national prep poll week 5

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Week 5: National Prep Poll Has
LeBron James & SV-SM At No. 1--(Jan. 3, 2002)

The week 5 National Prep Sports Poll was sent to us by Jamie DeMoney and Jeremy Plowman, and since we've been off for the past two weeks (for reasons we'll get into later), we thought that it would be fitting to post the national poll. Among the SoCal teams ranked in the top 25 teams in the nation are Mater Dei at No. 5, which, as we all know by now, will meet up with James & Co., at Pauley Pavilion tomorrow night (and yes, there are still a few tickets remaining....if you don't have one by now, get one, because having seen James several times over the years, all we can say is this kid is the real deal). Also ranked in the top 25, at No. 12 is Fairfax, which lost by two to Oceanside in the finals of the Torrey Pines National Prep Classic, and Westchester at 23 (which went 2-1 at the Academy National last week, losing only to Rice), and Garces at No. 24. In the West, all of these teams are in the top 5, and add to the top 10 some other local SoCal teams: Loyola at No. 6, Bishop Montgomery at No. 7, and Oceanside at No. 10.

Here's the poll:

National Prep Basketball Poll - Week 5
By Jamie DeMoney and Jeremy Plowman

The National Prep Basketball Poll is compiled by national high school sports experts Jamie DeMoney and Jeremy Plowman and a panel of sportswriters. The national Top 25 and regional Top 10's follow with won-loss records:

#1. Akron, Ohio, St. Vincent-St. Mary (7-0), beat then-No. 4 Brookhaven, 67-62, in OT
#2. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick (4-1), faces No. 4 Oak Hill in final of Academy National Invitational in Houston
#3. New York, Rice (8-1), has split games with No. 2 St. Patrick
#4. Mouth of Wilson, Va., Oak Hill (13-1), defeated No. 6 Rainier Beach to reach finals in Academy National Invitational
#5. Santa Ana, Calif., Mater Dei (14-1), meets No. 1 SV-SM on Saturday
#6. Seattle, Rainier Beach (6-1), loss to No. 4 Oak Hill ended 26-game winning streak
#7. Columbus, Ohio, Brookhaven (6-1), missed key late shots in loss to top-ranked SV-SM
#8. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's (7-0), advanced to finals of Slam Dunk to the Beach tourney in Lewes, Del.
#9. Orlando, Fla., Edgewater (12-0), earned berth in finals of Hooters Holiday Shootout in St. Petersburg, Fla.
#10. Indianapolis, Pike (6-0), 4 of top 7 players are underclassmen
#11. Lexington, Ky., Catholic (9-1), only loss to No. 8 St. Benedict's
#12. Los Angeles, Fairfax (12-0), meets regionally ranked Oceanside, El Camino in finals of National Prep Classic in San Diego
#13. Chicago, Crane (5-0), idle during busy tournament week
#14. Miami, Christian (10-2), beat then-No. 5 Hopkins, 60-58, at Slam Dunk to the Beach
#15. Jackson, Miss., Lanier (15-1), beat tough field at Jackson Public School tourney
#16. Minnetonka, Minn., Hopkins (7-1), only loss to No. 14 Miami Christian
#17. Detroit, Redford (4-0), humiliated Farmington Hills, Harrison, 89-26
#18. Arlington, Va., Bishop O'Connell (11-0), advanced to finals of Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
#19. Beaumont, Texas, Ozen (16-0), got two solid wins at Slam Dunk to the Beach
#20. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond (6-2), both losses to top-5 teams
#21. Rockville, Md., Montrose Christian (6-1), in final round of GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational in Raleigh, N.C.
#22. Springfield, Mo., Kickapoo (9-0), finalist in Bank Midwest Holiday Classic in Liberty, Mo.
#23. Los Angeles, Westchester (13-1), suffered first loss to No. 3 Rice at Academy National Invitational
#24. Bakersfield, Calif., Garces Memorial (17-0), led by superstar 7-foot junior Robert Swift
#25. Fort Worth, Texas, Dunbar (15-1), beat then-No. 23 Monroe, La., Ouachita to win Whataburger Tournament in Haltom City, Texas

Northeast=
#1. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick, 4-1
#2. New York, Rice, 8-1
#3. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's, 7-0
#4. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond, 6-2
#5. Rochester, N.Y., McQuaid, 9-0
#6. Philadelphia, Saint Joseph's Prep, 10-0
#7. Middle Village, N.Y., Christ the King, 6-1
#8. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln, 11-1
#9. Jersey City, N.J., St. Anthony, 2-1
#10. West Orange, N.J., Seton Hall Prep, 4-1

