There's A New No. 1: Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) Takes Over Top Spot In USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25 Girls Basketball Rankings

Former No. 1 St. Mary's (Phoenix) falls to No. 4 position; Undefeated Windward (Los Angeles) debuts as No. 3 team in this week's rankings

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USA TODAY Sports Media Group

Jan 09, 2013, 09:58 ET

MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) is the new No. 1 team in the USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25 national editorial rankings for girls basketball for the week of January 7, 2013.

Prior to the Super 25 holiday hiatus, then-No. 3 Mater Dei defeated former No. 1 St. Mary's (Phoenix) during the Dec. 18-22 Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, knocking the team out of the top three and into the No. 4 position in the first rankings of 2013.

The USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25 rankings appear in today's print editions of USA TODAY Sports and are also available online at USA TODAY High School Sports (www.usatodayhss.com).

The USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25 is now in its 30^th year as the most prestigious high school ranking platform in the nation. Gatorade is the Official Fuel of the Super 25 rankings platform, which includes computer rankings of every major high school football, baseball, boys and girls basketball and boys and girls lacrosse team in the nation.

Formerly unranked Windward (Los Angeles) debuts as the No. 3 team in this week's Super 25, defeating then-No. 4 Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) during the finals of the Oaks Christian Holiday Tournament in Westlake Village, Calif. Bishop O'Dowd, which also saw defeat at the hands of St. Mary's during the tournament, fell to the No. 20 spot in this week's rankings.

No. 2 Duncanville (Texas) is the only top 5 team to retain its spot in this week's rankings, defeating Plano West (Plano) in the final of the Sandra Meadows Classic in Duncanville on Dec. 29. Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) moved up a spot to No. 5 after handing then-No. 15 Oakland (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) its first loss of the season. Oakland dropped out of the rankings this week. Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.), meanwhile, dropped from No. 8 to 19 after losing to Mater Dei at the Nike Tournament of Champions and to South Medford (Ore.) in the Title IX Invitational in Washington, D.C.

In addition to Windward, 10 other previously unranked teams made their first appearances on this week's Super 25: No. 7 St. John's (Washington, D.C.), No. 13 North Gwinnett (Suwanee, Ga.), No. 14 Columbus North (Columbus, Ind.), No. 15 Shabazz (Newark), No. 16 Dillard (Fort Lauderdale), No. 17 Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.), No. 22 St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.), No. 23 Incarnate Word (St. Louis), No. 24 Southwood (Shreveport, La.) and No. 25 Edwardsville (Ill.).

Following is the complete listing of this week's USA TODAY High School Sports girls basketball rankings.

USA TODAY High School Sports
High School Girls Basketball Super 25
For Week of January 7, 2013

Mater Dei, Santa Ana, Calif. (14-0)
Duncanville, Texas (26-0)
Windward, Los Angeles (15-0)
St. Mary's, Phoenix (12-1)
Riverdale, Murfreesboro, Tenn. (16-0)
Paul VI, Fairfax, Va. (14-0)
St. John's, Washington, D.C. (13-0)
Marion County, Lebanon, Ky. (16-0)
Hopkins, Minnetonka, Minn. (13-0)
Fairmont, Kettering, Ohio (11-0)
Long Beach Poly (12-2)
Dutch Fork, Irmo, S.C. (14-0)
North Gwinnett, Suwanee, Ga. (13-0)
Columbus North, Columbus, Ind. (16-0)
Shabazz, Newark (6-0)
Dillard, Fort Lauderdale (14-1)
Parkview, Lilburn, Ga. (15-0)
Myers Park, Charlotte (14-0)
Riverdale Baptist, Upper Marlboro, Md. (14-2)
Bishop O'Dowd, Oakland (7-3)
Pflugerville, Texas (25-0)
St. Mary's, Stockton, Calif. (11-1)
Incarnate Word, St. Louis (12-0)
Southwood, Shreveport, La. (14-0)
Edwardsville, Ill. (15-0)

For more information on the Super 25, visit USA TODAY High School Sports.

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