HS: Fall FAB 50 rankings, Sept. 11

by Sheldon Shealer

September 11, 2018

It's all about setting up the order so it plays out on the field as much as possible.

The first dominoes fell last week.

Entering the week, Houston (Tenn.), St. John's (D.C.), Portland Jesuit, Northern Highlands (N.J.), McDonogh School (Md.) and Camas (Wash.) occupied the top six girls spots. Houston and Northern Highlands, and Jesuit vs. Camas played last week. McDonogh and St. John's will meet soon -- so in summary, what happens on the field will take care of the rankings.

After two of the first three major clashes, Portland Jesuit and Northern Highlands emerged as the winners and took over the No. 1 and 2 spots this week. McDonogh moved up to No. 3, ahead of St. John's, with that showdown yet to come.

On the boys side, it's much of the same.

Current No. 4 St. Ignatius (Ohio) and No. 5 St. Xavier (Ky.) played to a draw last week. That allowed Salesianum (Del.) to move into the No. 3 spot. Both Salesianum and St. Ignatius will face top-ranked St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.) in the next month, again allowing the top spot to be determined on the field.

BIG MOVERS: BOYS: Peoria Notre Dame (Peoria, I..). PND handled Totino-Grace (Minn.) and then edged fellow Top 25-ranked Milwaukee Marquette (Wis.), which was coming off a win over Top 25-ranked Chaminade (Mo.). It all added up to a six-spot jump for PND to the No. 13 slot. ... GIRLS: Pickerington North (Pickerington, Ohio). Aided by a strong show at the Lady Eagle Invitational and a rash of upsets last week, Pickerington North vaulted 17 spots to No. 17 this week.

NEWCOMERS: BOYS: No. 40 Montclair (N.J.), No. 45 Grand Rapids Christian (Grand Rapids, Mich.), No. 47 Vianney (St. Louis, Mo.), No. 48 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) and No. 49 York (Elmhurst, Ill.). ... GIRLS: No. 32 Mount Notre Dame (Cincinnati, Ohio), No. 37 Cibola (Albuquerque, N.M.), No. 38 Champlin Park (Champlin, Minn.), No. 39 Lone Peak (Highland, Utah), No. 41 West Springfield (West Springfield, Mass.), No. 42 Issaquah (Wash.), No. 43 La Cueva (Albuquerque, N.M.), No. 44 Collierville (Tenn.), No. 45 Jackson Academy (Jackson, Miss ms-w) and No. 48 Cincinnati Country Day School (Cincinnati, Ohio).