ESPN 25 Power Rankings: Week: 6
| Week: |
After games of Dec. 30
The holiday tourneys may be over, but a slate of nationally televised contests over the next month may now be the key to separating the contenders from the rest of the pack in the ESPN 25 Power Rankings.
Things kick off this weekend with a marquee matchup pitting top-ranked Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) against preseason No. 1 and current No. 12 Chicago Simeon at the Cancer Research Classic in Wheeling, (W. Va.). Simeon has been hot since its last ESPN outing, and Jabari Parker appears to be rounding into form following an offseason foot injury. If Montverde slips up, look for undefeated Findlay Prep to usurp the Eagles at the top.
The top 10 teams remain mostly intact, but DeSoto (Texas), which unseated Simeon, switches spots with Southwind and moves to No. 8.
La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) is one of the nation's hottest squads and vaults five spots to 14, while Baltimore St. Frances and Pike (Ind.) each make their season debuts.
Tweet us your top five teams using #ESPN25hoops.
Note: This poll is compiled weekly by the RecruitingNation staff. Every high school team is eligible to be ranked as long as its roster does not include any fifth-year seniors.
| ESPN 25 Power Rankings: Week: 6 | |||
| RANK | SCHOOL/REC (CITY, STATE) | TRENDING | COMMENT |
| 1 | Montverde Academy (13-0) Montverde, FL | -- Last Week: 1 | The Eagles grabbed the championship at the Montverde Holiday Classic to retain the No. 1 spot heading into 2013. They'll have a big test Saturday against preseason No. 1 Simeon. |
| 2 | Findlay Prep (17-0) Henderson, NV | -- Last Week: 2 | Senior Nigel Williams-Goss became the school's all-time leading scorer and assister in 2012 and helped Prep go 35-0 during the calendar year. The Pilots get back to action after a week off following their Iolani title run in Hawaii. |
| 3 | Huntington Prep (14-0) Huntington, WV | -- Last Week: 3 | Opponents have found the Express' defense tough to penetrate this year as coach Rob Fulford's charges have held foes to 33 percent shooting from the field. They'll be even tougher to beat after adding 2015 stud Austin Grandstaff. |
| 4 | Lone Peak (10-1) Highland, UT | -- Last Week: 4 | The Knights enter region play still on a high following their run to the City of Palms Classic finals. Lone Peak's biggest highlight of 2012 was repeating as Class 5A state champs in March. |
| 5 | Long Beach Polytechnic (12-1) Long Beach, CA | -- Last Week: 5 | The Jackrabbits ripped through Texas with three double-digit wins and a close victory over a 17-win Westfield club to claim the Whataburger Tourney crown and keep their spot in the top 5 entering 2013. |
| 6 | Whitney Young (9-1) Chicago, IL | -- Last Week: 6 | The Dolphins defeated a tough Las Vegas Bishop Gorman club and routed Scott County to extend its win streak to five games. A meeting with No. 20 Neumann-Goretti looms on Jan. 5 at the Cancer Research Classic. |
| 7 | St. Anthony (7-0) Jersey City, NJ | -- Last Week: 7 | The Friars got a scare from Central Catholic (Mass.), then routed Camden the next time out to finish the 2012 calendar year with its nation's-best 71-game win streak intact. |
| 8 | DeSoto (19-1) DeSoto, TX | 1 Last Week: 9 | Matt Jones was held in check (nine points), but DeSoto still had enough to grab the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday title over St. Joseph's (N.J.), 45-42. The Eagles won 15 straight to close the year. |
| 9 | Oak Hill Academy (17-2) Mouth of Wilson, VA | 1 Last Week: 10 | Both of the Warriors' losses have come to teams ranked in the top 20. That trend will need to change because Oak Hill has three more contests against top 25 competition, beginning with Simeon later this month. |
