Girls' basketball notebook

When Long Beach ( Calif.) Poly players rushed the floor after a 58-54 win over Notre Dame Academy ( Middleburg, Va.) in the finals of the Nike TOC's Black Division in Phoenix, they weren't the only ones celebrating.

In San Francisco, Sacred Heart Cathedral was also cheering because that result put them in line for Northern California's first-ever national championship.

OK, we'll back up.

Choosing a national champion in high school sports is always a complex process because the best teams seldom play each other. The Mississippi state titlist may be unbeaten, but is that team really better than the school that lost once, or even twice, in a super-competitive tournament like the Nike TOC?

Usually, the answer has been no. Generally, the teams that play in the Nike TOC, or one of the other major tournaments, get more credit than those that stay home, and of course the winners of those major tournaments are first in line when it comes to picking the top team in the nation.

So doesn't that mean Poly should be No. 1? After all, nine of the nation's top 25 teams were in the Black Division of the TOC last weekend, and Poly's four-game sweep -- capped by a win over SI.com's top ranked team -- is a pretty impressive achievement.

Except for this: Poly had already played in another major tournament, the Nike Northwest Invitational in Oregon. The Jackrabbits got to the finals in that event as well -- but lost to Sacred Heart Cathedral.

On the most simplistic level, that makes it clear which is the better team: Sacred Heart Cathedral beat Long Beach Poly on a neutral court. End of story.

Maybe. But one game, after all, may not really tell the tale. Maybe the Irish got lucky. Maybe Poly was beaten down after two tough games to get to the finals. Maybe not. It was Sacred Heart Cathedral that played the two tough games before getting to the finals. The Irish first beat Highlands Ranch of Colorado and then Southridge, on its home court, to advance -- and those two wins were just as significant as the win over Poly. Why? Because both of those teams were in the winner's bracket semifinals at the Nike TOC in Arizona, and wound up playing for third place.

So of the top four teams at what is considered the top tournament in the country, Sacred Heart Cathedral has beaten three, two at a neutral site and one on the opponent's home court. So when Long Beach Poly knocked off Notre Dame Academy, it made it pretty clear how the pecking order should go: Sacred Heart Cathedral first, Poly second and Notre Dame third.