The post-season causes plenty of change to this week’s FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com, as league, conference and section championship teams stake their claim as some of the best teams in the nation. A vast majority of those teams, however, are not done with their season, as they search for bigger crowns on a statewide or national level. There are three newcomers, led by No. 36 Forsyth Country Day (Lewisville, N.C.), the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Class 4A champions.
By Ronnie Flores
As we stated last week, the victory last Monday by Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) title game would be reflected in the Panthers’ won-loss record in this week’s FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com. Coach Glen Farello‘s club actually got four victories last week, as it quickly regrouped after the incredible two overtime win over No. 49 St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) to capture the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) Division I title on Saturday with a 64-52 win over fellow WCAC club Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.), a team that has spent plenty of time FAB 50 ranked this season.
Brian Mitchell Jr. and Lawrence “Turk” Brown III each scored 17 points for the Panthers, as Mr. Basketball USA candidate Jordan Smith (eight points, nine rebounds) was under the weather.
Paul VI won its fourth VISAA state D1 crown in five seasons, but it’s still looking for more.
That’s because the Panthers, who move up to No. 5 in the latest FAB 50, are hoping for an invite to Chipotle Nationals, the end-of-season tournament which takes place April 1-4 at Hamilton Southeastern (Fishers, Ind.). This year, that event will be held in the same town as the NCAA Final Four.
Another team hoping its season is not complete just yet is North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) Class 3A champion Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.). The Bengals throttled previous No. 32 Concord Academy (Concord, N.C.), 62-34, in the championship game after beating that same club, 63-56, during the regular season. The Bengals ran good offense, canning 9-of-18 3-pointers, and held their foe to three points in the first 10:15 of the second half. Marty Giant, Grant Duggins and Micah Gunter combined to score 37 of Greensboro Day’s 62 points in the easy win.
The program has now won 14 state titles under legendary coach Freddy Johnson, the 2017 Ballislife National Coach of the Year who now has a reported 1,257 career victories. That season the Bengals earned an invitation to Dick’s Nationals (now Chipotle Nationals) for the second time in three seasons and the coaching staff feels this team is worthy.
EYBL Scholastic Divisional Champs Crowned
The Nike EYBL Scholastic League has concluded it regular season and crowned two division winners. FAB 50 No. 3 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) closed out the East Division with a perfect 9-0 mark following a 85-58 win over Tennessee Collegiate Academy (Millington, Tenn.). Dhani Miller led four MVA players in double figures with 18 points. The East Division finished its regular season with four FAB 50 ranked teams.
FAB 50 No. 1 AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) captured the West Division title with a 9-0 mark as well. The Dragons closed out with a 61-52 victory over No. 44 Dream City Christian (Glendale, Ariz.). AZ Compass Prep finished EYBL Scholastic regular season play with a 13-1 mark, while five other ranked teams finished 11-3. The West Division finished its regular season with seven FAB 50 ranked teams.
Greensboro Day actually had to drop a spot in this week’s FAB 50 to make room for La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.), which jumped up 13 spots to No. 7 following a 81-73 win over previous No. 2 Spire Academy (Geneva, Ohio) that gave the Lakers the tie-breaker to finish No. 2 in the East Division behind Montverde Academy. Junior guard Devin Cleveland led five LaLu players in double figures with 25 points, including 5-of-7 3-pointers, as the Lakers made 10-of-22 as a team. Spire Academy, which made 4-of-21 shots from long range and was led by junior guard King Gibson with 24 points, drops six spots to No. 8.
The second annual EYBL Scholastic Conference Tournament is scheduled for March 12-15 in Augusta, Ga. The top five teams in each division, plus two at-large teams, will qualify for the tournament.
Photo: Scott Kurtz
Sierra Canyon Looks For Double Crown
Another championship team whose season continues is FAB 50 No. 11 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.), which captured the program’s third CIF Southern Section Open Division title on Saturday evening with a 59-53 victory over then No. 48 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) before approximately 3,500 fans at Toyota Arena in Ontario, Calif.
Senior forward Brannon Martinsen led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds, including his final one with under 10 seconds remaining on a missed Sierra Canyon free throw that kept Harvard-Westlake from grabbing possession of the ball in an attempt to extend the game. Martinsen then capped the game with two free throws.
In the semifinals, Sierra Canyon defeated another Mission League foe, then No. 27 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) in what was a state No. 1 vs. No. 3 affair, 70-46. Sierra Canyon played a masterful defensive game, while McDonald’s All-American Maxi Adams led the way offensively with 20 points and seven rebounds.
Sierra Canyon now gets a bye into the SoCal open regional semifinals on Saturday. In a March surprise, however, it will meet the winner of Redondo Union-Santa Margarita (No. 4 seed vs. No. 5), two teams that were FAB 50 ranked for plenty of the season but fell in the section quarterfinals. Puzzlingly, semifinalist Notre Dame was seeded No. 6 and meets No. 3 seed and FAB 50 No. 24 St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.) in Wednesday’s SoCal open first round game. The other CIFSS open semifinalist, FAB 50 No. 37 La Mirada (La Mirada, Calif.), was dropped down to the SoCal D1 regional playoffs even though it defeated Redondo Union in the CIFSS quarterfinals, 73-70.
Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by Ballislife.com
(11th poll of 2025-26 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, March 1; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included)
No. Prev. High School (City)Record
11AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.)22-1**
23Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah)25-5
34Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)21-5
45Prolific Prep (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) 32-3
56Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.)33-2
67Seven Lakes (Katy, Texas)35-0
720La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.)21-4
82Spire Academy (Geneva, Ohio)26-3
98Fishers (Fishers, Ind.)23-0
109Calvary Christian Academy (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)22-1
1110Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)27-1
1211Principia (St. Louis, Mo.)23-2
1312Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.)30-5
1413Link Academy (Branson, Mo.)23-3
1514CIA Bella Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.)19-4
1615Wisconsin Lutheran (Milwaukee, Wis.)24-0
1716Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.)31-1
1817Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.)36-2
1918Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.)23-4
2019Bartlett (Bartlett, Tenn.)27-4
2121Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.)25-5**
2229Lakota West (West Chester, Ohio) 21-1
2325Millennium (Goodyear, Ariz.)25-9
2426Sunnyslope (Phoenix, Ariz.)26-2
2523Oak Cliff Faith Family (Dallas, Texas)25-10
2624St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.)30-2
2733Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.)26-1
2848Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.)26-6
2928IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)21-8
3033Gainesville (Gainesville, Ga.)29-0
3131North Crowley (Ft. Worth, Texas)31-3
3239DePaul College Prep (Chicago, Ill.)29-3
3340East Lansing (East Lansing, Mich.)23-1
3427Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.)22-7
3542Kankakee (Kankakee, Ill.)28-1
36NRForsyth Country Day (Lewisville, N.C.)29-3***
3734La Mirada (La Mirada, Calif.)24-8
3835Salesian (Richmond, Calif.)27-3
3936Columbus (Miami, Fla.) 24-6
4038Southeastern Prep Academy (Orlando, Fla.) 39-8
4143Curie (Chicago, Ill.)27-1**
42NROur Lady of Mt. Carmel (Baltimore, Md.)29-10
4337St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.)34-7
4441Dream City Christian (Glendale, Ariz.) 18-9
4547Richland (Richland, Wash.)25-0
4645Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.)16-10
4746Heritage (Frisco, Texas) 30-2
4849Silver Creek (Sellersburg, Ind.)25-1
4950St. John’s (Washington, D.C.)27-8
50NRLittle Elm (Little Elm, Texas)33-2
Dropped Out: No. 22 Webb (Knoxville, Tenn.), No. 32 Concord Academy (Concord, N.C.), No. 44 Lake Highland Prep (Orlando, Fla.).
Bubble Teams: Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco, Calif.) 25-1**; Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.) 18-7; Arvada West (Arvada, Col) 22-2; Atascocita (Humble, Texas) 28-6; Bearden (Knoxville, Tenn.) 33-1; Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) 25-3; Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.) 23-10***; Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.) 23-1; Brennan (San Antonio, Texas) 30-3; Bryant (Bryant, Ark.) 26-4; Cathedral Prep (Erie, Pa.) 24-1; Cedar Falls (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 21-0; Chaparral (Parker, Col.) 22-2; Concord Academy (Concord, N.C.) 29-3***; Crown Point (Crown Point, Ind.) 20-1; DME Academy (Daytona Beach, Fla.) 23-9***; East Kentwood (Kentwood, Mich.) 21-2; East St. Louis (East St. Louis, Ill.) 28-4; Father Judge (Philadelphia, Pa.) 15-11; Houston (Germantown, Tenn.) 19-8; Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) 21-6; Layton Christian (Layton, Utah) 21-6***; Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) 12-11; Millwood (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.) 23-2; Mt. St. Joseph (Baltimore, Md.) 31-6; Mt. Vernon (Fortville, Ind.) 22-3; Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) 20-5; Ogallala (Ogallala, Neb.) 25-0; Olympus (Salt Lake City, Utah) 25-2; Petersburg (Petersburg, Va.) 19-4; Pike (Indianapolis, Ind.) 21-3; Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.) 27-3; Ralston Valley (Arvada, Col.) 23-1; Rangeview (Aurora, Col.) 21-3; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 27-4; Rockford (Rockford, Mich.) 20-3; Santa Margarita (Rancho SM, Calif.) 27-5; Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) 22-7***; South (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) 20-1; Southern School of Energy & Sustainability (Durham, N.C.) 25-3; St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) 21-9; St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) 26-4; Tartan (Oakdale, Minn.) 26-0; The Rock (Gainesville, Fla.) 24-10***; The Villages Charter (The Villages, Fla.) 23-7; Timpview (Provo, Utah) 21-3***; Warren Township (Gurnee, Ill.) 30-3; West Allis Central (West Allis, Wis.) 22-2; Westlake (Saratoga Springs, Utah) 24-3***.
Note: The FAB 50 powered by Ballislife.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota compiled them. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 26 years ago.
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at ronnie@ballislife.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
Editor’s Pick
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