| 10 | Mater Dei (14-0) Santa Ana, CA | 3 Last Week: 13 | The Monarchs got things done over the holidays, capturing the Orange Holiday Classic crown behind tourney MVP Stanley Johnson's 27-point, 12-rebound effort in the finals. |
| 11 | St. Benedict's Prep (10-0) Newark, NJ | 1 Last Week: 12 | The Gray Bees found themselves trailing for the first time all season, but cruise into the new year with a 10-game win streak after dispatching Thelma Hamilton of Brooklyn. |
| 12 | Neal F. Simeon (9-1) Chicago, IL | 1 Last Week: 11 | Duke commit Jabari Parker seems to be rounding into form, highlighted by a 20-point, six-rebound effort in a win over East Moline United Township. The Wolverines captured their 11th Pontiac Holiday Tourney crown with a 13-point win over West Aurora. |
| 13 | Southwind (11-3) Memphis, TN | 5 Last Week: 8 | The Jags have struggled against ranked opponents, leading to their dip in ranking. Dre'sean Looney canned eight treys to lead Southwind by Hamilton, 87-62, in the final contest of 2012. |
| 14 | La Lumiere (15-1) La Porte, IN | 5 Last Week: 19 | The secret is out: La Lumiere is a pretty good team. Fresh off a win over Oak Hill during its run to the Iolani Classic finals, the Lakers went 2-0 at the Mike Miller Classic last week, taking down South Dakota's top team in the process. |
| 15 | Montrose Christian (8-2) Rockville, MD | -- Last Week: 15 | What a great 2012 it's been for senior Ish Wainright, who signed with Baylor in November and is averaging a near-triple-double (9.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg and 8.4 apg). |
| 16 | West (7-0) Iowa City, IA | 6 Last Week: 22 | This extremely deep and talented squad just keeps plugging away, winners of 33 consecutive contests. |
| 17 | Chester (6-2) Chester, PA | 1 Last Week: 16 | The Clippers rebounded from a tough outing at the City of Palms to claim a win over Imhotep Charter Friday night. Rondae Jefferson, who may have submitted the dunk of the year in the contest, hit a reverse layup for the game-winning tally. |
| 18 | St. Frances Academy (12-1) Baltimore, MD | -- Last Week: -- | The Panthers look to remain the top dog in BMore hoops later today when they face a one-loss Mount St. Joe's squad. |
| 19 | Paul VI (7-2) Fairfax, VA | 1 Last Week: 20 | Can Paul VI flex its muscle in the WCAC in 2013 like it did last year? They will need to to overcome a pair of early-season losses. |
| 20 | Neumann-Goretti (6-2) Philadelphia, PA | 3 Last Week: 17 | Goretti's drop can be attributed to its struggles at the Les Schwab Invitational, where the squad went 2-2 with losses to Lake Oswego and Gonzaga. They have a real shot to ascend back into the top 15 with a win over Whiteny Young (Jan. 5). |
| 21 | Saint John Bosco (8-1) Bellflower, CA | 3 Last Week: 24 | The Braves were impressive at the Chick-fil-A Classic, but they'll need to be even better with Orange Lutheran, Mater Dei and Torrance Bishop Montgomery on the schedule during the next week. |
| 22 | Omaha Central (6-2) Omaha, NE | 8 Last Week: 14 | The Eagles beat up on Omaha Northwest but drop because the teams ahead of them have had more success against ranked teams. The Eagles will most likely have to wait until their February tilt against Oak Hill to leap back up in the rankings. |
| 23 | Fort Bend Travis (15-3) Richmond, TX | 5 Last Week: 18 | Travis continues to slide as it awaits Andrew Harrison to return to 100 percent. Twin brother, Aaron, has balled out in his absence, submitting several 30-point outings. |
| 24 | Pike (8-0) Indianapolis, IN | -- Last Week: -- | The Red Devils' one-point defeat of Ben Davis in November has them representing for Indy in this week's top 25. |
| 25 | West Charlotte (7-1) Charlotte, NC | 2 Last Week: 23 | The Lions suffered their first loss of the season in a 57-55 OT setback against Bullis (Md.) despite 23 points and 16 boards from UNC recruit Kennedy Meeks. |
| Dropped out: No. 21 Archbishop Mitty, No. 25 Houston Yates | |||
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