MIAMI NICE: No. 24 Miami Country Day (FL) slips in Blue Star Media Elite 25 girls’ basketball rankings after reeling in district title; No. 16 Bullis (MD) springs upset

BENSALEM, Pa. – One of the true signs the postseason is truly getting started is when the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section seeds their brackets.

Although there are several divisions, the one that matters the most is the Open Division and it just so happens three teams from the Blue Star Media Elite 25 girls’ basketball rankings are the top-three seeds in the four pools that begin on Thursday evening. More on that below in this column.

Additionally, Florida played its district playoffs and in Indiana it was the sectional weekend with the regionals on Saturday. Both states annually place teams in the Elite 25 rankings.

Coincidentally, No. 24 Miami (Fla.) Country Day (23-2) joins the Elite 25 after a few weeks of little movement. The Spartans breezed to the Class 2A, District 14 title last week and play Friday in the Region 4 quarterfinals. The Spartans already beat No. 14 Montverde (Fla.) Academy in January and maintain a solid resume.

No. 16 Bullis School (Potomac, Md.) made news last week with a big 75-72 win over then-No. 7 Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) in a game that went down to the final shot and was shown on ESPN2. The Bulldogs are hot with a week left in the regular season. LuHi has two scheduled games this week before departing for Japan for nearly two weeks for a cultural exchange and a series of basketball exhibition with local teams.

Safe travels.

McDonald’s All-Americans

In case you missed it, McDonald’s All American Games rosters for the boys (50^th annual) and girls (26^th) were announced last week.

The games will be held at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona or in close proximity to Phoenix on March 31. Several of the selectees play for teams from the Blue Star Media Elite 25 rankings. Buy tickets here.

The signature girls in the game are Jerzy Robinson of Sierra Canyon School (Chatsworth, Calif.) and Saniyah Hall of Spire Academy (Geneva, Ohio). The trio of Emily McDonald, Savannah Swords and Olivia Brown are all from No. 13 Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) are on the East girls.

Girls Rosters (listed alphabetically):

East squad: Autumn Fleary, Saniyah Hall, Kate Harpring, Jordyn Jackson, Olivia Jones, Lola Lampley, Jenica Lewis, Emily McDonald, Addison Nyemchek, Savannah Swords, Olivia Vukosa, and Lilly Williams.

West squad: Jacy Albi, Addison Bjorn, Cydnee Bryant, Briahnna Crittendon, Oliviyah Edwards, Bella Flemings, Maddyn Greenway, Trinity Jones, Ashlynn Koupal, Jerzy Robinson, Aaliah Spaight, and McKenna Woliczko.

Moving along, we finally have state championship winners. Hawaii was the first state to complete their playoffs last weekend with two crowned champions.

In Honolulu, top-seeded and hometown Kamehameha-Kapalama won its second consecutive Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I girls title with a 50-39 victory against rival Iolani School (Honolulu) on Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Division I all-tournament team: Justice Kekauoha, Iolani, Rylee Paranada, Kamehameha-Kapālama ,Mikela Salazar Harrell, Konawaena, Rylee Cabuyadao-Caswell, Kamehameha-Kapālama and Hailey Fernandez, Iolani. Most Outstanding Player: Nihoa Dunn, Kamehameha-Kapālama.

At the Hilo Civic Center, Hawaii Baptist (Honolulu) beat Pearl City, 45-41, in the Division II final. Sienna Lamblack scored 14 points as the winners rallied in the fourth quarter.

Congratulations, ladies and the coaches for a memorable season in Hawaii.

We shift the attention to the postseason in three major cities, Los Angeles, Baltimore and Philadelphia, where tournament play gets underway this week with hardware handed out next week.

Let’s take a look at the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section Open Division 12-team draw that took place over the weekend. The loaded Open Division with three teams from the Elite 25’s top-five are featured in the four pools with three teams apiece. Each team plays two games with top-two teams from pool play advancing to the quarterfinals.

Pool play opens on Thursday and continues on Saturday and Wednesday (Feb. 18). The quarterfinals are Saturday, Feb. 21 and the semifinals on Tuesday, Feb. 24 and the final is 8 p.m. PT on Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Toyota Center in Ontario.

Pool A: No. 2 Ontario Christina, JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano) and Rancho Christian (Temecula).

Pool B: No. 5 Etiwanda, St. Joseph (Lakewood) and Fairmont Prep (Anaheim).

Pool C: No. 4 Sierra Canyon School (Chatsworth), Corona Centennial and Oak Park.

Pool D: Sage Hill (Newport Beach), Mater Dei (Santa Ana) and Redondo Union (Redondo Beach),

The first team mentioned is the top seed in the pool. Several tiebreakers factor in for advancing teams such as points allowed, points scored and high seed moving on.

Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Catholic League Tournament tips off this week with the quarterfinals on Thursday at campus sites. The field will be reseeded after the quarterfinals.

The semifinals are slated for Monday at Villanova University’s Finneran Pavilion with top times at 5 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. ET. Get semifinal tickets here. The Championship game will be the first game of a boys-girls doubleheader at the famed Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on Sunday, Feb. 22 with the girls starting at 12 p.m.

