As we count down the final days of January and all those wonderful regular season tournaments, we’re beginning to see teams separate themselves from the pack in their respective classes. What that means come district time, well, remains to be seen.
For now, let’s run down the latest week of high school basketball action.
As with all of our power rankings in each team sport, these are based on dominance by Class, not head-to-head. It’s the “pound-for-pound” best teams in the Ozarks.
Recent success and strength of schedule are also a factor in the rankings.
Current record, Class and previous ranking are listed in parenthesis.
1. Walnut Grove (16-0, C1, PR: 1) – On homecoming night, Walnut Grove laid a 48-point thumping on a pretty good Weaubleau team that entered the game 11-2 overall. In six games against Class 1 competition, Walnut Grove’s averaging a turbo-clock (30+ points) margin of victory. That’s why they’re currently No. 1 in these rankings. But the Tigers have also shown they’d be a contender in Class 2, with wins over Morrisville (15-5), Sparta (11-6), and state-ranked Iberia on their resume. Walnut Grove has all but locked up the No. 1 seed for the Class 1, District tournament, where only two (Fair Play, Thomas Jefferson) of the other seven teams currently have a winning record. Walnut Grove’s undefeated record will be put to the test this week when it competes in the Sparta Tournament. The Tigers, should they advance, will likely face Class 3 Fair Grove in Saturday’s title game.
2. Kickapoo (15-2, C5, PR: 2) – I haven’t had the Chiefs as the highest-ranked Class 5 team on this list all season for no reason. Still, I didn’t think they were THAT much better than Nixa. The Chiefs simply dominated and overwhelmed the Eagles at home last Friday, turbo-clocking Nixa 74-43 as juniors Cam Davis and Jared Ridder combined for 38 points. Kickapoo shot lights out from deep, making nine first-half 3-pointers, including six in the second quarter when it outscored Nixa 28-11. That forced Nixa to come out of its patented 2-3 zone, and that’s a matchup much more favorable for Kickapoo. The Chiefs had lost 11 of their past 13 games against Nixa, including last year’s regular season and playoff meetings. It was certainly a confidence booster for the Chiefs, who travel to Parkview on Tuesday night then face defending Class 3 state champion Barstow in a neutral-site game at Ozark this Saturday.
3. Bolivar (11-4, C4, PR: 3) – The Liberators broke out of their recent (Tournament of Champions-aided) slump, beating Willard 79-29 in their court warming game last Friday night. In a game that got out of hand quickly, Bolivar led 22-4 after the first quarter and 50-14 at halftime. The game marked the Liberators’ highest point total of the season and the fourth time they’ve scored 70 points. Bolivar hosts its own tournament, which is a 4-team bracket/3-team pool play mix, this week.
4. Hartville (12-4, C4, PR: 4) – They say free throw shooting can be contagious, and evidently both Hartville and Mountain Grove had caught a “brick” bug before their game last Friday night. In a game that had 52 fouls and 34 missed free throws, Class 2 No. 1 Hartville emerged with a 74-64 home victory over Class 3 Mountain Grove. Hartville’s missed free throws (21) allowed Mtn. Grove to hang around late, as the Panthers were within 64-61 with less than four minutes to play before the Eagles pulled away. It wasn’t the purest display of basketball at times, but Mtn. Grove and Hartville may have a chance to put on a better performance this weekend. Hartville (1) and Mtn. Grove (2) are the top two seeds for the Family Pharmacy Panther Classic and would meet in Saturday night’s title game should they advance through the bracket.
5. Rolla (17-1, C4, PR: 7) – The Bulldogs collected their second tournament title of the season over the weekend, outscoring Sullivan (Class 4, 11-3 overall) by 10 in overtime to win the 71st annual St. James Tournament. It was the fourth time in five years that Rolla has won the tournament. Senior guard Kobe Wands was named tourney MVP. Rolla continues to do two things very well: score and win. A superb perimeter shooting team, Rolla’s averaging about 74 points per game and has won 14 straight since falling to Class 5 Ozark in the finals of the Republic Tournament back in early December. The Bulldogs take the nearly 3-hour road trip to Joplin on Friday for their only game of this week.
6. Nixa (11-3, C5, PR: 5) – The Eagles didn’t have very long to think about their lopsided loss to Kickapoo, and that was probably for the best. Less than 24 hours later, Nixa was on the court again in Ozark for a neutral-site game against Class 5 3rd-ranked Hazelwood Central. Nixa lost in the end, but the Eagles’ played much more up to their standards than they did against Kickapoo. As a Nixa fan, you’d assume the Kickapoo game is an outlier; Nixa’s other two losses this season were by a combined total of seven points. Nixa hosts Pittsburg (Kan.) on Tuesday, then its annual tournament Thursday-Saturday.
