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National Prep Poll: The FIRST national rankings released each week during the season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Two-time Prep Poll champion St. Anthony of Jersey City, N.J., returned to the No. 1 ranking in the Week 8 National Prep Poll, released Monday morning.

The Friars, who held the top spot for one week earlier this season, flip-flopped positions with No. 2 St. Benedict's (Newark, N.J.). The Gray Bees, coached by Danny Hurley (the son of St. Anthony's legendary head coach Bob Hurley) dropped a spot after losing a home game last week to regionally ranked Academy of the New Church (Bryn Athyn, Pa.).

St. Anthony has six seniors committed to Division I colleges and features one of the nation's top juniors in 6-foot-6 guard Dominic Cheek.

Coach Bob Hurley's program was crowned Prep Poll champion in 1989 and 1996. The Friars also began the 2004-05 season ranked No. 1 in the National Prep Poll, but ended that year out of the national rankings.

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The National Prep Basketball Poll is compiled by high school sports journalist Jamie DeMoney with input from sportswriters, experts, and coaches. The national Top 25 with regional Top 10's follow with won-loss records:

Northeast Region
1. Jersey City, N.J., St. Anthony (11-0) (2)
2. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's (14-1) (1)
3. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick (12-1) (3)
4. Chester, Pa. (14-1) (4)
5. New York, N.Y., Rice (10-2) (5)
6. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond (13-2) (6)
7. Flushing, N.Y., Holy Cross (10-2) (7)
8. Bryn Athyn, Pa., Academy of the New Church (10-1) --
9. Mount Vernon, N.Y. (8-2) (9)
10. Middle Village, N.Y., Christ the King (8-2) (10)

East Coast Region
1. Mouth of Wilson, Va., Oak Hill (16-3) (1)
2. Baltimore, Md., Mount St. Joseph (15-1) (2)
3. Washington, D.C., Gonzaga (17-0) (3)
4. Rockville, Md., Montrose Christian (9-2) (4)
5. Richmond, Va., Benedictine (17-3) (6)
6. Arlington, Va., O'Connell (14-3) (5)
7. Suffolk, Va., Nansemond River (10-1) (8)
8. Raleigh, N.C., Word of God (16-0) (7)
9. Fort Mill, S.C. (16-0) --
10. Olney, Md., Good Counsel (14-3) (10)

Southeast Region
1. Mobile, Ala., LeFlore (19-1) (1)
2. Norcross, Ga. (13-1) (2)
3. Marietta, Ga., Wheeler (14-2) (4)
4. Atlanta, Ga., South Atlanta (17-1) (8)
5. Opa Locka, Fla., Pace (12-4) (9)
6. Memphis, Tenn., Ridgeway (14-1) (3)
7. Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Dillard (15-1) (6)
8. Alexandria, La., Peabody (27-0) (7)
9. Montverde, Fla., Montverde Academy (17-3) (5)
10. Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., Boyd Anderson (17-1) --

Midwest Region
1. Decatur, Ill., Eisenhower (16-0) (3)
2. Saginaw, Mich. (10-1) (1)
3. Cincinnati, Ohio, Moeller (12-1) (4)
4. Chicago, Ill., Simeon (13-2) (5)
5. Chicago, Ill., Farragut (10-1) (6)
6. Flossmoor, Ill., Homewood-Flossmoor (12-1) (7)
7. Chicago, Ill., Young (13-3) (2)
8. Lexington, Ky., Catholic (15-2) --
9. New Albany, Ind. (12-0) (10)
10. Milwaukee, Wis., Washington (12-0) --

Midlands Region
1. Minnetonka, Minn., Hopkins (11-0) (1)
2. Florissant, Mo., McCluer North (10-1) (2)
3. Bellevue, Neb., West (13-0) (3)
4. Highland, Utah, Lone Peak (10-2) (4)
5. Minnetonka, Minn. (11-1) (5)
6. St. Charles, Mo., West (16-1) (6)
7. Webster Groves, Mo. (14-1) (7)
8. Iowa City, Iowa, City High (11-1) (8)
9. Topeka, Kan., Highland Park (8-0) (9)
10. Kaysville, Utah, Davis (9-0) (10)