Suggestion: get tickets early because a sellout of more than 9,000 is the norm. This is an in-demand ticket.

Expect Cardinal O’Hara (Springfield, Pa.), Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.), Archbishop Carroll (Radnor, Pa.) and Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) as the top-four seeds and the eventual winner will emerge from this pack.

Three championship games in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland will be played on Saturday at Howard Community College in Columbia with the Conference A final at 1 p.m., Conference B at 3 p.m. and Conference C at 5 p.m. ET. Top seeds are St. Frances Academy (Baltimore) in A; Indian Creek School (Crownsville); and Maryvale Prep (Lutherville) in C.

Buy tickets online here. They are more expensive at the door.

Enjoy the games but with the regular season down to mere weeks, it’s better to head out sooner than later.

Well, that’s it for the first week of February. The Blue Star Media Elite 25 girls’ basketball rankings return on Wednesday, Feb. 18.

Bye for now. Be the good and stay warm if you live in the Arctic blasted regions of the East and Midwest. Hopefully, spring is on the way because pitchers and catchers will report to Major League Baseball spring training camps in Arizona and Florida in the coming days.

Until then Stay safe. Hope to see you at a game soon. – Christopher Lawlor

Blue Star Media Elite 25 Girls’ Basketball Rankings, Feb. 11, 2026

1. Bishop McNamara, Forestville, Md. (21-2)

Previous rank: 1.

Lowdown: The Lady Mustangs have a firm grip on the Elite 25’s top spot and the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference regular season title with the conference tournament launching next week. Last week, they defeated St. Paul VI Catholic (Chantilly, Va.), 54-40, Elizabeth Seton (Bladensburg, Md.), 55-54, and No. 17 St. John’s College (Washington, D.C.), 67-56.

2. Ontario (Calif.) Christian (27-1)

Previous: 2.

Lowdown: Closed the regular season, defeating Rancho Christian (Temecula), 85-65. The Knights were up three points after one quarter but used a 31-10 run for a 54-30 edge at the break.

3. Archbishop Mitty, San Jose, Calif. (19-2)

Previous: 3.

Lowdown: Defeated St. Ignatius College Prep (San Francisco), 66-22, West Catholic Athletic League. Three league games remain in the regular season this week before heading to the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division round robin playoffs.

4. Sierra Canyon School, Chatsworth, Calif. (25-2)

Previous: 4.

Lowdown: Won the Mission League with a 10-0 record, defeating Harvard-Westlake (Studio City), 67-27. Jerzy Robinson, a McDonald’s All American, scored 36 points. Up next is the CIF-Southern Section Open Division Pool C round robin playoffs with Oak Park on Thursday.

5. Etiwanda, Calif. (27-2)

Previous: 5.

Lowdown: Won 26^th consecutive Baseline League championship with a perfect 8-0 record after beating Los Osos (Rancho Cucamonga), 84-48. Up next is the CIF-Southern Section Open Division Pool B play vs. Fairmont Prep (Anaheim) on Wednesday.

6. Westtown School, West Chester, Pa. (23-1)

Previous: 6.

Lowdown: Ohio State-bound Atlee Vanesko led the way with 17 points when the Moose defeated with Abington Friends School (Jenkintown), 82-34. Up next is the Friends’ School League playoffs tip on Tuesday, Feb. 10 with the semifinals and final is two days later in Philadelphia.

7. Spire Academy Geneva, Ohio (15-0)

Previous: 8.

Lowdown: Ariyana Cradle, a Louisville recruit, scored a game-high 24 points in a narrow 57-55 victory over Simon Kenton (Independence, Ky.) at the Campbell County Classic in Kentucky. Kenton entered as Kentucky’s top-ranked team.

8. Westlake, Austin, Texas (34-0)

Previous: 9.

Lowdown: Defeated Lake Travis (Auston), 54-29, and Del Valle, 78-27.

9. Princess Anne, Virginia Beach, Va. (20-0)

Previous: 10.

Lowdown: Defeated Ocean Lakes (Virginia Beach), 88-13.

10. St. James Performance Academy, Springfield, Va. (18-3)

Previous: 11.

Lowdown: Defeated St. Frances Academy (Baltimore,), 77-52.

11. Bradley Central, Cleveland, Tenn. (24-0)

Previous: 12.

Low-down: The Bears won twice last week and moved to 10-0 in District 3 play and captured the crown. The regular season concludes Saturday hosting Rhea Valley (Evensville).

12. DME Academy, Daytona Beach, Fla. (18-1)

Previous: 13.

Lowdown: Idle.

13. Long Island Lutheran, Brookville, N.Y. (18-4)

Previous: 7.

Lowdown: Upset by then-No. 25 Bullis School (Potomac, Md.), 75-72. Olivia Jones, a Vanderbilt recruit, netted a game-high 30 points. Also defeated Audenreid (Philadelphia), 101-40. Tay Brown had 27 points and 8 rebounds and Jones added 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals.

