espnW 25 Power Rankings: Week 9
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Two teams in the espnW 25 Power Rankings lost their perfect seasons last week, leaving 12 teams pursuing perfection as the playoffs approach.
The top four in the Week 9 rankings -- Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), Duncanville (Texas) and Windward (Los Angeles) - all are hitting the home stretch after a season of nothing but winning.
Shabazz (Newark, N.J.), which was ranked fifth last week, fell to No. 14 after suffering its first loss of the season, to Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.). Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), meanwhile, fell to No. 16 after a tough week that included losses to No. 6 St. John's (Washington) and No. 13 Good Counsel (Olney, Md.).
| espnW 25 Power Rankings: Week 9 | |||
| RANK | SCHOOL/REC (CITY, STATE) | TRENDING | COMMENT |
| 1 | Mater Dei (25-0) Santa Ana, CA | -- Last Week: 1 | The Monarchs finished a perfect regular season at 25-0 with two wins last week and are moving on to the Super Division of CIF. |
| 2 | Riverdale (25-0) Murfreesboro, TN | -- Last Week: 2 | No. 19 Blackman was no match for the Warriors and now only Mt. Juliet remains before playoffs begin in Tennessee. |
| 3 | Duncanville (35-0) Duncanville, TX | -- Last Week: 3 | The Pantherettes blew out DeSoto (Texas) to put an exclamation mark on their season. Now the real test begins with a district playoff march ahead. |
| 4 | Windward (25-0) Los Angeles, CA | -- Last Week: 4 | Windward made easy work of Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) and Brentwood School (Los Angeles) and now waits to see if it will play in the Super Division or its normal Southern Section. |
| 5 | Saint Marys (25-1) Phoenix, AZ | 1 Last Week: 6 | The Knights cruised through sectionals and move on to the state quarterfinals this week. |
| 6 | Saint Johns College (24-1) Washington, DC | 3 Last Week: 9 | It took overtime for St. John's to knock off No. 16 Paul VI, one of its four wins last week. |
| 7 | Marion County (29-0) Lebanon, KY | -- Last Week: 7 | The Knights finish up the season this week on the road in Louisville against Mercy. |
| 8 | Incarnate Word Academy (23-0) Saint Louis, MO | -- Last Week: 8 | The Red Knights beat a solid St. Joseph's Academy (St. Louis, Mo.) team by 12 and have Ursuline Academy (St. Louis, Mo.) up next. |
| 9 | Pflugerville (33-0) Pflugerville, TX | 1 Last Week: 10 | Pflugerville takes on Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) this week in the Class 5A Region II Bi-District playoffs. |
| 10 | New Hope Christian Academy (23-1) Thomasville, NC | 2 Last Week: 12 | The Phoenix take on TPLS Christian Academy (Midlothian, Va.) before heading to the D.C. for a Presidents weekend tournament. |
| 11 | North Gwinnett (22-1) Suwanee, GA | 2 Last Week: 13 | The Bulldogs are off to the GHSA Regionals this week after taking care of Collins Hill (Suwanee, Ga.) last week. |
| 12 | Fairmont (20-1) Kettering, OH | 2 Last Week: 14 | The Firebirds held their final opponent of the regular season to just eight points and will open the playoffs on Feb. 21 after getting a first-round bye. |
| 13 | Good Counsel (21-3) Olney, MD | 3 Last Week: 16 | Good Counsel took down then No. 11 Paul VI and pushed its winning streak to 10 games, dating back to a January loss to Paul VI. |
| 14 | M. X. Shabazz (19-1) Newark, NJ | 9 Last Week: 5 | Despite 17 points and 13 rebounds from junior Zaire O'Neil, Shabazz fell to Long Island Lutheran. |
| 15 | Dutch Fork (24-0) Irmo, SC | -- Last Week: 15 | The Silver Foxes beat North Augusta (S.C.) 69-42 and wrap up the regular season this week against Irmo (Columbia, S.C.) |
| 16 | Paul VI (25-2) Fairfax, VA | 5 Last Week: 11 | The Panthers hit the teeth of their schedule and came away with an overtime loss to No. 6 St. John's, a win over Carroll and a loss to then No. 13 Good Counsel. |
| 17 | Martin Luther King (14-0) Detroit, MI | -- Last Week: 17 | King took down Mumford (Detroit, Mich.) 58-23 to remain undefeated. |
| 18 | Millbrook (19-0) Raleigh, NC | 2 Last Week: 20 | Millbrook was off last week and takes on Wake Forest-Rolesville (N.C.) next. |
| 19 | Blackman (23-2) Murfreesboro, TN | -- Last Week: 19 | Blackman has lost two games this season, both at the hands of No. 2 Riverdale, but the playoffs could offer a chance at redemption. |
| 20 | Edwardsville (28-0) Edwardsville, IL | 1 Last Week: 21 | Edwardsville won its first two playoff games, and posted 104 points against Alton (Ill.) |
| 21 | Bishop O'Dowd (21-3) Oakland, CA | 4 Last Week: 25 | The Dragons, who started the season at No. 5, scored two big wins after returning to the top 25 last week, beating Berkeley (Calif.) and No. 25 St. Mary's. Perhaps they are peaking at the right time. |
| 22 | Regis Jesuit (18-1) Aurora, CO | -- Last Week: 22 | Regis Jesuit took care of Highlands Ranch 64-47 and will finish up with its four remaining league games the next two weeks. |
| 23 | Centerville (19-1) Centerville, OH | -- Last Week: 23 | Beavercreek (Ohio) was no match for Centerville. The Elks now wait for the regional playoffs to begin. |
| 24 | Columbus North (23-0) Columbus, IN | -- Last Week: 24 | Columbus North moved swiftly through sectionals and now will face North Lawrence (Bedford, Ind.) this week in the regional round. |
| 25 | Saint Marys (23-2) Stockton, CA | 7 Last Week: 18 | The Rams beat McNair but fell to Bishop O'Dowd. They have one game to bounce back before sectionals. |