State champions were crowned in Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania to wrap up the playoffs for the 2024-25 season. All that’s left is Chipotle Nationals, set for April 2-5, in Indianapolis. Indiana Class 4A state champ Jeffersonville and Kentucky Sweet 16 champ Great Crossing crack this week’s rankings.
By Ronnie Flores
Fishers Comes Up Short
The Fishers (Ind.) Tigers were looking to make history and secure a Top 10 spot in next week’s final FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com, but Jeffersonville (Ind.) had other ideas when the two teams met Saturday evening for the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Class 4A state title. Fishers entered the game riding a 43-game winning streak, but Jeffersonville snapped it with a 67-66 overtime victory, as the Red Devils won its second Indiana state crown.
Jeffersonville guard Elijah Cheeks, a junior, scored on a lay-up with 32 seconds left in overtime that proved to be the difference in the game. The outcome wasn’t decided until Fishers’ Millen McCartney’s last ditch 3-point effort fell short of the rim at the buzzer and set off a celebration by the Jeffersonville faithful at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Northwestern-bound Tre Singleton finished with 26 points, five rebounds and four assists to guide the Red Devils to their first state title since 1993 when Indiana still conducted a single-class state tournament. Sherron Wilkerson, the team’s head coach, led that 1993 team and was named a McDonald’s All-American.
Fishers, which trialed 45-42 entering the final period, was led by sophomore Jason Gardner and Miami (OH) commit Justin Kirby with 15 points each. Fishers had a terrific season and still deserves to be FAB 50 ranked after coming up an overtime period short of a perfect season.
Fishers drops 16 spots to No. 26 and Jeffersonville jumps up from unranked to No. 25 in this week’s FAB 50. Jeffersonville’s 1993 club finished No. 14 in the National Prep Poll (FAB 50 precursor).
First Title For Great Crossing
Indiana doesn’t use the one-class system anymore that made its state tournament nationally-known, but Kentucky still does. On Saturday evening, the UK Healthcare Sweet 16 title was captured by Great Crossing (Georgetown, Ky.).
The Warhawks, which lost in the state semifinals in 2023-24 and started No. 35 in this season’s preseason FAB 50, had to win four games in a three-day span to capture the Sweet 16. On Saturday morning, Great Crossing easily dispatched of Montgomery County (Mt. Sterling, Ky.), 70-49, in the state semifinals and later that evening took on Bowling Green (Ky.).
Led by Kentucky Mr. Basketball and future Kentucky Wildcat Malachi Moreno, the Warhawks downed Bowing Green, 71-61, to capture the program’s first Sweet 16 title. Moreno led the way with 24 points (on 10-of-11 shooting from the field), 15 rebounds and three blocked shots for a team that closed its season on a 27-game winning streak and only lost one game in-state. Morehead St.-bound Vince Dawson added 15 points for Great Crossing, which fielded its first basketball team in 2019.
The only in-state team Great Crossing lost to, previous No. 49 St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.), was upset, 64-59, in its first Sweet 16 games by six-loss Jeffersontown (Ky.), which lost its next game to South Oldham, 76-75. St. Xavier fell out of the rankings and the Warhakws took its spot in the FAB 50 at No. 49.
Winning the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Class 6A state title was Father Judge (Philadelphia, Pa.), which defeated Philadelphia Catholic League rival Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.), 71-60, on Saturday evening at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Merrimack-bound Kevair Kennedy netted 29 points to lead Father Judge, while junior Derrick Morton-Rivera added 19. Father Judge beat Roman Catholic three times in 2024-25, including in the PCL title game on February 23.
Chipotle Nationals Wraps Season Up
One of the teams Great Crossing lost to was No. 1 Columbus (Miami, Fla.), which is the top seed at Chipotle Nationals, set for April 2-5, at Hamilton Southeastern High School (Fishers, Ind.). The 10-team field was announced on March 13.
The 10-team, end-of-season tournament begins with two play-on games on April 2 between tenth seed Dynamic Prep (Texas) and seventh seeded Montverde Academy (Fla.). The second game pits ninth seeded Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah), the No. 8 team in the FAB 50, versus eight seeded IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), the No. 19 team in the FAB 50. Columbus will play the Wasatch Academy-IMG Academy winner in its quarterfinal contest on April 3.
