It's not unusual for standout high school basketball players to transfer to programs with national attention for their senior seasons. Following the lead of past stars like Michael Beasley -- not to mention more recent sensations like current Texas freshmen Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph -- budding regional stars migrate toward programs like St. Patrick (N.J.) High and Oak Ridge (N.C.) Military Academy in increasing quantity and quality.

Yet one program may stand out in front of all the others in terms of the sheer number of prospects it has both attracted and churned out in recent years: Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nev., a basketball factory of a school geared almost single-mindedly toward creating the next generation of great NCAA and NBA players, with Thompson and Joseph its current shining examples at the collegiate level.

For all the hype surrounding the Findlay program, currently ranked No. 11 in the RivalsHigh 100, one budding star has reached out to his roots, telling longtime

The Carrington (N.D.) High wrestling team never got a shot to defend its run of three consecutive Region 2 dual tournament titles, yet the reason it missed out had nothing to do with any ineligible player or poor results. Rather, the team was foiled by an uninvited visitor on its bus to the event: A wild raccoon.

According to the Grand Forks Herald and the Associated Press, among other outlets, Carrington was getting ready to compete at the duals championship when administrators discovered the team had been exposed to the animal on the ride from Carrington to Grafton, N.D., where the event was being held. With no time to assess whether any athletes had been in direct contact with the raccoon -- or whether the animal had rabies -- school officials immediately pulled the team out of the event to ensure that it wouldn't put any other wrestlers at risk. No players were bitten or scratched by the animal, but it was unknown if the raccoon was rabid, meaning that officials couldn't ensure

The game was hardly in the balance, but that's no reason to refrain from attempting a wild buzzer beater. With that in mind, Corcoran (Calif.) High forward Marvin Lefridge spun just in front of the baseline behind his own backboard, let heave with a one-handed bomb and watched with anticipation and curiosity.

What Lefridge and the rest of a small crowd in the Kings County gym during Corcoran's victory against Strathmore (Calif.) High saw -- and which you can see for yourself below (jump to the 0:21 mark if you're impatient) -- is something they're not likely to forget anytime soon.

"At first, I was just like in shock," Lefridge told ABC station KFSN. "But then I took a couple steps and started jumping around."

The junior wasn't alone. One teammate, in particular, said he was glad that he eschewed his traditional practice of trotting to the bench as soon as a last-second heave was in the air, instead following the trajectory of Lefridge's memorable bucket.

"Normally, I don't look to

To say that Wesley Austin is a chip off the old block is an overstatement. At this point, the Rowland Hall (Utah) High sophomore is 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, but has yet to fully navigate the intricacies of how his growing body moves or channel his raw talent. In a way, the 9 point, 9 rebound-per-game player is trying to develop a high school basketball post presence on the fly.

Yet Austin has a great mentor to learn from, who just happens to be the person responsible for his size 17 shoes, as well. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Austin's father is former NBA Most Improved Player Ike Austin, who has taken an active approach to helping his son develop his still budding basketball talent.

"Wesley didn't start playing ball until middle school. I wanted to let him figure out if he truly loved the sport without me pushing it on him because I have such a strong passion for basketball," Ike Austin told the Tribune. "I wanted to put 110 percent into making Wesley the best player he could

Missouri Valley (Iowa) High sophomore Hailey Hellstrom knows that a player can have a big impact on a game without scoring loads of points. She proved just how big an impact that can be in a game against Riverside (Iowa) High, racking up a state-record 19 steals in her team's 43-35 win.

"There was like three instances in the game where she had at least three steals in under 30 seconds,'' Missouri Valley coach Dan Peterson told the Omaha World-Herald. "It was just unreal.''

The World-Herald reported that the state record was put forward by Missouri Valley statistician Doug Rodenburg, who happens to be a retired sportswriter nicknamed "The Stat Man." As soon as Rodenburg saw the game totals, he realized that the performance was something special, discovering a couple days later that it was tied for the ninth-best single-game steals total in high school basketball history.

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union has since come forward to say that no one in the five-player era (that's

The first time, the final score was 108-3, getting national attention here and elsewhere around the web. The rematch was a lot closer thanks to recognizable school pride and a helping assist from one of the tallest men to ever play in the NBA.

According to the Deseret News, just weeks after Christian Heritage (Utah) Academy routed West Ridge (Utah) Academy by more than 100 points, West Ridge responded with a full gym of screaming fans, much tougher defense and a more reasonable, if similar result. The final score of the two teams' final matchup of the season Thursday night was 62-7, a lopsided loss but one which was still a full 50 points in the right direction for an Eagles team whose spirit has been described as "inspiring."

In fact, that spirit has been described as inspiring by a pretty qualified pair of basketball eyes, too. After the first blowout, former NBA tree, Philadelphia hype machine, center Shawn Bradley worked out with the West Ridge girls team at a few practices,

The school was called "The Prison on the Hill" around the community, and no one had been able to break through to the attending teenagers, many of whom were labeled as dangerous. The original school at Audenreid (Pa.) High was even razed to try and eliminate the stigma and start over, a process which meant all extracurricular activities esentially started from scratch as well.

Into that void came an unlikely savior to take over a long-lost program, arriving from a truly unexpected source. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Tina Wiggins applied for the head boys basketball coaching job at Audenreid, leaving another, more stable Philadelphia Public League boys basketball program to do so. She arrived at the troubled school after two years at Furness (Pa.) High and two decades coaching middle school boys basketball.

"They'd say, 'You know it's got that bad reputation and the kids are always fighting,'" Wiggins told the Inquirer. "But, it's so different from how it used to be."

In

To say that the final week of January was a memorable one for huge plays in the Minnesota rivalry between Northfield (Minn.) High and Shakopee (Minn.) High is an extreme understatement. First, there was this unbelievable basketball buzzer beater by Northfield senior Jordan Bardwell. Then, a day later, Shakopee responded in the incredible play tet-a-tet with this phenomenal hockey goal by Shakopee freshman Lance Buchtel.

As you can see above, Buchtel may have gotten a lucky bounce off a teammate's skate to get his odd-man break started, but his baseball-style finish is one of the most miraculous goals we've ever come across. Not only was Buchtel sliding on his rear end when he made contact with the puck, he was surrounded by two defenders and the Northfield goalie.

The goal was just one part of Buchtel's big game, too. The freshman also notched an assist in his highest scoring game of the season. He has six goals in Shakopee's 19 games this season.

The goal came in a 7-4 Shakopee win,