espnW 25 Power Rankings: Week 5
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Oh, those kids.
No. 1 St. Mary's (Stockton, California) stayed undefeated thanks to a standout week by super sophomore Aquira DeCosta. Previous No. 2 Paul VI (Fairfax, Virginia) lost its undefeated record due to a breakout performance by freshman phenom Chloe Chapman of Good Counsel (Olney, Maryland).
Behind 22 points and 27 rebounds from DeCosta, St. Mary's survived an overtime challenge from USC-bound Minyon Moore and Salesian (Richmond, California) to stay No. 1 in the espnW 25 Power Rankings for Week 5.
Behind 15 points and a whole lot of majesty from Chapman, Good Counsel moved up to No. 11 and handed Paul VI its first loss of the season.
Here's how the teams stack up.
-- Dan Olson
| espnW 25 Power Rankings: Week 5 | |||
| RANK | SCHOOL/REC (CITY, STATE) | TRENDING | COMMENT |
| 1 | St. Mary's (15-0) Stockton, CA | -- Last Week: 1 | It wasn't an easy week for St. Mary's. Thankfully, the Rams have Aquira DeCosta on their team. Playing without Nebraska recruit Mi'Cole Cayton, Sierra Smith and Angel Johnson, St. Mary's survived a scare from Salesian (Richmond, California) and posted an 83-78 overtime win. DeCosta, the No. 1 sophomore in the nation, had 22 points and 27 rebounds. Earlier in the week, she had 16 points and 14 rebounds in a 70-60 win over Clovis West (Fresno, California). St. Mary's hosts the Martin Luther King Jr. Showcase on Saturday. |
| 2 | Duncanville (25-0) Duncanville, TX | 1 Last Week: 3 | Led by the dynamic duo of Louisville recruit Ciera Johnson and sophomore Zarielle Green, Duncanville posted a pair of wins this past week and inched up to No. 2. |
| 3 | Riverdale Baptist (19-1) Upper Marlboro, MD | 1 Last Week: 4 | Riverdale Baptist cruised by Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia) to post its seventh straight win since falling to No. 1 St. Mary's at the Nike Tournament of Champions. |
| 4 | Centennial (16-1) Las Vegas, NV | 1 Last Week: 5 | Centennial is having a tough time finding a good game. Led by West Virginia signee Bailey Thomas, who hit seven 3-pointers in an easy win over Spring Valley (Las Vegas), the new No. 4 got a sweet 16th win. |
| 5 | Paul VI (15-1) Fairfax, VA | 3 Last Week: 2 | Despite 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists from Pittsburgh signee Jasmine Whitney, Paul VI suffered its first loss of the season, falling to Good Counsel (Olney, Maryland) 73-71. The loss ended Paul VI's 39-game winning streak. Freshman phenom Ashley Owusu suffered an injury and could be out a couple weeks. |
| 6 | Montini (18-0) Lombard, IL | 6 Last Week: 12 | Montini Catholic looked strong -- really strong -- in a win over Davenport North (Davenport, Iowa) in the Chicagoland Invitational Showcase. Sophomores Lindsey Jarosinski and Aaliyah Patty controlled the glass while juniors Kaylee Bambule and Claudia Kunzer combined for 25 points in the 26-point victory. |
| 7 | Neumann-Goretti (11-0) Philadelphia, PA | 1 Last Week: 6 | Jada Russell and Syracuse signee Alisha Kebbe helped Neumann-Goretti post two easy wins and extend its winning streak to 41 games. |
| 8 | Hopkins (13-1) Minnetonka, MN | 1 Last Week: 7 | Michigan State signee Nia Hollie continues to put on a show, leading Hopkins to two easy wins this past week. |
| 9 | National Christian Academy (17-0) Fort Washington, MD | 1 Last Week: 10 | Junior guard Mykea Gray averaged 23 points per game over National Christian's two wins this past week and continued to emerge as one of the elite guard prospects in the 2017 class. |
| 10 | Archbishop Mitty (10-3) San Jose, CA | 4 Last Week: 14 | Junior Madeline Holland and freshman Haley Jones stepped up to lead Archbishop Mitty to two wins this past week, and coach Sue Phillips closed in on the 600-win mark. She's at 597 and counting. |