Southwest Region
1. Duncanville, Texas (23-1) (1)
2. Houston, Texas, Yates (16-2) (2)
3. Oklahoma City, Okla., Putnam City (14-1) (3)
4. Fort Worth, Texas, North Crowley (23-1) (4)
5. Cypress, Texas, Cypress Springs (23-3) (5)
6. Houston, Texas, Klein Forest (22-3) (6)
7. Spring, Texas, Klein Collins (20-4) (8)
8. Dallas, Texas, Kimball (15-6) --
9. Little Rock, Ark., Hall (15-2) (10)
10. Phoenix, Ariz., Desert Vista (14-3) --

West Coast Region
1. Santa Ana, Calif., Mater Dei (18-0) (1)
2. Woodland Hills, Calif., Taft (12-2) (2)
3. San Jose, Calif., Mitty (15-0) (5)
4. Compton, Calif., Dominguez (13-2) (3)
5. Los Angeles, Calif., Fairfax (12-2) (4)
6. Los Angeles, Calif., Westchester (16-2) (6)
7. Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., Santa Margarita (17-2) (7)
8. Simi Valley, Calif. (17-1) (8)
9. Oregon City, Ore. (12-1) (9)
10. North Hollywood, Calif., Campbell Hall (15-4) (10)

Dropped out: Northeast: No. 8 Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln. East Coast: No. 9 Spartanburg, S.C. Southeast: No. 10 Harvey, La., Cox. Midwest: No. 8 Chicago, Marshall; No. 9 Maysville, Ky., Mason County. Southwest: No. 7 Sugar Land, Texas, Dulles; No. 9 Fort Worth, Texas, Dunbar.

FEATS OF THE WEEK: Madison Square Garden in New York hosted the Nike Super Six Invitational, a tripleheader pitting three of New York City's best squads against a trio of New Jersey's top teams. No. 2 Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's picked up its fourth win of the year over a current Top 25 team. The Gray Bees got 14 points and 13 rebounds from Louisville-bound big man Samardo Samuels in a 55-52 defeat of No. 12 New York, Rice. Senior forward Quintrell Thomas (Kansas) had 25 points and 13 rebounds as No. 6 Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick beat No. 20 Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond, 64-56 . . . At the Martin Luther King Jr. Roundball Classic in Norfolk, Va., standout junior forward Derrick Favors of regionally ranked Atlanta, South Atlanta had 25 points and 21 rebounds in a 90-46 rout of Virginia Beach, Va., Booker T. Washington. Pittsburgh-bound senior forward Nasir Robinson scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 8 Chester, Pa., hammered Virginia Beach, Ocean Lakes, 95-52 . . . An ESPN2 national television audience watched No. 14 Norcross, Ga., defeat then-regionally ranked Harvey, La., Cox, 59-48, at Norcross. The Blue Devils were led by senior forward Al-Farouq Aminu (Wake Forest), who scored 29 points. Highly touted Cox big man Greg Monroe (Georgetown) was held to just eight points.

Copyright 2008 World Features Syndicate, Inc...endit

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About the National Prep Poll: Compiled weekly since 1987 and a property of World Features Syndicate, the National Prep Poll is the nation's second longest running weekly high school sports rankings and are the only high school rankings distributed to newspapers and Web sites around the United States by the Associated Press national wire service. The National Prep Poll is the first high school football and boys basketball poll to released in the preseason and during each week of the regular season. Criteria considered for the National Prep Poll rankings are strength of schedule, the ability to accomplish the ultimate goal on a team's schedule (i.e. winning a championship), impact players and performers, a team's coaching and recent tradition.

Jamie DeMoney has covered high school sports and been involved with prep recruiting and evaluation for 15 years. He has compiled the National Prep Poll for World Features Syndicate and the Associated Press since 1999. DeMoney is a 1994 graduate of the University of Iowa School of Journalism, a member of the Football Writers Association of America and the United States Basketball Writers Association.

Note: Jamie DeMoney also compiled the preseason Power 50 national and regional rankings for the HARDWOOD Magazine, published by RISE. The publication includes in-depth capsules on all 50 nationally ranked and 100 regionally ranked teams, including key players, strengths, weaknesses, and overall outlook.