PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
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No. 1 Collins Hill returned to Georgia after winning the prestigious Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona and sweeping past two nationally ranked opponents in Seattle - and then nearly got knocked off by neighboring Mill Creek.
"We took them for granted," coach Tracey Tipton said, and the Eagles were down 21 at the half. But then the magical Maya Moore took over, and scored to tie the game for the first time at 58 with less than a minute to go. Mill Creek then missed a free throw and Taylor Dalrymple rebounded and called timeout just before falling out of bounds.
With 20 seconds left, Tipton let Moore take over. She dribbled down the clock and then attacked the basket - and not surprisingly drew the foul. Even less surprisingly, she then made both free throws, and Collins Hill won another close one.
Of course, that's part of the reason the Eagles are the top high school team in the country.
1. Collins Hill (Suwanee, Ga.) 16-0: The number one team in the country has earned its position by playing elite opponents, and more importantly, beating them. The Eagles put together a dramatic fourth quarter rally to knock off Notre Dame Academy of Virginia in the Nike TOC in Phoenix, hammered previous number one Long Beach Poly in the finals, and then went to Seattle, where they outlasted Winter Haven of Florida (Maya Moore with a steal and layup at the end of regulation to win it) and handled St. Elizabeth's of Delaware. Such schedules, and wins, are the stuff of national champions.
2. Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) 12-1: The Jackrabbits aren't the smoothest team around. They don't shoot the ball real well, and they can look completely disorganized at times -- but even though a lot of opponents walk off the floor muttering shoulda, coulda, woulda, at the final horn, Poly is almost always on the long end of the score. Except against Collins Hill, which jumped out early and never let up in the Nike TOC championship game.
3. Notre Dame Academy (Middleburg, Va.) 14-1: The Dragons almost did it, but let a double-digit, fourth-quarter lead over Collins Hill slip away. But their trip to Phoenix was not without its triumphs, as NDA beat Southern California power Lynwood and Florida's best, The First Academy. Now it's back to the D.C. area, where talented teams and individuals seem to lurk in every town.
4. St. Elizabeth's (Wilmington, Del.) 9-1: The Vikings knocked off Ursuline and Elena Delle Donne Saturday as Khadijah Rushdan scored 31 (including five threes). St. Elizabeth's spotted its in-state rival a 9-0 lead and then led by as many as 14 en route to a 52-45 win. But the teams will play at least once more, and probably twice, so this intracity argument is far from settled. The Vikings' loss? To Collins Hill, of course.
5. Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) 10-1: The Monarchs move into the top five thanks to a 3-1 effort at the Nike TOC, including a convincing win over Christ the King of New York. Danielle Robinson leads the way, but Mitty has size, depth and outstanding coaching as well - though Saturday, a tough game against league archrival Sacred Heart Cathedral could result in loss No. 2.
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1. Collins Hill
2. Long Beach Poly
3. Notre Dame Academy
4. St. Elizabeth's
5. Archbishop Mitty
6. Fenwick
7. Murry Bergtraum
8. Stephenson
9. Rockwall
10. The First Academy
11. Lexington Catholic
12. Cy-Fair
13. Bolingbrook
14. Incarnate Word
15. Bishop Gorman
16. Edison
17. Brea-Olinda
18. St. Thomas Aquinas
19. Christ the King
20. St. Paul Central
21. Lewis and Clark
22. North Little Rock
23. Webb
24. Washington
25. Bishop McGuinness
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6. Fenwick (Oak Park, Ill.) 17-0: The Friars are rolling, but that 17-game winning streak will get its sternest test Saturday when the other elite team in Illinois, Bolingbrook, is on the other side of the scorer's table. In their first-ever meeting, the teams will face off on a neutral court so we'll find out very soon whether Fenwick really deserves to be ranked this highly.
7. Murry Bergtraum (Manhattan, N.Y.) 12-0: There was a lot of loose talk about how good St. Michael's was going to be, but the Blazers handled that challenge with ease - and then knocked off New Jersey's best, unbeaten Shabazz, on Sunday.
8. Stephenson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) 14-0: The Jaguars weren't supposed to be this good, but after stopping Winter Haven of Florida (which took Collins Hill to overtime) and beating another solid Georgia team, Avondale, twice, they're looking like the team with the best chance to challenge Collins Hill.
9. Rockwall (Rockwall, Texas) 24-0): Texas is always tough to sort out, but Rockwall beat DeSoto, along with 23 other victims, and has played a tougher schedule than sister unbeaten Cy-Fair. The two won't meet until postseason, assuming they both stay on track.
