Folks are still forgetting about "ties". If you have a dozen ties for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, is it actually appropriate to ignore such ties or should (must) they be considered?
Sometimes, you only have space for 3. Is it appropriate? Probably not.
That's what I'm trying to get the OP to define. And what should the sort order be if you only have space for 3? If that sort order doesn't matter, then why bother to begin with? "We need the top 3", says the OP. Uh huh... and what the hell are you going to do with that once you have it, says I. 😉
There are legit cases where the order of things at the same priority don't matter, but the overarching priority does. Only the OP can say for certain if that applies here.
Agreed... what we're trying to do is get the OP to identify that.