Monday, March 15, 2010

Week 17 National Prep Basketball Poll released

URBANDALE, Iowa -- Houston juggernaut Yates has made its closing argument for a mythical national title.

In the Week 17 National Prep Poll released Monday morning, the Lions moved up one spot to No. 3 after winning their second straight Texas 4A state title and finished undefeated in back-to-back years. Yates beat regionally ranked Lancaster, 92-73, before a record crowd of over 16,000 in Saturday's state final at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. In their 106-76 semifinals win over The Colony, the Lions established a new national record of 15 consecutive games scoring at least 100 points.

Yates is vying to become only the second Texas team to claim a National Prep Poll title in basketball. Dallas Lincoln did it in 2002 with a team that went 40-0 and featured future NBA all-star Chris Bosh.

The Lions have won 58 consecutive games since the start of last season and own wins this year over No. 4 Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) plus regionally ranked Columbia (Decatur, Ga.) and Kentwood (Covington, Wash.). However, they remain below top-ranked Northland (Columbus, Ohio) and No. 2 Findlay (Henderson, Nev.) on the totem pole for now.

Northland is expected to win its second consecutive state title in Ohio's largest classification. The Vikings have beaten two Top 10 teams and features three starters who will play in college at national powers Ohio State and West Virginia.

Findlay, which finished last season ranked No. 1, already has four wins against the Top 25 and can add to the total when it defends its title in the season-ending ESPN RISE National High School Invitational next month.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This poll makes no sense. Findlay Prep lost to Montverde back in Jan and didn't move a spot. Now Paterson Catholic and Bloomington South both lost, and they move completely out of the poll. So what you are saying is Findlay Prep's lost to a ranked team such as Montverde is more justified than PC or BS losses. But when you have PC and BS completely leave the poll, Montverde drops a spot from last week. Montverde hasn't played since Jan 30th, how could they drop!? Also, how can you say PC is not one of the top 25 teams in the country? They won the City of Palms, the toughest high school tournament in the country this year!

In addition to Findlay, Montverde has defeated Montrose, Dudley, Providence and Westchester. They have played one of the toughest schedules in the nation, if not the toughest and they aren't even top ten? Yet you have Yates and Northland at the top of the poll who haven't left their respective states nor have played no more than 2 national ranked teams? This is ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Paterson didn't just lose, they got decimated. The drop may have been a bit extreme though, I'll give you that. Montverde lost 4 games. Brutal schedule, yes, but that's a crooked number.

There will always be room for debate in these polls but I personally think the cream is rising to the top each week. My vote would be for Yates, but several of these teams are deserving and they could all beat each other on any given night. That is why it is a "mythical" national championship. But I think Yates & Columbus have the strongest cases right now.

Side Note: Goretti had a scrimmage with Plymouth-Whitemarsh this past week and P-W played right with them, even slightly got the better of them I'd say. They (P-W) had a great week of practice then decimated their 1'st round opponent in states. If they rematch Penn Wood in the state finals (and I have every reason to expect that to be the case), I like Whitemarsh.

Anonymous said...

First lets get this straight, Yates have left their state twice. Winning the Iolani Prep Classic tourney in Hawaii and the T-Mobile classic in Alabama.

Second, I agree with you about this poll. It's incredible how a team like Paterson can move from 8th to 3rd in one week, then lose one game and drop out totally. But let me make this clear they should have never jump in front of Yates to begin with. And from a bias point of view I don't see how Findlay could be rank higher than Yates, but I think this poll has a bias against Yates.

Lastly, it is hard to judge and know which team is truly #1, but when you look at this poll vs any of the other major polls this one by far seems to be more volatile and seems to be more close minded.

Anonymous said...

Well I don't think anybody can get around and see all these teams. I can say that I think the NE is pretty spot on right now with maybe 1-2 reservations. After that it's a matter of opinion because these teams won't all play each other. If they had an agenda against Yates they wouldn't even be ranked #3 and probably wouldn't be featured on the front page.

I say we throw 32 of these teams into a tourney and let 'em decide it on the court.

Anonymous said...

Lake norman finished 26-3 an won 4a state title glad to see them getting some love they went threw toughest conference in the state of nc an beat the best team from the eastside of the state.

Anonymous said...

I agree it's imposible to see every team play. My only point with Yates is they were rated number #3, then all of a sudden Paterson jumps to 3rd moving Yates to 4th. It's one thing had Yates barely won their games or they needed help from the refs to stay undefeated, but that was far from the reality. They won all their games handily. Now, you can say or make the claim they are play ing against weaker teams or you can suggest they are so good this year they are living a charmed season. However you look at it, they have had a terric year and should be in the Top 2 in my opinion. But for the record to play in the state of Texas and win a state championship back to back is one heck of a feat!

Anonymous said...

Well you certainly don't have to convince me about Yates. You say they won "all" their games handily... not against Goretti. A win by any margin over them is very impressive. Just wanted to point that out for the sake of accuracy.

I think it also depends on how you rank these teams. Things like SOS are surely great barometers, but IMO too much stock is put into them. The main criteria should always be simply "If you were forced to wager your life savings on the outcome of a game, which team would you take"? SOS and every other number to crunch should come after that (if at all).

If it were my mortgage and belongings on the line, I'd trust Yates the most.

Goretti breezed through the 2'nd round of states 91-56, but they should be tested in the next 2 rounds by Archbishop Carroll & Eastern York.

Anonymous said...

For accuracy sake yes Yates did pull it out in the last minute to beat Goretti (Great Game). Yes, Gorretti is one more step closer to winning their state championship.

I'm not sure if I would bet my mortgage on any high school team, but yes Yates if they played Houston Lee again I'd take that bet :). Speaking of not putting all of one's eggs in one basket here's a result to marinade on:

You heard it here first!
Regional finals
Division I
Gahanna 71, Northland 45

Northland lost to Gahanna who is also undefeated in the state of Ohio. Will Northland take a tumble? Will Yates move up? These questions I am eager to find out! Or will this site pull and abitrary stunt and leave Northland
#1, Findlay #2, and Yates #3. We'll have to wait and see.

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