top 12.
This year's rankings aren't as top heavy for the Golden State, but they are indicative of the depth of talent in the nation's most populous state. Mater Dei didn't match its two straight No. 1 finishes, but the Monarchs solidified a No. 8 ranking by winning their third straight CIF Division I state championship on Saturday. Joining them in the top 10 is No. 9 La Jolla Country Day, which won a CIF Division IV state title.
The Torreys could have been in the conversation for a top-three ranking, and maybe even No. 1, except they suffered a lone loss 50-48 to Long Beach Poly on Dec. 30, which is indicative of the strength of the state's programs. Poly, at No. 21, is one of eight California teams ranked in the FAB 50. Last year may have seemed a brighter season for the Californians, but they had only six teams ranked (Berkeley was No. 34).
In addition to the aforementioned three, California also has No. 14 Bishop O'Dowd, No. 19 Windward, No. 27 Brea Olinda, No. 34 St. Mary's and No. 43 Serra.
California's perennial powerhouses all play national schedules, which give those schools, plus their in-state rivals, a comparative edge over, say, the second-most populous state, Texas, where teams don't venture out very much.
Panelists: Brandon Clay, Rebecca Gray, Chris Hansen, Keil Moore, Glenn Nelson.
| 2011-2012 POWERADE FAB 50 Girls' Basketball Rankings: Final | |||
| RK (LW) | SCHOOL (CITY, STATE) | REC | COMMENT |
| 1 (1) | Saint Marys Phoenix, AZ | 30-0 | Season ended with a state championship for the Nike Tournament of Champions champions. |
| 2 (2) | McEachern Powder Springs, GA | 33-0 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 3 (3) | Whitney Young Chicago, IL | 34-0 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 4 (4) | Bolingbrook Bolingbrook, IL | 26-2 | Season ended with a quadruple-overtime loss to No. 3 Whitney Young. |
| 5 (5) | Riverdale Murfreesboro, TN | 34-3 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 6 (6) | Riverdale Baptist Upper Marlboro, MD | 35-2 | The NACA national champs will be the top seed in the NHSI this weekend. |
| 7 (7) | Duncanville Duncanville, TX | 40-1 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 8 (8) | Mater Dei Santa Ana, CA | 34-3 | Jordan Adams had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Nirra Fields had 24 points as the Monarchs beat Berkeley (Calif.) 57-40 to win the CIF Division I state championship for the third straight year. |
| 9 (9) | La Jolla Country Day School La Jolla, CA | 32-1 | Kelsey Plum had 32 points, and Maya Hood had 19 points and 13 rebounds as the Torreys beat Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) 72-41 in the CIF Division IV state championship game. |
| 10 (12) | Cicero-North Syracuse Cicero, NY | 23-3 | Breanna Stewart set records for points (64) and rebounds (38) in the New York State Federation Tournament of Champions as the Northstars rolled 80-55 over Nazareth (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in the semifinal and 60-28 over Murry Bergtraum (New York, N.Y.) in the championship game. |
| 11 (10) | Hoover Birmingham, AL | 31-3 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 12 (11) | Twinsburg Twinsburg, OH | 25-3 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 13 (13) | Science Hill Johnson City, TN | 38-1 | Season ended with a loss to Riverdale in the state championship game. |
| 14 (14) | Bishop O'Dowd Oakland, CA | 30-3 | Kendall Waters had 14 points and 12 rebounds as the Dragons routed Laguna Hills (Calif.) 62-24 in the CIF Division III state championship. |
| 15 (15) | Clarksville Clarksville, TN | 37-1 | Season ended with a loss to Science Hill in the state semifinals. |
| 16 (17) | MacArthur Irving, TX | 35-3 | Season ended with a loss to Duncanville. |
| 17 (18) | DuPont Manual Louisville, KY | 37-2 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 18 (19) | Wesleyan School Norcross, GA | 28-4 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 19 (20) | Windward Los Angeles, CA | 29-5 | Season ended with a loss to Serra (Gardena, Calif.) in the CIF Division IV regional semifinal. |