7. Thayer (17-2, C2, PR: 6) – Sure, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have played a lot over the years, but they’ve got nothing on Thayer and Mountain View-Birch Tree/Liberty. In the 18th meeting between the two schools since 2010, Liberty outlasted Thayer 65-62 to win their own tournament on Saturday. Thayer, who got 25 points from Zach Horton and 18 points from Ayden Henry, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would’ve sent the game into overtime. Both of Thayer’s losses this season have come to MV-BT/Liberty. The teams have played three times this season – all in tournaments – and they’ve got a fourth meeting coming on Feb. 2 when Liberty travels to Thayer for the official SCA game.
8. Glendale (10-6, C4, PR: 8) – The Falcons went 2-1 at the Harold Thomas Classic in Coffeyville, Kan. over the weekend, rebounding from an opening-round loss to Bishop Miege (Kan.) to win a pair of games on the consolation side. Glendale has been a hard team to gauge for these rankings in recent weeks. Since Dec. 26, Glendale has only played three local teams – Branson, Camdenton and Waynesville. Glendale’s schedule finally turns local this week as the Falcons have road games at Hillcrest (Jan. 26) and Ozark (Jan. 29).
9. Clever (13-3, C3, PR: 9) – The Blue Jays continue to walk a thin line between wins and losses. More often than not, Clever’s come out on the better side of things this season. The Blue Jays got out of Mt. Vernon on Friday night with a 51-49 victory, then defeated Gainesville 61-43 in a neutral-site game Saturday. Clever’s now 6-2 in games decided by six points or less (two possessions) this season. Half their games have come down to the wire, which means the Blue Jays aren’t far off from being 16-0, or something closer to 10-6. Clever’s highly anticipated rematch with Crane was iced out last week. This week, the Blue Jays compete in the Nixa Invitational Tournament, where they meet Harrisonville in the opening round.
10. Mtn. Grove (12-3, C3, PR: 10) – I had some trouble figuring out where to slot the Panthers this week, but I suppose a close loss at Class 2’s top-ranked team shouldn’t be harshly penalized. Mountain Grove was within a single possession in that game halfway through the fourth quarter. Plus, Fair Grove didn’t play last week and Crane lost to another Class 2 team, so no other team near here is deserving of a move up this week.
11. Fair Grove (13-3, C3, PR: 12) – Weather postponed Fair Grove’s only game of last week (vs. Warsaw). The Eagles return to action – for the first time since Jan. 15 – on Tuesday night in the Sparta Tournament. Fair Grove, the 1-seed in the tournament, faces 8-seed Lighthouse Christian in the quarterfinals and would play the winner of Forsyth-Fordland in the semifinals.
12. Crane (12-4, C2, PR: 11) – The Pirates suffered their first loss to a fellow Class 2 school, falling to Mansfield 74-58 in a neutral-site game on Saturday. The result may be surprising to some, but Mansfield (10-4) has quietly played well since getting blown out by Mountain Grove early in the season. Crane has another good test on Tuesday night, hosting 15-5 overall Morrisville.
13. Strafford (10-5, C3, PR: 13) – Strafford’s home game versus Mt. Vernon last Thursday was postponed due to weather, but they came back one night later to post a 21-point win (77-56) over Ash Grove. Strafford, which is 4-0 this month, begins play in the Conway Tournament on Tuesday night. The 2-seed Indians face 7-seed Niangua in the opening round. With a win, Strafford would face either Stoutland or Hollister in Thursday’s semifinals.
14. Ozark (13-5, C5, PR: 14) – The Tigers blasted Poplar Bluff (10-5 overall) 85-61 at home on Saturday in their only game last week. It’s a light stretch of the schedule at the moment for the Tigers, who host Glendale on Friday in their only game for this week.
15. Bakersfield (11-3, C3, PR: 5) – The Lions were off last week and return to action Tuesday as the 3-seed against 6-seed Willow Springs in the Mountain Grove Tournament. With a win, Bakersfield would likely face host Mtn. Grove in the semifinals.
Knocking on the door: Republic (12-3, C5); Hermitage (13-4, C1); Mansfield (10-4, C2); School of the Ozarks (11-3, C1); Licking (13-6, C3)
