Monday, February 02, 2009

Week 11 National Prep Basketball Poll released

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Led by top-ranked Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), the top five teams in the National Prep Basketball Poll remained completely unchanged for the fifth consecutive week.

The Monarchs, who have been No. 1 since Dec. 1, will play the rest of the season short-handed. Stanford-bound 6-foot-8 senior forward Andy Brown, who was one of five Division I-committed players in Mater Dei's starting line-up, suffered a torn ACL last week and is out for the year. That will make this Saturday's matchup with No. 3 St. Benedict's (Newark, N.J.) even more difficult for the Monarchs -- and it could open the door for the Grey Bees or another top five team to move into the No. 1 ranking.

No. 2 Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) picked up its 30th win of the season last week. The Warriors already own six wins over current or former Top 25 teams, and are scheduled to play in the high-profile National High School Invitational in April against a field that might include three fellow top 10 teams.

No. 4 Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) has only one loss on its resume this season, a 74-62 double-overtime decision to Oak Hill in the final of December's Iolani Classic. The Mustangs do not play a difficult schedule the rest of the season, but are scheduled to face Oak Hill again March 6 and possibly once more at the NHSI the next month.

No. 5 Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) suits up every bit as much talent as the four teams ranked ahead of it, and could add to its total of two wins against current or former Top 25 teams when it faces preseason No. 1 Duncanville (Texas) in Dallas later this month.

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