10. The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.) 17-2: The Royals can be excused for losing to No. 3 Notre Dame Academy, and the loss to still-potent Christ the King isn't a bad one. Thanks to the win over Ursuline of Delaware, TFA gets in the top 10 - but Florida power Winter Haven is Saturday's opponent, and it all could change.
11. Lexington Catholic (Lexington, Kent.) 14-1: One thing about playing tournament championship games against in-state teams is home cooking. The Knights didn't exactly get the best of the calls against Webb of Tennessee in the Greene County Bank Ladies' Classic, but they're still an elite team despite that defeat.
12. Cy-Fair (Houston, Texas) 25-0: The Bobcats haven't played the toughest schedule, but 25 up and none down is impressive nonetheless. Add in the amazing Nnemka Ogwumike and a couple other D-1 recruits, and you've got yourself a nationally ranked team.
13. Bolingbrook (Bolingbrook, Ill.) 14-1: One way to erase a loss is to avenge it - Bolingbrook did lose to a solid Morton team, but then turned around and beat the Potters (love that mascot) by 30. Now if the Raiders can knock off Fenwick, they can stake a claim in the top ten.
14. Incarnate Word (St. Louis, Mo.) 13-1: The Red Knights lost only to Bolingbrook and won the tough Tournament of Champions in Fort Smith, Ark., an event that included Heights and Blue Valley North, two of the top teams in Kansas, and some of the best in Arkansas as well.
15. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 14-0: The Gaels' best wins are against a couple of pretty good California teams, but they haven't played the schedule of the teams above them. They face another solid SoCal team, Mt. Miguel, on Saturday, but a loss would be a major upset.
16. Edison (Alexandria, Va.) 11-1: Doreena Campbell leads the Eagles, who have lost only to a strong Bishop McNamara team. Like Notre Dame Academy, they will be tested in the nightly shootouts in the D.C/Virginia/Maryland area.
17. Brea-Olinda (Brea, Calif.) 14-0: Brea won its bracket in two top Left Coast tournaments - the Nike TOC in Phoenix and the West Coast Jamboree in the San Francisco Bay Area - and the Wildcats have both solid talent and fine coaching. They play unbeaten Troy on Martin Luther King Day, however, and that might be their toughest game yet.
18. St. Thomas Aquinas (Overland Park, Kan.) 5-0: Though the Saints have played only five games, two of them were against regionally respected Bellevue West of Nebraska and Norman of Oklahoma. Expect them to continue to roll against in-state opponents.
19. Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) 7-3: Though the Royals aren't what they once were, they're still very tough, They have wins over Hoover of Ohio and The First Academy, but a first-game loss to unranked Holy Cross of Maryland is what's dropped them this far.
20. St. Paul Central (St. Paul, Minn.) 11-0: The Minutemen have a problem (aside from the gender of their mascot): They can't get out of state to play in major tournaments so it's impossible to tell just how good they are. But they do have senior Angel Robinson, who among other statistical superlatives, is averaging 7.1 steals per game).
21. Lewis and Clark (Spokane, Wash.) 11-0: The Tigers too cannot travel, so senior Katelyn Redmon and junior Brittany Kennedy labor in the obscurity of eastern Washington. But they're still really good.
22. North Little Rock (Little Rock, Ark.) 13-1: The Charging Wildcats lost only to Morrilton, a team that has the talent to beat just about anyone, and have two wins over Arkansas powers Parkview, a win against West Memphis and an away victory at Central Arkansas Christian. It's a pretty good year in Arkansas and so far, North Little Rock is the state's best.
23. Webb (Knoxville, Tenn.) 13-2: Tennessee has plenty of candidates for inclusion in the top 25, but Webb gets the nod thanks to a win over Lexington Catholic and the championship of the Greene County tournament. But the Spartans return to Greeneville this weekend, and will be tested by the Green Devils.
24. Washington (South Bend, Ind.) 15-1: The Panthers lost their first game when coach Marilyn Coddens benched some starters to get their attention. Since then, a more alert Washington has won 15 in a row-- but draws Whitney Young of Chicago this weekend in the Panthers' toughest game so far.
25. Bishop McGuinness (Kernersville, N.C.) 13-1: You've got to love any team called the Villains, and McGuiness plays some pretty good basketball too. The only loss came to Oakton of Virginia, which features nationally ranked point guard Jasmine Thomas.
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Clay Kallam is the publisher of Full Court Press (www.Fullcourt.com), an online magazine devoted to women’s basketball. The author of the book “Girls Basketball: Building a Winning Program (Wish Publishing, 2002), Kallam has written about the women’s game for several national publications and is a voter for the McDonald’s All-American team, the Parade All-American team, the All-WNBA team and the Wooden Award. He is the coach of The Bentley School girls’ varsity basketball team and formerly wrote for the Contra Costa Times newspaper chain.
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