14. Montverde (Fla.) Academy (15-3)

Previous: 14.

Lowdown: Florida State-bound Missy Odom came off the bench after sitting out an injury, contributing 15 points and 13 rebounds to defeat then-No. 24 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.). Mia-Elle Lieverst added 10 points.

15. Incarnate Word Academy, Bel Nor, Mo. (16-2)

Previous: 15.

Low-down: Defeated John Burroughs (St. Louis), 75-30, Cor Jesu (St. Loui)s, 72-19, and Rock Bridge (Columbia), 84-57. There are six games left in the regular season that ends on Feb. 26.

16. Bullis School, Potomac, Md. (16-5)

Previous: 25.

Lowdown: Defeated Potomac School (McLean, Va.), 94-74, and Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.), 71-57, in league play. Also shocked No. 7 Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.), 75-72.

17. St. John’s College, Washington, D.C. (19-5)

Previous: 16.

Lowdown: Defeated Elizabeth Seton (Bladensburg, Md.), 73-53, and St. Mary’s Ryken (Leonardtown, Md.), 75-48, but lost to No. 1 Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.), 67-53.

18. Johnston, Iowa (18-0)

Previous: 17.

Lowdown: For the 70^th consecutive game, the Dragons were winners after a 65-38 victory over Valley (West Des Moines). Jenica Lewis, a McDonald’s All American Game selectee, scored 19 points and cleared 6 rebounds. The Dragons have four games to go before the Class 5A postseasons tips off.

19. Belleville, Mich. (16-0)

Previous: 18.

Lowdown: Defeated Fordson (Dearborn), 76-27, River Rouge, 84-14, and Stevenson (Livonia), 75-42.

20. Hebron Christian Academy, Dacula, Ga. (22-1)

Previous: 19.

Lowdown: Defeated Hart County (Hartwell), 85-29, and Stephens County (Toccoa), 80-23.

21. St. John Vianney, Holmdel, N.J. (20-2)

Previous: 20.

Lowdown: The Lady Lancers 4-0. With the Shore Conference Tournament in the future.

22. Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic (21-2)

Previous: 21.

Lowdown: Defeated Red Bank Regional, 71-38, and Manasquan, 63-44. Also beat Cardinal O’Hara (Springfield, Pa.), 41-33, at the South Jersey Invitational Basketball Tournament.

23. Hoover, Ala. (29-1)

Previous: 22.

Lowdown: Thompson (Alabaster), 83-29, and Holy Innocents’ Episcopal (Atlanta, Ga.), 75-51.

The Class 7A, Area 6 Tournament starts Wednesday vs. Oak Mountain and finishes Friday.

24. Miami (Fla.) Country Day (23-2)

Previous: Not ranked.

Lowdown: Won the Class 2A, District 14 championship, defeating Divine Savior Academy (Doral), 108-16, in the final. The Spartans enter the Elite 25 after winning the first of three possible FHSAA postseason titles and only lost to ranked teams Hoover (Ala.) and IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) in the regular season. Up next is the Region 4 playoffs on Friday.

25. Monsignor Scanlan, Bronx, N.Y. (17-5)

Previous: 23.

Low-down: Defeated Nazareth Regional (Brooklyn), 51-40. Showdown game vs. Christ the King (Middle Village) is Wednesday.

Dropped: No. 24 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.).

High-Fives by Region

East

1. Friends’ Central, Wynnewood, Pa. (23-4)
2. Christ the King, Middle Village, N.Y. (15-4)
3. St. Frances Academy, Baltimore (21-6)
4. Sidwell Friends, Washington, D.C. (15-4)
5. Archbishop Carroll, Radnor, Pa. (15-5)

Geography: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

Midwest

1. Wayzata, Plymouth, Minn. (19-3)
2. Nazareth Academy, La Grange Park, Ill. (26-3)
3. Pike, Indianapolis (24-1)
4. Hopkins, Minnetonka, Minn. (20-2)
5. Arrowhead, Hartland, Wis. (20-1)

Geography: Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Southland

1. San Antonio (Texas) Wagner (31-0)
2. Putnam City North, Oklahoma City, Okla. (23-1)
3. North Paulding, Dallas, Ga. (23-2)
4. IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla. (15-7)
5. San Antonio (Texas) Brennan (28-4)

Geography: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Far West

1. Sage Hill, Newport Beach, Calif. (24-4)
2. St. Mary’s, Stockton, Calif. (19-2)
3. Pleasant Grove, Utah (21-0)
4. Tualatin, Ore. (18-1)
5. Clovis West, Fresno, Calif. (25-3)

Geography: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Records through Monday

About: The Blue Star Media Elite 25 High School Girls Basketball Rankings are released weekly from mid-November until the conclusion of the high school season. Criteria considered are the quality of the team and its players, strength of schedule, tradition, and quality of the team’s league, conference, region or district. The rankings are compiled by Blue Star Media’s Christopher Lawlor, who consults with a national network of coaches, talent evaluators, social mediums and prep sports writers. The final rankings will be released in April of the 2025-26 season. Follow him on X at @clawlor.