In the upcoming days, significant matchups are scheduled to determine league or section champions for esteemed teams in the most recent FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com. In the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Open Division championship clash, No. 10 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) will face off against No. 21 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.). The result will crown a first-time winner for the prestigious sectional title.
To reach the CIFSS open championship game, teams must emerge victorious from their respective pools of four teams each among the eight selected by the section’s open playoff committee. Thus, it’s fitting that the Wolverines and Mustangs square off on Friday night at Cal Baptist University in Riverside after both squads posted perfect 3-0 records in pool play over the past fortnight.
Roosevelt, ascending one spot in this week’s FAB 50 rankings, secured its spot in the section title showdown after a hard-fought 64-59 triumph against bubble team St. Pius X-St. Matthias (Downey, Calif.) in the second pool encounter. Trailing by eight points in the third quarter, Roosevelt seized control of the contest only in the last six and a half minutes.
The junior guard and All-American contender Brayden Burries delivered a game-high 21 points for Roosevelt. Despite already booking a ticket to the section title game, the Mustangs pulled off an 80-76 overtime win over the 11-time CIF state champion Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) following a clutch 3-pointer by junior guard Isaac Williamson to force extra time.
Contemplation was given to boosting Roosevelt a few more positions, but as of now, it cannot surpass No. 20 McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.). The Indians pushed Harvard-Westlake to overtime before succumbing to the CIF’s top-ranked team in a showcased game at the Spalding Hoophall Classic on MLK Monday, ultimately losing 60-59. Naturally, the comparison between Roosevelt and McEachern may evolve in the upcoming week.
McEachern, the sovereigns of Region 3-AAAAAAA, will commence the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Class AAAAAAA state tournament favored alongside No. 40 Grayson (Loganville, Ga.), who fell to No. 39 Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.) and formidable Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.). According to our rankings, if all holds, McEachern would clash with Grayson in the GHSA’s ultimate classification state title duel on March 9.
Upon their return from Springfield, Mass., Harvard-Westlake faced adversity, tasting defeat against Mission League adversaries Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.). Nonetheless, Harvard-Westlake ascended two spots this week after a commanding 72-38 revenge victory over Sierra Canyon in their second pool game.
The Wolverines’ defense proved impenetrable last week, with role players Christian Horry and Amir Jones sinking their shots from beyond the arc, positioning the team as frontrunners to claim the CIF state open title on March 9 at the Golden One Center in Sacramento.
It’s common knowledge that Harvard-Westlake is driven to secure both the section and state open championships after seizing last year’s CIF open crown in Sacramento subsequent to failing to reach the CIFSS open final two weeks prior.
Harvard-Westlake, who avenged the earlier loss to Notre Dame this season with a 60-56 victory in the Mission League Tournament semifinals, secured their ticket to this year’s CIFSS title game with a resounding 64-40 win against No. 34 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) in their third pool encounter.
McDonalds’ All-American Trent Perry tallied 24 points, with the defense once again proving pivotal as Bosco managed a mere three field goals in the first half, trailing 29-9 at halftime in a lopsided affair.
Notre Dame emerges as the leading addition this week, despite not being selected for the CIFSS open playoffs despite splitting with top-seeded Harvard-Westlake.
Notre Dame assumes the top seed position in the CIFSS D1 playoffs and advances to the Saturday final at the Toyota Arena in Ontario against Windward (Los Angeles), the second seed, following wins over state-ranked opponents Santa Margarita of Orange County (63-50) and Redondo Union of Los Angeles County (67-60).
Notre Dame vaulted over St. John Bosco and No. 35 Salesian (Richmond, Calif.), who only suffered a defeat to Bosco in overtime. This is due to Harvard-Westlake’s dominant display in their pool victories over St. John Bosco and Sierra Canyon.
Given that the Wolverines outclassed these two teams, Notre Dame possessing a triumph over the CIF’s top-ranked team and pushing them in another contest holds significant weight in our rankings rationale. Of course, this scenario could evolve as we refresh the FAB 50 next week once more.
We strive to expedite the process as Monday evening sees the Philadelphia Catholic League final unfolding at The Palestra. The semifinals on Wednesday will feature No. 24 Roman Catholic (Philadelphia) against Father Judge (Philadelphia) and No. 38 Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) against Archbishop Ryan (Philadelphia). Roman Catholic aims to avenge one of its two defeats in the semifinals against Father Judge, who previously triumphed over Neumann-Goretti.
Simultaneously on February 26, the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) tournament championship game will be held at American University. WCAC regular-season champions and FAB 50 No. 3 Paul VI occupy the top seed spot and have only fallen to the two teams positioned above them in the nation’s lengthiest ongoing weekly national poll.
Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings Powered by Ballislife.com
(9th poll of 2023-24 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, February 18; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included)
| No. | Prev. | High School (City) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) | 27-0 |
| 2 | 2 | Columbus (Miami, Fla.) | 23–4 |
| 3 | 3 | Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) | 27-2 |
| 4 | 4 | Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) | 17-4 |
| 5 | 5 | Plano East (Plano, Texas) | 33-0 |
| 6 | 6 | Stony Point (Round Rock, Texas) | 32-1 |
| 7 | 7 | Myers Park (Charlotte, N.C.) | 22-2 |
| 8 | 8 | Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) | 26-5 |
| 9 | 9 | Link Academy (Branson, Mo.) | 19-6 |
| 10 | 12 | Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) | 29-3 |
| 11 | 10 | Central Cabarrus (Concord, N.C.) | 24-0 |
| 12 | 11 | AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) | 21-5 |
| 13 | 13 | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) | 15-8 |
| 14 | 14 | Wisconsin Lutheran (Milwaukee, Wis.) | 23-0 |
| 15 | 20 | Fishers (Fishers, Ind.) | 21-1 |
| 16 | 16 | St. Rose (Belmar, N.J.) | 25-2 |
| 17 | 17 | Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) | 21-3 |
| 18 | 18 | Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) | 24-3 |
| 19 | 19 | Combine Academy (Lincolnton, N.C.) | 21-2 |
| 20 | 21 | McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) | 22-5 |
| 21 | 22 | Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) | 30-2 |
| 22 | 23 | Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) | 25-4 |
| 23 | 24 | De Pere (De Pere, Wis.) | 21-1 |
| 24 | 26 | Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) | 21-2 |
| 25 | 29 | Cordova (Cordova, Tenn.) | 27-1 |
| 26 | 25 | Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) | 26-3 |
| 27 | 27 | La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) | 19-4 |
| 28 | 28 | Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.) | 22-7 |
| 29 | 32 | St. Mary Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.) | 19-1 |
| 30 | 30 | Great Crossing (Georgetown, Ky.) | 28-1 |
| 31 | 31 | Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) | 24-3 |
| 32 | NR | Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) | 28-3 |
| 33 | 15 | Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.) | 21-4 |
| 34 | 33 | St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) | 24-7 |
| 35 | 34 | Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) | 27-1 |
| 36 | 35 | North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.) | 21-3 |
| 37 | 36 | Millennium (Goodyear, Ariz.) | 23-4 |
| 38 | 37 | Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) | 21-2 |
| 39 | 38 | Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.) | 24-2 |
| 40 | 39 | Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) | 25-2 |
| 41 | 40 | John Marshall (Richmond, Va.) | 19-3 |
| 42 | 41 | Westfield (Westfield, Ind.) | 18-2 |
| 43 | 42 | Bartlett (Bartlett, Tenn.) | 26-4 |
| 44 | 43 | Kell (Marietta, Ga.) | 23-3 |
| 45 | 44 | Jackson-Reed (Washington, D.C.) | 32-2 |
| 46 | 45 | Bullis (Potomac, Md.) | 23-2 |
| 47 | 47 | Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) | 22-4 |
| 48 | 48 | Huntsville(Huntsville, Alabama) | 31-2 |
| 49 | 50 | Curie (Chicago, Illinois) | 27-2 |
| 50 | NR | Winter Haven (Winter Haven, Florida) | 25-1 |
Dropped Out: Formerly ranked 46th Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah), and 49th Homewood Flossmor (Flossmor, Illinois).
Bubble Teams: Alexander (Douglasville, Georgia) 25-2; Atascocita (Humble, Texas) 32-3**; Bellevue West (Bellevue, Nebraska) 22-1; Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Virginia) 21-7; Bolingbrook (Bolingbrook, Illinois) 24-4; Brennan (San Antonio, Texas) 28-4; Camden (Camden, New Jersey) 24-2; Christian (Grand Rapids, Michigan) 18-2; Christ the King (Middle Village, New York) 20-4; Dale (Dale, Oklahoma) 24-2; Dearborn (Dearborn, Michigan) 20-0; De Paul Prep (Chicago, Illinois) 28-2; East Lansing (East Lansing, Michigan) 18-2; Edmond North (Edmond, Oklahoma) 18-3; Fort Bend Clements (Sugar Land, Texas) 30-0; Garfield Heights (Garfield Heights, Ohio) 20-1; Hoover (Hoover, Alabama) 31-4; Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 21-3; Kennedy (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) 21-0; Kokomo (Kokomo, Indiana) 21-3; Ladue (St. Louis, Missouri) 23-1; Lake Taylor (Norfolk, Virginia) 20-1; Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Indiana) 20-3; Lexington (Lexington, South Carolina) 25-2; Lexington Catholic (Lexington, Kentucky) 26-2; Liberty Magnet (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) 29-4; Lincoln Park (Midland, Pennsylvania) 19-3; Madison Prep (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) 27-3; Millard North (Omaha, Nebraska) 19-2; Mt. St. Joseph (Baltimore, Maryland) 32-4; Newport (Newport, Kentucky) 26-3; Noblesville (Noblesville, Indiana) 19-2; North Crowley (Ft. Worth, Texas) 30-3; Northwest (Shawnee Mission, Kansas) 18-0; Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) 18-4; Pascagoula (Pascagoula, Mississippi) 28-1; Pewaukee (Pewaukee, Wisconsin) 18-4; Reidsville (Reidsville, North Carolina) 21-0; Southern Guilford (Greensboro, North Carolina) 23-1; St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) 18-3; St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) 22-6; St. Joseph (Santa Maria, California) 29-2; St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City, New Jersey) 24-2; St. Pius X-St. Matthias (Downey, California) 24-6; Thornton (Harvey, Illinois) 25-4; Union (Tulsa, Oklahoma) 21-2; Varina (Richmond, Virginia) 18-1; Veterans Memorial (San Antonio, Texas) 35-1; Volcano Vista (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 23-1; Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) 13-4; Wayzata (Plymouth, Minnesota).































