HS: Winter SIMA FAB 50, Feb. 23

by Sheldon Shealer

February 23, 2016

Now it's crunch time in California.

This week, the Central Section and North Coast Sections will crown champions, while Central Coast, San Diego and Southern sections will play down to the semifinals.

Here's what's on the line:

BOYS

* While No. 1 is settled, the SIMA FAB 50 Top 10 remains a work in progress. No. 4 Cathedral (Los Angeles, Calif.) and No. 5 Paramount (Paramount, Calif.) need strong CIF-Southern Section showings to remain among the nation's elite.

* Five Top 25 teams -- [Alisal ca-w] (Salinas, Calif.), Bellarmine Prep (San Jose, Calif.), Homestead (Cupertino, Calif.), Palo Alto (Palo Alto, Calif.) and Watsonville (Watsonville, Calif.) -- are all vying for the CIF-Central Coast Section Open title. At least one of the teams will be eliminated in the quarterfinal round Saturday.

* Favored Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.) could be the first Top 25 team to secure a bid in the California Southern Regionals if it can win the CIF-Central Section crown this week.

GIRLS

* Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) needs a pair of wins this week in the CIF-Southern Section playoffs to remain at No. 3 -- or even move up -- in the rankings. Aliso is one of three undefeated California programs angling for a high SIMA FAB 50 finish.

* A CIF-North Coast Section title for Carondelet (Concord, Calif.) would keep this team's fleeting SIMA FAB 50 national title bid alive. The Cougars are No. 6 and would need a lot of help to move to the top -- but it has happened before. St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) finished its season at No. 6 in 2011, then waited as the five teams in front of them tumbled in their respective playoffs to hand the Raiders their second SIMA FAB 50 crown.

BIG MOVERS -- BOYS: Plano West (Plano, Texas). The Wolves, which spent time in the Top 5 early in the season, moved up nine spots to No. 41 this week, marking the largest move among ranked teams. GIRLS: No team moved more than three spots in this week's SIMA FAB 50.

NEWCOMERS: BOYS: No. 47 Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas), No. 48 St. Louis (Lake Charles, La.), No. 49 Frisco Centennial (Frisco, Texas) and No. 50 Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa, Calif.). GIRLS: No. 15 McKinney Boyd (McKinney, Texas) and No. 47 Pearl City (Pearl City, Hawaii).

See the entire WINTER high school rankings:

WINTER SIMA FAB 50: BOYS (Feb. 23) | GIRLS (Feb. 23)

WINTER REGION RANKINGS: BOYS (Feb. 22) | GIRLS (Feb. 22)

WINTER STATE RANKINGS: BOYS (Feb. 22) | GIRLS (Feb. 22)

Related Topics: SIMA FAB 50 / Event