URBANDALE, Iowa -- There is a new No. 1 team in the Week 5 National Prep Basketball Poll.
Defending Ohio Division I champion Northland (Columbus) is now the nation's top-ranked team. The Vikings moved up from No. 4 after last week's 53-52 defeat of defending Prep Poll champion and then-No. 1 Findlay (Henderson, Nev.). Ohio State-bound big man Jared Sullinger was the star of the game, scoring 32 points and grabbing 17 rebounds.
Not since future NBA megastar LeBron James led St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron) to the 2003 Prep Poll title has the nation's top-rated team hailed from the state of Ohio.
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Boys Basketball Rankings - A Cager Christmas
OC Top 10
1 Birmingham Detroit Country Day – Ray McCallum and Amir Williams may be getting most of the headlines, but juniors Lee Bailey 17 on Luers and Chris Fowler 15 on Luers have been quiet assassins. Amir Williams 6ft, 11 inches 14 points and 11 rebounds. Play basketball the way the game was invented to be played. The are a GREAT team, come an see the exceptional basketball display. Coach Kurt Keener has the team playing at a high level.
Last Updated: December 19. 2009 1:00AM
Saturday's roundup
Country Day routs Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard in boys basketball
The Detroit News
Beverly Hills -- Amir Williams had 14 points to lead Detroit Country Day to a 71-43 win over Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard in the final game of the Throwdown in Motown tournament on Saturday.
Ray McCallum and Lee Bailey added 12 points each for Country Day (4-0). Josh Herbeck scored 20 for Gabriel Richard, which has started 0-3 after losses to Orchard Lake St. Mary's, Ann Arbor Pioneer and the Yellowjackets.
Published: December 23, 2009 3:00 a.m.
Late start but quick end for Luers in showdown
Greg Jones
INDIANAPOLIS – Bishop Luers waited and waited Tuesday for the start of the anticipated matchup against Detroit Country Day.
Then the Knights waited some more.
The game finally started almost an hour after the previous game ended.
The wait was worse for Luers as the Yellowjackets rode a quick start to a 93-77 win in the finale of the Midwest Basketball Challenge at Indianapolis Howe.
Just as in past big games against Chicago Curie and Lawrence North, the Class 2A No. 2 Knights (2-2) found themselves down quickly and by a lot.
The Yellowjackets led 18-4 midway through the first quarter.
“Getting off the long bus ride and sitting around wondering what time we were going to play was a long process of not knowing,” said Luers junior Kenny Mullen, who had 22 points. “Coming out of the gate, we should have come out a lot faster because they came out fast, and we couldn’t match their intensity.”
In the individual matchup, Country Day’s Ray McCallum Jr. and Deshaun Thomas both scored 34 points. The difference was McCallum’s points came early when the Yellowjackets (5-0) were getting off to their hot start.
Facing double and triple teams, Thomas scored 18 of his points in the fourth quarter when the game was pretty much decided.
“We came out sluggish, and they came out hyped and ready,” Thomas said. “They were ready for the game. Ray tried to play to the hype, and that’s what we did.”
Thomas, also had 11 rebounds and had to deal with 6-foot-10 Amir Williams most of the game.
“It wasn’t any kind of pressure,” Thomas said of the individual matchup against McCallum, a former AAU teammate. “I am going to see those double and triple teams. I just need to stay focused. Back in the day, I would have thrown my jersey over my head.”
McCallum made 14 of 21 shots from the field and sat out the last few minutes of the fourth. The son of Ray McCallum, Detroit Mercy head coach – and former Ball State coach and IU assistant – had the speed and athletic ability unseen by the Knights.
Country Day sealed the game with a 10-0 run in the third quarter.
“They went on a run in the third quarter before we even woke up,” Luers coach James Blackmon said. “I don’t think it is anything they did defensively; I just don’t think we matched their intensity at the beginning of the ballgame.”
McCallum had 16 points and six rebounds in the first half, while Thomas had 10 points and six rebounds.
Thomas struggled early on, missing his first three shots, and didn’t score in the opening quarter until a three-pointer with 25 seconds left.
The Ohio State recruit also had a couple of turnovers and two goaltending calls.
The Knights trimmed the margin to 31-25 in the second, but Country Day extended the lead to 47-32 by halftime.
gjones@jg.net
Hope you will give Westlake (GA) a nod in your ratings after beating Rice (NY) and Vance (SC) to win the Chick fil A Classic! They are 10-0 and including Rice, they have beat 4 top ten state ranked teams, Centenial (GA), Aiken (OH), Vance & Rice
How about Westview (Portland, OR) making it into the rankings? They beat two-time state champs Jefferson (holding Terrance Jones in check) and played a close game (leading after 3 quarters) against #2 Oak Hill Academy in the Les Schwab Invitational. They finished 3rd overall.
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