SBLive Florida Girls Basketball Power 25: St. Thomas Aquinas moves up in this week, with Brooks DeBartolo entering the rankings

With recent victories over Miami Country Day and Blanche Ely, St. Thomas Aquinas gets to the No. 6 spot this week; Brooks DeBartolo enters poll at No. 25

The girls basketball is starting to wind down and is in the home stretch leading into district tournament play. The Sunshine State features a couple of the top teams in the country as Montverde Academy and DME Academy head into our tenth week of rankings remaining our No. 1 and No. 2 teams. St. Thomas Aquinas is the team to watch heading into districts as they picked up big wins over Blanche Ely and Miami Country Day. The Brooks DeBartolo Phoenix enter our rankings at No. 25 after defeating No. 17 Colonial 36-33.

Find the complete breakdown of the SBLive Florida Girls Basketball Power 25:

1. Montverde Academy (23-1): The Eagles are coming off their first national championship (Geico High School Nationals) and return a star-studded cast of players. Players like Lety Vasconcelos, Sahnya Jah and Mjracle Sheppard are the primary players to watch for over at Montverde Academy. Montverde Academy lost its first game of the season to Sidwell Friends 65-53.

2. DME Academy (17-6): DME Academy has rushed off to a 15-6 start to the season and this group is just about as talented as they come. The team is averaging 61.2 points per game and is led by a slew of talented players, including Minnesota commit Dominika Paurova.

3. Dr. Phillips (23-1): Already armed win a solid win over Faith Christian this season, the Panthers looking to make it a second straight Class 7A state crown. Trinity Turner averaged around 16 points per game last year and will be a force this winter.

4. Lake Highland Prep (18-6): Early season wins against St. Thomas Aquinas and Miami Country Day proved to be big games early on in the 2022-2023 campaign. With players like guard Eleecia Carter, Bri Rivera and Lexi Blue make this team extremely formidable. A 61-56 loss to Montverde Academy tells us this Lake Highland team isn’t far off from the top spot.

5. Palm Bay (17-8): Avenging an earlier season loss to Miami Country Day and routing them the second time around 55-42, gives validation that Palm Bay had to be re-inserted into the Power 25 rankings. The Pirates also defeated St. Thomas Aquinas and Cardinal Mooney as well.

6. St. Thomas Aquinas (17-8): Coming off a stellar 27-4 season and winning the Class 6A state championship over Wekiva, the Raiders bring back the bulk of their roster. The Raiders return seniors Karina Gordon (East Carolina commitment) and Alancia Ramsey. Recent wins over Blanche Ely and Miami Country Day lift Aquinas to No. 6. 

7. Blanche Ely (18-3): Only losses on the year came up against Legacy Early College (SC), Miami Country Day and St. Thomas Aquinas. The Tigers have met every other challenge and just recently defeated Westminster Academy 50-49, catapulting this team into the top 10.

8. Seffner Christian (21-4): The Crusaders entered the Power 25 rankings for the first time this season after pulling off a victory over Cardinal Mooney. Seffner Christian’s losses are to Sarasota Booker, McGill-Tookes (AL), McDonogh (MD) and Liberty (NV).

9. Miami Country Day (19-6): Seven state championships in eight years isn’t too shabby. The Spartans are back and though Andrea Daley is now to George Washington for college ball, this program is always one of the state’s best. Country Day dropped two games recently to St. Thomas Aquinas and IMG Academy. 

10. Cardinal Mooney (16-5): The Cougars have had one of the more impressive starts to the season as the notched key victories over Faith Christian, Chaminade-Madonna and Lakewood. Key matchups against Bell Creek Academy, Calvary Christian and Bradenton Christian coming up. Cougars dropped their first game of the season to Seffner Christian.

11. IMG Academy (12-12): This Ascenders group has the talent to be the best in country compared to recent years. A loss to Seffner Christian drops IMG Academy in our rankings. IMG Academy brings back Virginia commitment Olivia McGhee to the roster and Kelis Fisher arrives with a new offer from UConn.

12. Winter Haven (18-4): Losing guard/forward Kayla Smith is tough, but this Blue Devils team returns plenty of talent across the board. Bre’Asia Washington comes back after averaging 13.6 points per game in 2021-2022. The Blue Devils only losses of the season have come against Mercy (KY) and McEachern (GA).

13. Central Pointe Christian (18-4): You might see the White Tigers have losses to their record already, but they’re against the No. 1 team Montverde Academy, No. 2 DME Academy and Elizabeth Seton (MD). Point guard Sofia Munoz is one of the team’s top players back on the roster.

14. Plantation American Heritage (17-7): It was a rout in the Class 5A state championship game over Orlando Bishop Moore and the Patriots are back for more. Plantation American Heritage is led by Sydni Studesville, who is the top returning point scorer from a year ago.

15. Dillard (17-7): So this was a long time coming in getting the Panthers put into our Power 25, but this team has the viable wins to back it up. Dillard has defeated South Florida powers like St. Thomas Aquinas, Chaminade-Madonna and Everglades. It’s no surprise they’re getting it done throughout the season and heading into districts.

16. Bishop Kenny (24-1): An early season 40-35 loss against Westminster Academy showed where this Crusaders club is exactly at. Clare Coyle, a junior forward, leads Bishop Kenny with 11.5 points per contest through 24 games.

17. Colonial (17-7): Though the Grenadiers lost to neighboring Brooks-DeBartolo recently, this team is still one of the best amongst the state ranks. A big season is in store for point guard Milan Santos. Colonial has played a very tough slate of games through 23 contests.

18. Westminster Academy (18-7): The defending Class 3A state champions from a year ago bring back a very talented roster, which features sophomore guard Lena Girardi. If that last name sounds familiar, she’s the daughter of former MLB manager Joe Girardi. The Lions fall after dropping two in a row last week.

19. Miami (18-5): Miami has been playing solid basketball all season long as they’re coming off a 69-47 win over Lourdes Academy. The Stingarees has proven victories over Horeb Christian and Doral Academy. This team should be the top club in Class 7A, District 16.

20. Bishop Moore (18-4): The Hornets fell to Plantation American Heritage in the Class 5A state title game last year, but return the nucleus of that club. Leading the way is Embry-Riddle commitment Alyssa Brasko, who is averaging 10.0 points per game so far.

21. Plant (21-4): When you look at the Panthers’ schedule, they are preparing to be a team in making another deep playoff run. The team’s go-to-player is senior guard/forward Morgan Sieper, who is averaging a team-high 14.9 points per game. A recent loss to Palm Bay doesn’t drop Plant in our rankings.

22. Somerset Academy Silver Palms (17-4): The Stallions have been in our rankings before and return after picking up an impressive 71-62 victory over No. 21 ranked Miami. Ashley Martinez (15.7 points), Shanaii Gamble (14.1 points) and Victoria Valle (13.9 points) are the team’s leading scorers.

23. Venice (17-5): The Indians one menace during the regular season has been rival Sarasota Riverview, but other than that, Venice sneaks into our Power 25 rankings. A big reason we implemented them in is because of a 67-41 blowout victory of previous Power 25 ranked Sarasota Booker.

24. Oakleaf (21-2): Outside of a losses to Valor Christian in the second game of the season and Bishop Kenny, the Knights have been the next best team in Northeast Florida. Kaylah Turner leads the team in scoring at 22.1 points per game.

25. Brooks-DeBartolo (14-9): The Phoenix have played many of the teams within the SBLive Sports Florida Power 25, but needed that victory to really make believers out of us. They finally got it when they defeated Colonial 36-33 and that puts them at the last spot here in our rankings.  

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.