East Coast=
#1. Mouth of Wilson, Va., Oak Hill, 13-1
#2. Arlington, Va., Bishop O'Connell, 11-0
#3. Rockville, Md., Montrose Christian, 6-1
#4. Hyattsville, Md., DeMatha, 8-0
#5. Winston-Salem, N.C., Reynolds, 5-2
#6. Severn, Md., Archbishop Spalding, 7-1
#7. Baltimore, Douglass, 7-0
#8. Raleigh, N.C., Millbrook, 5-0
#9. Washington, Spingarn, 8-2
#10. Washington, Gonzaga, 9-3

Southeast=
#1. Orlando, Fla., Edgewater, 12-0
#2. Lexington, Ky., Catholic, 9-1
#3. Miami, Christian, 8-2
#4. Jackson, Miss., Lanier, 15-1
#5. Monroe, La., Ouachita, 16-3
#6. Baton Rouge, La., Woodlawn, 18-0
#7. Memphis, Tenn., White Station, 10-1
#8. Memphis, Tenn., Fairley, 14-1
#9. Jacksonville, Fla., Arlington Country Day, 4-0
#10. St. Petersburg, Fla., Lakewood, 10-2

Midwest=
#1. Akron, Ohio, St. Vincent-St. Mary, 7-0
#2. Columbus, Ohio, Brookhaven, 6-1
#3. Indianapolis, Pike, 6-0
#4. Chicago, Crane, 5-0
#5. Detroit, Redford, 4-0
#6. Country Club Hills, Ill., Hillcrest, 12-0
#7. Milwaukee, King, 5-0
#8. Aurora, Ill., West, 9-2
#9. Chicago, Whitney Young, 8-0
#10. Detroit, Renaissance, 4-0

Midlands=
#1. Minnetonka, Minn., Hopkins, 7-1
#2. Springfield, Mo., Kickapoo, 9-0
#3. Waterloo, Iowa, East, 5-0
#4. South Jordan, Utah, Bingham, 7-0
#5. Blue Springs, Mo., 8-0
#6. Denver, East, 5-1
#7. Highlands Ranch, Colo., ThunderRidge, 5-2
#8. Litchfield, Minn., 6-0
#9. Olathe, Kan., South, 4-0
#10. Bloomington, Minn., Jefferson, 6-0

Southwest=
#1. Beaumont, Texas, Ozen, 16-0
#2. Fort Worth, Texas, Dunbar, 15-1
#3. Alief, Texas, Hastings, 22-1
#4. North Las Vegas, Nev., Cheyenne, 13-1
#5. Little Rock, Ark., Parkview, 11-2
#6. Houston, Jones, 14-2
#7. Cedar Hill, Texas, 16-1
#8. Coppell, Texas, 18-2
#9. Tulsa, Okla., Memorial, 9-0
#10. Houston, Westbury Christian, 14-5

West Coast=
#1. Santa Ana, Calif., Mater Dei, 14-1
#2. Seattle, Rainier Beach, 6-1
#3. Los Angeles, Fairfax, 12-0
#4. Los Angeles, Westchester, 13-1
#5. Bakersfield, Calif., Garces Memorial, 17-0
#6. Los Angeles, Loyola, 10-1
#7. Torrance, Calif., Bishop Montgomery, 12-1
#8. Seattle, Franklin, 5-2
#9. Seattle, Seattle Prep, 7-0
#10. Oceanside, Calif., El Camino, 11-2

FEATS OF THE WEEK: A crowd of over 18,000 at Ohio State's Value City Arena watched the LeBron James-led Akron, St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish stake its claim as the top team in Ohio -- and now the nation -- with a thrilling 67-62 overtime win over No. 7 Brookhaven. SV-SM, ranked No. 1 in this week's poll, got 27 points and 10 rebounds from the 6-foot-7 and NBA-bound James, who outdueled Brookhaven's 5-7, Oklahoma-bound guard Andrew Lavender, who scored 26 points but missed two free throws with the score tied 59-59 with 2.7 seconds left in regulation. Next up for SV-SM and James, another ESPN2-televised game this Saturday versus No. 5 Santa Ana, Calif., Mater Dei at Pauley Pavilion . . . Maureece Rice of Philadelphia, Strawberry Mansion broke Wilt Chamberlain's Philadelphia career scoring record of 2,206 points during a 76-63 win over Olney. Rice scored 44 in the game, giving him 2,209 for his career . . . Perhaps the top field of all the national holiday tournaments is the Academy National Invitational in Houston where four top-10 teams and five additional nationally or regionally ranked squads are on hand. Second-ranked Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick and No. 4 Mouth of Wilson, Va., Oak Hill are set to meet in the tourney final on Monday after the Celtics defeated third-ranked New York, Rice, 55-52, and the Warriors beat sixth-ranked Seattle, Rainier Beach, 69-65, in the semifinals.

Copyright 2002-03 World Features Syndicate, Inc.