5 takeaways from Chipotle Nationals girls basketball tournament: DME Academy dominates the field

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5 takeaways from Chipotle Nationals girls basketball tournament: DME Academy dominates the field originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

High school girls basketball season is officially over for the 2025-26 school year.

As usual, the season concluded with one of the nation's premier tournaments: Chipotle Nationals, which took place (on the girls side) from Apr. 2-4.

And DME Academy finished on top – rather emphatically.

Here are five takeaways from 2026 Chipotle Nationals:

DME Academy finishes 2025-26 how it started – unstoppable​

It was a weird – but outstanding – 2025-26 campaign for DME Academy.

DME started 18-0 with nearly every win coming by 20 or more points before cooling off considerably, starting with a 52-44 loss to The St. James Performance Academy on Jan. 31. Shortly thereafter, it quickly fell from the top three in the country to nearly out of the top 25 by then losing by double digits to Fort Erie International and a struggling Montverde Academy. DME Academy helped stabilize its stock with a 57-46 win over IMG Academy to end February, but it couldn't sustain momentum for a Grind Session finals run. Chipotle Nationals notwithstanding, DME's season ended with a semifinals loss to a Legion Prep opponent that it beat 66-46 early in the season.

In April, however, DME Academy was the juggernaut that it had proven to be in November, December, and all but the last day of January. As the No. 5 seed out of six entrants, DME opened Chipotle Nationals by holding off No. 4 Long Island Lutheran 55-50 in its only close call, led by a team-high 17 points and game-high five assists from Chikae Desdunes. In the semifinals, Sara Okeke (USC) led the way with 22 points and seven rebounds on 11-16 shooting as DME beat top seed The St. James Performance Academy with a 60-50 win that was far less competitive than the final score would indicate. Finally, Gigi Battle (Indiana) led the way as DME Academy used a 17-8 third quarter advantage to gain separation and take down red-hot Bullis, the third seed and clear favorite, by a score of 68-49. Okeke had 20 points again and Battle went off for 22 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists on 8-13 shooting.

DME Academy's final national ranking will still be watered down by its underwhelming second half of the regular season and Grind Session semifinals exit, but DME still gets to hang a banner for what's been one of the best seasons in program history after re-finding its A-game for a Chipotle Nationals crown.

Bullis continues remarkable run before coming up short​

Speaking of teams that have had some dazzling wins and shocking losses in 2025-26, Bullis entered Chipotle Nationals with a full head of steam and kept steaming along for two rounds before running into DME Academy. 5-star junior Ivanna Wilson-Manyacka was dominant as usual, including a 20-20 game in the Bulldogs' 72-56 quarterfinals win over Bishop Gorman and a 15-point double-double to blow out Westtown in the semifinals. And Fordham-bound senior guard Adora Nwude continued her sizzling stretch to end her high school career with 17 points against Gorman and a game-high 26 against Westtown. All three of Nwude's 20-point outings on the season came in the final six games.

Bullis didn't have much going against DME Academy in the finals despite entering as the favorite, but it still managed to push DME before the game got out of hand towards the very end. Looking ahead to 2026-27, the Bulldogs will need to find some additional perimeter playmaking to replace Nwude's, but they return nearly all of their main statistical contributors outside of her and could plausibly continue moving up the national pecking order.

Despite quarterfinals exit, Long Island Lutheran might've been second-best team​

LuHi, ranked highest of the six entrants by SN, nearly took down DME Academy in the quarterfinals before DME more or less steamrolled its way to a title. Savvy Swords (Kentucky) had a game-high 19 points and team-high eight rebounds despite the loss in her final game as a Crusader.

Had Long Island Lutheran been on the opposite side of the bracket, we figure they would've had even chances with Bullis at making the finals. A meeting with Bullis would've provided a compelling rubber match after the teams split two regular season matchups. The Crusaders rolled 70-49 in the Nike TOC semifinals, but Wilson-Manyacka went off for 26 points, 15 rebounds, and four steals for a 75-72 win in February with Swords unavailable. Bullis' championship loss to DME Academy was much more competitive than a 68-49 finish would indicate, but LuHi still came closer to taking DME down.

While Long Island Lutheran did have all three of its McDonald's All-Americans in action at Chipotle Nationals, some key injured Crusaders were still sorely missed – which was a factor in multiple other losses – and 2025-26 marks the second season in a row that the injury bug hampered a LuHi juggernaut with national championship upside. It's a tough way to send off one of the nation's premier senior classes, but LuHi will return substantial talent in 2026-27 before factoring in potential transfers and is a safe bet to reload successfully if health permits it.

Jordyn Palmer's absence is felt; Jada Lynch dazzles despite Westtown's loss​

5-star Westtown junior Jordyn Palmer was out with an ankle injury, so there's no surprise that the Moose were crushed by a Bullis team that they beat 50-40 earlier in the year. The final score was 74-56, and the game was out of hand from right away despite the final margin being less than 20 points. 4-star senior shooting guard Jada Lynch cooked, leading Westtown with 24 points, six rebounds, and three steals. Her 8-18 line from the field was quite impressive relative to the difficult shots she was forced to take, and if not for a few eyebrow-raising buckets she managed to sink, Westtown would've lost by 25 or more.

Palmer's absence was felt by not only Westtown but neutral fans as well. The All-American do-it-all wing is one of high school basketball's best shows and could plausibly have been the difference between an ugly 0-1 showing and a title for the Moose. It remains to be seen whether or not Westtown will have a strong enough supporting cast to remain in preseason national title conversations entering 2026-27, but either way, expect Palmer to end her historic career in dynamic fashion.

Underwhelming showings don't detract from remarkable seasons for Bishop Gorman, St. James​

For Nevada state champion Bishop Gorman, whose season-end top 25 national ranking is safe despite a lopsided first round loss, Chipotle Nationals was merely icing on the cake for one of the best seasons in program history. There's (almost) always room for more icing on a cake, but it was still a cake for the ages in the team's last season with 4-star senior Aaliah Spaight, who's ranked 20th in the Class of 2026 by both ESPN and 247Sports. The Texas signee went out with a bang despite the loss, leading the Gaels with a game-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds, five assists, and two steals.

On the other hand, the party is just getting started for The St. James Performance Academy, which never quite reached national title contention but still had a successful inaugural year as a program. Entering as the top seed, St. James is probably disappointed in going winless without even pushing DME Academy particularly hard, but how many teams have ever been able to say that they were top-20 in the nation – arguably with room to spare – in their first year of existence? 4-star shooting guard Ashley MacCalla ended her junior campaign with a solid showing against an elite DME defense by leading the Strivers with 17 points and seven rebounds on 7-10 shooting to go with three steals and two assists.

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