1. Akron (OH) St. Vincent-St. Mary (8-0)
The Irish defeated Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei at the Dream Classic in Pauley Pavilion 64-58. The game will be televised on the ESPN2. LeBron James finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. However, he was just eight of 24 from the field and missed all nine three-point attempts. Junior Corey Jones and Akron recruit Romeo Travis scored twelve points each for St. Vincent-St. Mary and Dru Joyce III, another Akron signee, added ten. The Irish face Villa Angela St. Joseph's Tuesday at home.
2. Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill Academy (14-1)
The Warriors are off until January 15th when they face Blue Ridge School on the road. They defeated Elizabeth (NJ) St. Patrick’s 62-59 in the championship game of the Academy National Invitational in the their last contest.
3. Indianapolis (IN) Pike (8-0)
The Red Devils defeated Lexington (KY) Catholic in the Circle City Challenge of Champions 72-59 and bested previously unbeaten Indianapolis Cathedral 53-42.
Pike is averaging 70.1 points per game and allowing just 42.8 points per contest. Devils' top six players return from last season's 24-4 team that reached the state championship game before losing to Gary West 58-55.
Pike trailed Lexington Catholic 36-31 at halftime deficit, before outscoring 25-14 in the third quarter. Junior forward Robert Vaden scored 11 of his 20 points in the third. He also had team highs of nine rebounds and six assists. Vaden made nine of 16 shots from the field. Senior guard Darren Yates scored 18 points on eight of14 shooting
Senior guard Darren Yates scored 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Justin Cage, a Xavier recruit, made all five of his field-goal attempts and sank five of six free throws to finish with 15 points. Pike was just three of 17 from three-point range, but outrebounded Lexington Catholic 37-21.
Pike trailed Cathedral 20-12, but made all eight shots in the second quarters and eventually went up 38-26 going into the final period. Vaden, who played the past two seasons at Cathedral, had a game-high 13 points and seven rebounds. IUPUI signee David Barlow had twelve points and Cage added 10 points for Pike. They play at Perry Meridan on Friday.
4. Chicago (IL) Whitney Young (9-0)
The Dolphins had the week off after winning its second straight Proviso West tournament championship with a 66-53 victory over Hillcrest, who was ranked second in the city by the Chicago Tribune. They play Lincoln Park at home on Wednesday and are at Westinghouse, the defending state champions, on Friday
5. Columbus (OH) Brookhaven (6-1)
The Bearcats are off until January 7th when they face Columbus Northland. They lost for the first time this season in their last game, falling 67-62 in overtime to Akron (OH) St. Vincent- St. Mary’s at the Value City Arena in front of 17,000. Brookhaven faces Beechcroft on Friday.
6. Elizabeth (NJ) St. Patrick (4-2)
The Celtics defeated Hun 72-65 as Villanova signee Mike Nardi scored a season-high 32 points. Jason Patterson and Robert Hines scored nine each. Nardi made four three-pointers and Patterson added two. Seton Hall signee Grant Billmeier scored eight points and freshman Derrick Caracter had four.
They previously defeated Shabazz 73-44 as 6-5 senior forward Robert Hines had a season-high 17 points. Billmeier had a season-best 14 points and 17 rebounds. Nardi added 12 points and five steals. Caracter scored seven points and had five rebounds and four blocks off the bench.
7. New York (NY) Rice (9-1)
The defending Federation Class A state champions had the week off after winning the third place game at Academy National Invitational by defeating previous #1 Seattle (WA) Rainier Beach 51-49. The Raiders face Xaverian and their star big man Chris Taft Tuesday.
8. Beamount (TX) Ozen (18-0)
Ozen scored the first nine points of the third quarter and held on for a 52-43 win at Central on Saturday. Kendrick Perkins, who signed with Memphis finished the game with just seven points. Perkins added eight rebounds and four blocks. Fellow Memphis recruit Keena Young led Ozen with 14 points. The Mustangs faced L.C.M Tuesday and play at Port Neches on Friday.
9. Bakersfield (CA) Garces Memorial (19-0)
The Rams defeated Eisenhower 65-55 as 7-0 junior center Robert Swift, playing with five stitches in his right index finger, scored 18 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked nine shots Anthony Esparza had 16 and Nevada signed Kyle Shiloh added 14. Zach Ryan scored eleven points and Christian Martin grabbed eight rebounds. Sixth man Moochie Carrillo did not play Friday after feeling numbness in his left hand and arm on Thursday.
10. Seattle (WA) Rainier Beach (7-2)
The Vikings defeated O’Dea (4-4) 71-60 Saturday as Lodrick Stewart scored a game-high 27 points. Rodrick Stewart had 14 points and 6-7 senior Josh Love scored eleven points. They face Nathan Hale Tuesday and Cleveland Friday, both games at home.