| 20 (16) | Nazareth Brooklyn, NY | 18-4 | Lost to Cicero-North Syracuse in the semifinals of the New York State Federation Tournament of Champions last weekend. |
| 21 (21) | L. B. Polytechnic Long Beach, CA | 31-4 | Season ended with a loss to Mater Dei in the CIF Division I state semifinals. |
| 22 (22) | Dr. Phillips Orlando, FL | 29-3 | Will defend NHSI title this weekend after claiming a state championship. |
| 23 (24) | Norcross Norcross, GA | 26-6 | Season ended with a loss to No. 2 McEachern in state semifinals. |
| 24 (25) | M. X. Shabazz Newark, NJ | 30-2 | Season ended with a loss to Gill St. Bernard in the semifinals of the New Jersey Tournament of Champions. |
| 25 (23) | Good Counsel Olney, MD | 30-5 | Lost to H.D. Woodson in the Washington, D.C., city title game. |
| 26 (26) | South Medford Medford, OR | 30-0 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 27 (27) | Brea Olinda Brea, CA | 26-7 | Season ended with a loss to Long Beach Poly in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division I state tournament. |
| 28 (28) | Edgewater Orlando, FL | 28-4 | Will play in the NHSI this weekend after claiming the FHSAA 6A state championship. |
| 29 (29) | Seward Seward, NE | 26-0 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 30 (30) | Hopkins Minnetonka, MN | 30-1 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 31 (31) | Marion County Lebanon, KY | 34-5 | Season ended with a loss to DuPont Manual in the state championship game. |
| 32 (32) | Bob Jones Madison, AL | 36-3 | Season ended a loss to No. 8 Hoover in the state championship game. |
| 33 (33) | Fairmont Kettering, OH | 24-4 | Season ended with a loss to Twinsburg in the OHSAA Division I state championship game. |
| 34 (34) | St. Mary's Stockton, CA | 32-4 | Season ended with a loss to Archbishop Mitty in the semifinals of the CIF Division II regional tournament. |
| 35 (35) | Goodrich Goodrich, MI | 28-0 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 36 (36) | Quincy Notre Dame Quincy, IL | 34-1 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 37 (37) | Saint Johns College Washington, DC | 26-8 | Season ended with a championship in the Bishop Walsh Invitational. |
| 38 (38) | Archbishop Carroll Radnor, PA | 29-2 | Junior Sarah Curran had 16 points and seven rebounds as the Patriots beat Oakland Catholic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 56-37 in the PIAA AAAA state championship game last weekend. |
| 39 (39) | Edmond Santa Fe Edmond, OK | 28-0 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 40 (40) | Wichita Heights Wichita, KS | 25-0 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 41 (41) | Rock Bridge Columbia, MO | 26-3 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 42 (49) | Manasquan Manasquan, NJ | 32-2 | Katelynn Flaherty had 27 points and Michaela Mabrey had 26 as Manasquan beat Gill St. Bernard 67-55 to win the New Jersey Tournament of Champions. |
| 43 (42) | Junipero Serra Gardena, CA | 30-4 | Season ended with a loss to La Jolla Country Day in the CIF Division IV semifinals. |
| 44 (43) | Lincoln Dallas, TX | 29-1 | Season ended with a loss in the regional quarterfinals. |
| 45 (44) | Spring Valley Columbia, SC | 21-5 | Season ended with a loss in the second round of the state playoffs. |
| 46 (45) | Plano West Plano, TX | 34-3 | Season ended with a loss to MacArthur in the regional quarterfinals. |
| 47 (46) | Hamilton Southeastern Fishers, IN | 20-1 | Season ended with an opening-round loss in the state playoffs. |
| 48 (47) | Cabot Cabot, AR | 25-5 | Season ended with a state championship. |
| 49 (NR) | Howard D. Woodson Washington, DC | 26-5 | The Warriors forced 27 turnovers and got a season-high 19 points from sophomore Breonn Hughey as they beat No. 25 Good Counsel 64-54 in the city title game. |
| 50 (48) | Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL | 34-2 | Season ended with a loss to No. 3 Whitney Young in the state championship game. |
| Dropped out: Previous No. 50 Detroit Country Day 22-2 | |||