Another week, another new No. 1 team.
Bishop McNamara is the fourth team this season to claim the top spot after upsetting Ontario Christian at Hoophall Classic.
Here are AllSportsPeople national high school girls basketball rankings for the week of Jan. 19.
PREVIOUS RANKINGS: Preseason | Dec. 1 | Dec. 8 | Dec. 15 | Dec. 22 | Dec. 29 | Jan. 5 | Jan. 12
Top 25 High School Girls Basketball Rankings
1. Bishop McNamara (MD) (13-2 – 3rd)
From 1-2 to No. 1 in the country only halfway through the season? We've seen teams go from rocky starts to national titles in recent years – namely Etiwanda the last two seasons – but not from a rocky start to the very top of the rankings in six weeks. Since losing narrowly to St. Frances Academy and Long Island Lutheran in early December, Bishop McNamara has won 12 games in a row against a who's-who of high school girls basketball competition, including avenging the LuHi loss. It held Ontario Christian scoreless for nearly three minutes to make a late push and win 57-55 at Hoophall Classic.
2. Ontario Christian (CA) (21-1 – 1st)
Ouch. With an opportunity to build serious distance in the national title race, Ontario Christian collapsed a bit at the end against Bishop McNamara and lost 57-55 at the Hoophall Classic. It's hard to say right now what it'd take for the Knights to get definitely back ahead of Bishop McNamara, but their overall body of work this season is still fantastic with CIF sectional and state playoffs less than a month away. Plus, they already bounced back to beat St. John Vianney 78-70 behind 45 points and six assists from Kaleena Smith.
3. DME Academy (FL) (16-0 – 2nd)
Technically DME Academy dropped a spot, but to be clear, Bishop McNamara's upset of Ontario Christian closed the size of the gap between DME and the No. 1 ranking. DME Academy made it look easy last week in a 66-31 rout of formidable Potter's House Christian.
4. Princess Anne (VA) (14-0 – 5th)
One of the teams that benefitted the absolute most from Ontario Christian's loss to Bishop McNamara. Princess Anne can now be lumped in with the very highest tier of national title contention with an undefeated record that's unlikely to go anywhere and wins over Bullis and St. Frances Academy. Yes, an 82-54 win over the same St. Frances team that upset top-ranked Bishop McNamara.
5. Long Island Lutheran (NY) (12-2 – 8th)
In our Hoophall Classic preview, we posited that LuHi would be hard-pressed to take down higher-ranked Sierra Canyon if Jerzy Robinson went "infernal" with all the Trailblazers' accompanying talent. Whether a 33-point double-double counts as infernal for a player of her magnitude is debatable, but what actually transpired was Long Island Lutheran pulling off a 70-60 win by containing Robinson's supporting cast. After losing to Incarnate Word Academy the prior week, Long Island Lutheran ended up beating a team that holds a win over IWA, which is exactly what its ranking stock needed.
6. Archbishop Mitty (CA) (13-2 – 5th)
The Monarchs' national title chances took a big hit when Ontario Christian fell to Bishop McNamara one week after beating the Monarchs. With that said, they still only have one loss while at full strength of health in the last not one, not two, but three seasons.
7. Sierra Canyon (CA) (18-2 – 6th)
Sierra Canyon's 10-point loss to LuHi was its first of the season with Jerzy Robinson in the lineup. The 5-star South Carolina pledge dazzled with 33 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists despite the loss.
8. Incarnate Word Academy (MO) (10-2 – 7th)
With LuHi, Sierra Canyon, and IWA each a combined 1-1 against the other two teams, somebody has to be ranked below the other two. Despite the fact that its win over LuHi occurred much more recently than its loss to Sierra Canyon, Incarnate Word Academy gets the short end of the stick here because the other two teams in the triangle have a multitude of wins against top competition. However, that also means the Red Knights could potentially rise a few spots in the blink of an eye depending what happens next.
9. Johnston (IA) (13-0 – 9th)
Tuesday brings a rematch with a Northwest team that played the Dragons to a 47-41 finish earlier in Central Iowa Metro – Central play.
10. Bishop Gorman (NV) (14-1 – 10th)
With wins over Etiwanda, Clovis West, and Las Vegas Centennial under its belt, Bishop Gorman looks to continue its amazing run against fellow West Coast elites this week facing Sage Hill, Democracy Prep Agassi Campus, and Mater Dei.
