URBANDALE, Iowa -- A week ago, winning the Prep Poll title seemed an unlikely proposition for two-time Texas 4A champion Yates (Houston). But a stunning 26-point loss by Northland (Columbus, Ohio) over the weekend opened up the top spot, and the Lions pounced on the No. 1 ranking in the Week 18 poll released Monday morning.
All five teams that were ranked ahead of Yates in the preseason have lost at least once, while the Lions made minced meat of nearly every opponent. Aside from a one-point victory against No. 3 Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) in the championship game of the Iolani Classic, Yates beat every other foe by at least seven. The Lions' average score was 116-66 and they set a national record late in the year with at least 100 points in 15 straight games.
Yates' schedule was far from the most difficult in the nation and the Lions did not win the state championship in Texas' largest classification. However, they did defeat four teams that will likely finish the year in the national or regional rankings.
Defending Prep Poll champion Findlay (Henderson, Nev.) remained No. 2 in this week's poll. The Pilots, who are 4-2 against current Top 25 teams, have not played since February 27. They return to action April 2 to defending their title at the ESPN RISE National High School Invitational in Baltimore.
4 comments:
Well I've been supporting Yates and believed they were the real number #1 team in the Nation (for this year). I'm glad to see Prep & Poll finally came to that conclusion, though it seemed like a strained decision for them.
As with any poll determining who's #1 is difficult. Take for instance Gahanna defeating Northland. Gahanna is undefeated and the crushed Northland. If I were a Gahanna supporter I would surely make a case of being in the top ten.
But I'm a Yates supporter and they won the state championship 2 years running and I think that should count for something.
That Northland/Gahanna result is a perfect example of why these polls are so subjective, and in many regards utterly worthless. Nobody knows how good all of these teams are until/unless they play, and not just teams from other parts of the country... but even the same state, as witnessed in that game. Goretti has 2 tough contests left against PA teams that while not ranked, are very good (obviously if they're still playing this time of year). If they can avoid an upset they should slide in at #2 behind Yates.
If one subscribes to the theory that Yates & Goretti are the 2 best teams in the country, the rest falls into place and everything makes sense. As I said though they (N-G) must still dodge 2 bullets.
And as far as that goes... I'd like to see this Gahanna team take on a Yates. How do I know that they aren't the best team in the country? How do we know that some random team not even on the radar of these rankings isn't the best in the nation?
It's quite simple... we don't. That is why state gold medals are the ultimate achievement. You win them on the court, and they are a tangible thing you can touch and hang onto... unlike a subjective ranking system. Yates and Gahanna should be more proud of their medals than coming in #1 on this list, IMHO.
I tried telling everybody that Eastern York team was really good, to no avail. Goretti found out in a 81-73 win over them. ESPN Rise had that EY team in the top 50 and IMO they deserve it. Next up for N-G is Chartiers Valley in the finals. Another good team but not sure they match up as well as EY did.
As expected the two PW's are facing off in the AAAA finals. The winner certainly deserves a ranking somewhere around 18-20.
Well Goretti finished their season tonight by surviving 65-63 against a very good Chartiers Valley (Pittsburgh) team in the PA AAA finals. I tried telling everybody that they would be tested by these 2 teams (East York & CV), and most laughed at me and predicted gaudy blowouts. I know PA hoops and the field was deeper this year than most. Those EY & CV teams were probably the best non-PCL AAA teams I've seen in PA in years. Some outsiders will undoubtedly look at those close shaves and hold it against NG. My counter-argument would be that they played their version of Lincoln, OH (a team with a great record that was wrongly assumed to have amassed it by playing nobody). Only instead of laying down and getting obliterated by 35, they scrapped it out and came away with a gold medal.
Like so many others, this CV team didn't play the type of national schedule to get recognized. Not all of these schools have the resources ($) to travel all over the country to keep up appearances, especially public schools, and especially in this economy. That doesn't mean they are not worthy.
Food for thought...
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