| 11 | Good Counsel (11-2) Olney, MD | 13 Last Week: 24 | Lindsey Pulliam and Chloe Chapman did the damage in Good Counsel's 73-71 win over No. 5 Paul VI. Pulliam had 20 points and seven rebounds in the hard-fought and emotional win, and Chapman kicked in 15 points and six rebounds and kept Paul VI on its toes all game long. |
| 12 | Chaminade College Prep School (14-2) West Hills, CA | 4 Last Week: 16 | News flash: Leaonna Odom (Duke) and Valerie Higgins (USC) are really good. They continued to prove it in two wins this past week. |
| 13 | Forestville Military Academy (9-1) Forestville, MD | 4 Last Week: 17 | With Syracuse signee Kiara Smith leading the way, Forestville posted two wins by an average of 75 points this past week. |
| 14 | Homestead (16-0) Fort Wayne, IN | 6 Last Week: 8 | Florida recruit Karissa McLaughlin keeps pouring in the points and Homestead keeps winning. |
| 15 | Blackman (16-2) Murfreesboro, TN | 3 Last Week: 18 | With Crystal Dangerfield (UConn) doing the scoring and Jazz Bond (South Florida) doing the rebounding, Blackman extended its winning streak against in-state opponents to 58 games. |
| 16 | Mater Dei (17-1) Santa Ana, CA | 3 Last Week: 19 | Behind stellar play from UCLA signee Allyson Rosenblum, Mater Dei posted three easy wins this past week. The Monarchs' lone loss is to No. 11 Good Counsel. Next up is a tough test against undefeated Miramonte (Orinda, California) and superstar Sabrina Ionescu, the undeclared and No. 4 senior in the nation, this weekend at the St. Mary's MLK tournament. |
| 17 | Columbus North (17-0) Columbus, IN | 8 Last Week: 9 | Junior Maliah Howard-Bass has been dominant, scoring inside and outside, and Columbus North has won seven games in a 12-day span. |
| 18 | Lakota West (12-1) West Chester, OH | 5 Last Week: 13 | Lakota West picked up two wins this past week and takes aim at the Classic In The Country this weekend. |
| 19 | Saint Johns College (13-1) Washington, DC | 3 Last Week: 22 | St. John's added two more wins this week to run its record to 13-1. One of those victories is over No. 11 Good Counsel. |
| 20 | Riverdale (16-1) Murfreesboro, TN | -- Last Week: 20 | Riverdale, which posted two wins this past week, takes on Smyrna Tuesday night in the first meeting of the teams since they were both disqualified for tanking in last year's Tennessee playoffs. |
| 21 | St. Francis (15-1) Alpharetta, GA | -- Last Week: 21 | Undeclared superstar juniors Kasi Kushkituah and Maya Dodson are lighting it up for St. Francis, whose lone loss was to No. 12 Forestville. |
| 22 | Little Rock Central (13-0) Little Rock, AR | 1 Last Week: 23 | Arkansas signee Kiara Williams is leading the way for Little Rock Central, which takes its undefeated record into a game against Jonesboro (Arkansas) Tuesday night. |
| 23 | Providence Day School (14-1) Charlotte, NC | 2 Last Week: 25 | Vanderbilt signee Erin Whalen averaged 23 points per game as the North Carolina powerhouse continued to rack up wins. |
| 24 | Bellevue (12-0) Bellevue, WA | -- Last Week: -- | Bellevue ran the table against teams from Idaho, Colorado and Tennessee in the John Anderson Division at the Nike Tournament of Champions, topped a California opponent to close out 2015 and is now back to having its way in Washington. Stanford signee Anna Wilson has been working her magic, and unsigned senior Shelby Cansler is continuing to emerge. |
| 25 | Ribault (17-1) Jacksonville, FL | 10 Last Week: 15 | Despite 17 points from Day'Neshia Banks , Ribault suffered its first loss of the season, falling to Palm Coast 49-46. |
| On the bubble: Hamilton Heights (Tennessee) Miramonte (California) Tabor Academy (Massachusetts) Bishop Gorman (Nevada) South Salem (Oregon) Argyle (Texas) Wenonah (Alabama) Miami Country Day (Florida) Long Beach Poly (California) St. John Vianney (New Jersey) Lawrence North (Indiana) | |||
| Dropped out: Heritage Christian (Indiana) | |||