11. Etiwanda (CA) (19-2 – 11th)
Etiwanda has won 25 straight Baseline League titles, and that will be 26 straight soon. Last week the Eagles blew out Chino Hills 76-17 and Rancho Cucamonga 67-33.
12. Westtown (PA) (14-1 – 12th)
It might get overshadowed by Bishop McNamara and LuHi beating the Southern California juggernauts, but Westtown was one of the very biggest winners of Hoophall Classic with double-digit wins over Bullis and IMG Academy. The Moose's defense must've been surreal as they held those teams to a combined 78 points. Westtown doesn't move up in the rankings for those wins right now, but its stock is in much better shape nonetheless.
13. Legion Prep (TX) (11-2 – 13th)
LPA outdueled Potter's House Christian 64-55 in its only game of the week.
14. SPIRE Academy National (OH) (9-0 – Unranked)
The reporting that SPIRE Academy National fell to a much lower-ranked Michigan team was false, so SPIRE – now 9-0 – gets its spot back. It held off Anthony Wayne 54-46 and cruised past King's Christian last week to stay unbeaten.
15. The St. James Performance Academy (VA) (11-3 – 14th)
Technically the Strivers actually dropped a spot with SPIRE returning due to a past typo in its schedule, but it was a clear stock-up week for St. James. The Strivers notched their highest-ranked win in program history by far at Hoophall Classic with a 59-49 win over IMG Academy.
16. Westlake (TX) (29-0 – 15th)
One more round of district play away from going undefeated for the regular season. Westlake crushed Del Valle 65-17 and Dripping Springs 71-32 last week to finish its first go-around.
17. Tualatin (OR) (11-1 – 16th)
Tualatin opened 6A Three Rivers play by defeating Oregon City and Lakeridge.
18. Red Bank Catholic (NJ) (12-1 – 17th)
Not an easy week coming up for the Caseys with Manasquan, St. John Vianney, and Lenape coming up.
19. St. John Vianney (NJ) (11-2 – 18th)
A 78-70 loss to Ontario Christian isn't bad at all, and the Lancers have an opportunity to avenge their other loss this week in a rematch with Red Bank Catholic. First, however, they need to handle a Gloucester Catholic team that recently came a basketball away from upsetting Red Bank Catholic.
20. Wagner (TX) (26-0 – 22nd)
Are the undefeated Thunderbirds still improving yet? Last week they won 61-19 against a Pieper team they'd previously beaten 57-42.
21. St. John's (DC) (15-3 – 19th)
While they technically move down two spots, it was a stock-up week for the Cadets. They took down Paul VI (VA), Bishop Ireton, Dexter Southfield, and St. Timothy's with the closest finish being 64-54 over Bishop Ireton.
22. Bullis (MD) (11-5 – 20th)
As we've always said, it'd be silly to punish a team for playing an elite schedule and losing to the best teams in the country as long as the given team is beating everyone else. Bullis is now up to five losses after losing by 10 points to Westtown and all were against top-20 teams. The Bulldogs would've loved to have more ranked wins by this point of the season but their list of downed opponents includes IMG Academy, Bishop Ireton, St. Francis (Alpharetta), Millennium, and St. Frances Academy.
23. Arrowhead (WI) (13-0 – 23rd)
Arrowhead got revenge against Muskego for the second time this season, and this time in blowout fashion. After getting knocked out of last postseason with a 56-44 loss to Muskego, the Warhawks beat crushed Muskego 77-41 last week to follow up a 65-54 win earlier in the season.
24. Belleville (MI) (9-0 – 24th)
The Tigers took a stronger grasp of both their top-25 spot in the nation and No. 1 ranking in Michigan with a lopsided win over Wayne Memorial, which is ranked second in Michigan and was previously unbeaten.
25. IMG Academy (FL) (12-3 – 21st)
Now just 0-3 against top-25 teams after losing by double digits to The St. James and Westtown. IMG has a chance to flip the script this week with Cardinal Mooney, Long Island Lutheran, and Legion Prep on the docket.
AllSportsPeople high school girls basketball top 25 bubble
Bishop Ireton (VA)
Bradley Central (TN)
Democracy Prep Agassi Campus (NV)
Dowling Catholic (IA)
Example Academy National (IL)
Friends' Central (PA)
Grace Christian (NC)
Hoover (AL)
Hopkins (MN)
Miami Country Day (FL)
Monsignor Scanlan (NY)
Montverde Academy (FL)
Paul VI (NJ)
Pleasant Grove (UT)
Putnam City North (OK)
St. Frances Academy (MD)
Valley (IA)
Wauwatosa East (WI)