espnW 25 Power Rankings: Week 2
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A year ago, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) won its third straight CIF Division I state championship and finished the season ranked No. 8 in the nation.
And many considered it a down year.
The Monarchs, who won the national championship in 2009-10 and 2010-11, are back in the driver's seat in the espnW 25 Power Rankings after winning the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix by taking down the previous top two teams in the nation.
Behind the sharp shooting of transfers Karlie and Katie Lou Samuelson, the Monarchs marched to the title with a 57-54 win over previous No. 1 St. Mary's (Phoenix) in the semifinals and a 96-74 win over previous No. 2. Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlborough, Md.) in the final.
| espnW 25 Power Rankings: Week 2 | |||
| RANK | SCHOOL/REC (CITY, STATE) | TRENDING | COMMENT |
| 1 | Mater Dei (12-0) Santa Ana, CA | 11 Last Week: 12 | The Monarchs won the Nike Tournament of Champions' top bracket in convincing fashion, beating the top two teams in the country, to move up to No. 1. |
| 2 | Saint Marys (10-1) Phoenix, AZ | 1 Last Week: 1 | The Lady Knights dropped a close one to Mater Dei in the TOC semifinals but bounced back to take third place with a 63-60 win over No. 8 Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.). |
| 3 | Whitney Young (9-0) Chicago, IL | -- Last Week: 3 | The Dolphins continued to overpower local teams, but now travel to Florida for the Naples Holiday Shootout. |
| 4 | Riverdale Baptist (11-1) Upper Marlboro, MD | 2 Last Week: 2 | The Crusaders ran into a scoring machine in the TOC championship game, losing 96-74 to Mater Dei, but scored good wins over Centennial (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Bishop O'Dowd. |
| 5 | Riverdale (12-0) Murfreesboro, TN | 1 Last Week: 6 | The Warriors made a statement in the matchup between the state's top two teams, beating No. 17 Science Hill 89-70 and now look ahead to the Peach State Holiday Invitational. |
| 6 | Duncanville (19-0) Duncanville, TX | 2 Last Week: 4 | A 21-point victory over Cedar Hill (Texas) has Duncanville firmly in the top 10 with a rematch with DeSoto (Texas) in a couple weeks. |
| 7 | Saint Johns College (9-0) Washington, DC | -- Last Week: 7 | After winning all three games in Puerto Rico, St. John's heads to the Murry Bergtraum Christmas tournament next. |
| 8 | Bishop O'Dowd (3-2) Oakland, CA | 3 Last Week: 5 | The Dragons will look back on this as the what-if week after falling to the top two teams in the nation without their starting point guard, Ariell Bostick. |
| 9 | Marion County (11-0) Lebanon, KY | 1 Last Week: 8 | The Knights went 4-0 at the Republic Bank Classic, winning the championship with a 66-43 win over Bowling Green (Ky.). |
| 10 | M. X. Shabazz (3-0) Newark, NJ | 1 Last Week: 9 | The Bulldogs look like the class of the Garden State this year after the 68-34 rout of University (Newark, N.J.). |
| 11 | Incarnate Word Academy (7-0) Saint Louis, MO | 1 Last Week: 10 | With two more blowout wins over local teams, the Jan. 26, game against Mercy can't come soon enough to really measure this team. |
| 12 | Pflugerville (20-0) Pflugerville, TX | 3 Last Week: 15 | Pflugerville continues to roll but will take on a new challenge in Florida this coming week at the KSA Orlando Tournament. |
| 13 | Fairmont (8-0) Kettering, OH | 2 Last Week: 11 | Fairmont got a scare from previously unbeaten Centerville (Ohio), but survived 69-62. Next up is Potter's House Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.) at the Braggin' Rights Classic. |
| 14 | Dutch Fork (9-0) Irmo, SC | 2 Last Week: 16 | The Lady Foxes close out 2012 at the Capital City Tournament before heading to Florida to open the new year against Potter's House Christian. |
| 15 | Saint Mary's College (8-1) Berkeley, CA | -- Last Week: -- | The Panthers bounced back from a loss to Carondelet (Calif.) with a terrific showing at the TOC, culminating with a Gabby Green game-winner to beat Poly in the Joe Smith Division championship. |
| 16 | Long Beach Polytechnic (8-1) Long Beach, CA | 3 Last Week: 13 | The Jackrabbits beat Central Catholic (Portland, Ore.) and Dillard (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) before falling to St. Mary's-Berkeley (Calif.) in the TOC's Joe Smith Division final. |
| 17 | Science Hill (11-1) Johnson City, TN | 3 Last Week: 14 | Darrell Barnwell's program fell to Riverdale at the State Farm Classic and now heads to the Naples Holiday Shootout to reestablish its national status. |
| 18 | Hamilton Southeastern (11-0) Fishers, IN | 1 Last Week: 17 | This week brings a big test against undefeated Columbus North (Ind.) after back-to-back narrow wins. |
| 19 | Hopkins (9-0) Minnetonka, MN | 1 Last Week: 18 | After hammering East (Duluth, Minn.) 80-24, Hopkins looks to Dick's Sporting Goods Holiday Classic where undefeated Central (St. Paul, Minn.) waits in the first round. |
| 20 | North Gwinnett (7-0) Suwanee, GA | -- Last Week: 20 | The Bulldogs have taken care of the local competition thus far but travel to the Naples Holiday Shootout for a chance to elevate their ranking this week. |
| 21 | Martin Luther King (3-0) Detroit, MI | -- Last Week: 21 | The Crusaders are only three games into the season but have three games this week to test their mettle. |
| 22 | Oregon City (7-0) Oregon City, OR | -- Last Week: 22 | The Lady Pioneers picked up a W after getting back from Hawaii and now have a rematch with a Southridge (Beaverton, Ore.) team that has been historically strong. |
| 23 | Good Counsel (6-2) Olney, MD | -- Last Week: 23 | Virginia signee Amanda Fioravanti scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the 45-34 win over Bishop McNamara. |
| 24 | Rock Bridge (7-2) Columbia, MO | 1 Last Week: 25 | Despite the opening-round loss to Bishop O'Dowd, the Bruins looked as talented as any team in the tournament and closed out the TOC with two wins over Centennial (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Dr. Phillips (Orlando, Fla.) |
| 25 | Bellaire (12-1) Bellaire, TX | -- Last Week: -- | Despite an early-season loss to the state's top ranked team, Duncanville, a the Cardinals move in this week thanks to the two-headed scoring machine of AJ Alix and Lulu McKinney. |