Updated FAB 50 National Team RankingsPowered by Ballislife.com
(15th poll of 2024-25 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, March 30; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included; ***Indicates season not complete)
No. Prev. High School (City)Record
11Columbus (Miami, Fla.)27-3***
22Link Academy (Branson, Mo.)20-8***
33Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.)21-6***
44Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.)35-2
55Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.)27-4***
66CIA Bella Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.)21-5***
77Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)19-7***
88Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah)24-5**
99Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.)34-5***
1011Calvary Christian Academy (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)22-1
1112Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.)28-8
1213Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.)27-6
1314Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.)31-3
1415Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) 29-5
1517St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.)31-2
1618Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.) 27-2
1716John Marshall (Richmond, Va.)24-2
1819Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.)16-7
1920IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)21-7***
2021Highland (Warrenton, Va.)39-6
2122AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.)15-7
2223Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.)29-3
2324Utah Prep (Hurricane, Utah) 22-12
2425Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas)27-7
25NRJeffersonville (Jeffersonville, Ind.)24-5
2610Fishers (Fishers, Ind.)30-1
2726Hoover (Hoover, Ala.)35-0
2827Bellaire (Bellaire, Texas)26-11
2928Brennan (San Antonio, Texas)33-3
3029Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.)23-10
3130Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.)26-4
3231Oak Park (Kansas City, Mo.)31-1
3336Allen (Allen, Texas)34-2
3432Webb (Knoxville, Tenn.)34-2
3533Bullis (Potomac, Md.)23-7
3634Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.)24-6
3735DME Academy (Daytona Beach, Fla.)24-12
3837Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Baltimore, Md.)34-4
3938St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)30-2
4039North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.)30-3
4140Chris School (Arden, N.C.)28-3
4241Reidsville (Reidsville, N.C.)31-0
4342Winston-Salem Christian (Winston-Salem, N.C.)35-7
4443DePaul College Prep (Chicago, Ill.)33-4
4544Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.)30-2
4645Patrick School (Hackettstown, N.J.)29-7
4746Vashon (St. Louis, Mo.)27-2
4847Olentangy Orange (Lewis Center, Ohio)26-2
49NRGreat Crossing (Georgetown, Ky.)35-4
5048East Lansing (East Lansing, Mich.)27-1**
Dropped Out: Previous No. 49 St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.), No. 50 Wisconsin Lutheran (Milwaukee, Wis.).
Bubble Teams: Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco, Calif.) 29-2; Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.) 33-5; Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) 27-5; Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 24-5; Brother Rice (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) 22-3; Chambers (Charlotte, N.C.) 23-9; Combine Academy (Lincolnton, N.C.) 21-7; Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.) 29-2; De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 28-5; DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) 23-7; Dream City Christian (Glendale, Ariz.) 23-9; Eaglecrest (Centennial, Col.) 26-2; Father Judge (Philadelphia, Pa.) 24-7; Ft. Bend Marshall (Missouri City, Texas) 37-3; Glens Falls (Glens Falls, N.Y.) 27-0; Gibbs (St. Petersburg, Fla.) 27-5; Gonzaga Prep (Spokane, Wash.) 26-2; Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) 28-3; Guyer (Denton, Texas) 34-7; Huntsville (Huntsville, Ala.) 32-2; Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) 26-6; Jordan (Fulshear, Texas) 35-4; Kenwood (Chicago, Ill.) 31-2; Lake Norman (Mooresville, N.C.) 27-1**; Lake Ridge (Mansfield, Texas) 34-2**; Lincoln (Warren, Mich.) 23-4; Mansfield Summit (Arlington, Texas) 33-7; Milwaukee Academy of Science (Milwaukee, Wis.) 21-1; New Hanover (Wilmington, N.C.) 30-3; Notre Dame (West Haven, Conn.) 26-2; Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 17-11; Olympus (Salt Lake City, Utah) 24-3; Owasso (Owasso, Okla.) 24-5; Quincy (Quincy, Ill.) 31-4; Principia (St. Louis, Mo.) 31-1; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 28-6; Reynoldsburg (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) 26-2; Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) 25-6; Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) 27-4; Shadow Creek (Pearland, Texas) 32-3; Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 27-7; Stranahan (Stranahan, Fla.) 25-7; St. Augustine (New Orleans, La.) 29-4; St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) 21-11; St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) 26-7; St. Mary Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.) 19-7; St. Michael’s (Austin, Texas) 32-4; St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.) 31-3; Tartan (Oakdale, Minn.) 27-1; Tri-Cities (East Point, Ga.) 26-6; U of D Jesuit (Detroit, Mich.) 22-3**; Wayne Memorial (Wayne, Mich.) 25-4; Wayzata (Plymouth, Minn.) 28-4; Weatherford (Weatherford, Okla.) 31-1; Windermere (Windermere, Fla.) 26-6; Wisconsin Lutheran (Milwaukee, Wis.) 28-2; Woodward Academy (College Park, Ga.) 27-5.
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 25 years ago.
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
