District tournament seeding meetings are this week for small-school (Class 1-3) teams, but as far as on-the-court business goes, the biggest storyline over the next two weeks will be which teams can claim conference championships.
Several premier games are on the slate this week and next week, and it’s no accident that they were scheduled this late in the season. Many of these games will determine who gets to hang a “Conference Champions 2015-16” banner in their gymnasium.
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. Hartville (17-4, C2, PR: 3) – Rumor has it the Eagles have petitioned MSHSAA to start district play this week…Joking aside, who could blame them considering how well Hartville’s playing right now? Following a 54-point drubbing of a 14-9 overall Fordland team, Hartville dominated Class 2 5th-ranked Iberia on Saturday to the tune of a 69-45 victory in a neutral-site game. Hartville, as it often is, was undersized but still led by 15 at halftime and held 6’10” Missouri Southern signee Dexter Frisbie to just 12 points in the contest. As coach Brett Reed said afterwards, Hartville’s tough non-conference schedule has prepared it for this point of the season. Now, the Eagles are seeing some early signs of fruition. Fun fact: In Hartville’s 17 wins, they’ve won by double digits in all but one. The only opponent to stay within single digits? Hartville’s next opponent, Conway, who played the Eagles to a 39-38 loss in consolation play at the Blue and Gold. Hartville visits Conway on Tuesday night in a game that will weigh heavily on determining the Summit Conference champion. The Eagles close the week this Friday with a home game vs. Seymour.
2. Kickapoo (19-2, C5, PR: 2) – The Chiefs took care of business on the road last week, picking up a pair of lopsided conference wins against Camdenton and Lebanon. Much like Hartville post-Blue and Gold, the Chiefs have been rolling since a disappointing showing in the Tournament of Champions. Kickapoo is 5-0 post-T of C, including a blowout win over rival Nixa and a 15-point win over defending Class 3 state champion Barstow. The Chiefs face Glendale at Drury on Tuesday night in what’s annually one of the most anticipated games in the area, then close the week out at home versus Joplin. Thanks to the great record-keeping of the Glendale Basketball website, there are some interesting notes/fact about this Glendale-Kickapoo rivalry.
* Since 2000, the series has been all Kickapoo. The Chiefs have 24 of the 29 meetings since the turn of the century.
* Kickapoo leads the all-time series, 49-46. From 1971-1999, Glendale led the all-time series, 41-25.
* In neutral-site games, which this series has primarily had since 2000, Kickapoo is 23-5 all time.
* Glendale has a winning record against the Chiefs on its home court (21-13) AND Kickapoo’s home court (20-13).
* In even-numbered years, Glendale has the edge 25-20 in the all-time series. Most of those wins occurred pre-1996, but two have come in recent years: 2014 and 2012.
* The numbers and scores get blurry after a reading them year-by-year, but best I could tell, neither team has ever hit the century mark in 95 all-time meetings.
3. Walnut Grove (20-2, C1, PR: 1) – Following a pair of blowout PCL wins over Dadeville and Halfway, I’m not sure many people (and by “many people” I actually just mean me) foresaw Walnut Grove losing 63-48 against Crane on Saturday at SBU. It was a matchup of teams trending in opposite directions, with Walnut Grove coming in 20-1 and Crane coming off a week in which it lost conference games to Sparta and Clever by double digits. Walnut Grove travels to El Dorado Springs on Friday night, then faces another tough Class 2 test on Saturday when it faces Bakersfield at SBU.
4. Bolivar (16-4, C4, PR: 4) – The Liberators whipped Hollister 66-35 on the road and defeated Camdenton 61-47 at home last week. This week, Bolivar travels to Catholic (Tuesday) and Central (Friday) as the Liberators attempt to build up a nice winning streak heading into districts later this month.
5. Rolla (20-1, C4, PR: 5) – It’s a great time to be a Bulldog. Between last year’s Class 4 quarterfinal run and the way 2015-16 has gone so far, this might be the best two-season stretch of basketball in RHS history. Last week, Rolla defeated Lebanon (79-58) at West Plains (71-63) at home to hit the 20-win mark again. It’s the first time Rolla has posted consecutive 20-win seasons in school history. Rolla hosts Parkview on Tuesday then travels to Camdenton on Friday. If the Bulldogs can get by in those games, Rolla is set up to compete for a conference title in two weeks when it plays at Kickapoo (Feb. 16) and Glendale (Feb. 19).
6. Nixa (17-3, C5, PR: 6) – The Eagles downed Branson 82-61 in their only game last week. Chase Allen had an eventful night, doing things like this. Nixa hosts Carthage Tuesday night and travels to Republic on Friday in what could be your classic “trap” game, with Ozark looming for the Eagles four days later.
7. Thayer (20-2, C2, PR: 7) – The Bobcats hit the 20-win mark for the third time in five seasons last week, thanks to a pair of close SCA victories over Liberty (58-51) and Cabool (64-56). Thayer led by 15 at halftime against Cabool but saw its lead cut to as few as six in the fourth quarter. Thayer’s win over Liberty helped it even the season series between the two schools, 2-2. The Bobcats, who host Mountain Grove on Tuesday and visit Willow Springs on Friday, have likely locked up the 1-seed for the Class 2, District 2 tournament as they try to repeat as district champs.
8. Fair Grove (18-3, C3, PR: 8) – The Eagles’ winning streak is at 10 games now after the Purple and White beat Reeds Spring and Skyline last week. Two more wins this week, against conference foes Pleasant Hope (Feb. 9) and Marionville (Feb. 12), would put Fair Grove in line for a winner-take-all Mid-Lakes Conference championship game Feb. 19 against Strafford.
9. Strafford (16-6, C3, PR: 12) – This is usually the spot every week where I start having trouble deciding where to slot teams. This week… Strafford or Clever, Strafford or Clever, Strafford or Clever. Tough call, but I sided with the Indians, 15-point loss to Jefferson City on Saturday aside. Strafford was playing as well as any team not named Hartville going into that Jefferson City game, having won 10 straight. Last week, the Indians defeated Springfield Catholic 58-30 and picked up conference wins over Pleasant Hope (76-47) and Stockton (59-47). With Jeff City being its fourth game in five days, Strafford may have been playing on tired legs. Strafford visits Skyline on Friday.
10. Glendale (12-7, C4, PR: 10) – The Falcons overcame a 33-22 halftime deficit to force OT and ultimately beat West Plains 74-70 at home last week. Jordan Walton (25) and Monty Johal (21) combined to score 46 of the Falcons’ 74 points. Glendale plays Kickapoo at Drury on Tuesday. As documented in Kickapoo’s bio above, it’s a series that’s been dominated by the Chiefs lately.
11. Ozark (15-5, C5, PR: 11) – Ozark overcame a sluggish start to beat Willard 55-36 at home last Friday in its only game of the week. The final score matched Ozark’s lowest point total in any of its 15 wins this season. This week, the Tigers have road games at Branson (Feb. 9) and Neosho (Feb. 12).
12. Clever (17-5, C3, PR: 13) – The Blue Jays picked up three conference wins last week, the toughest one coming Tuesday night at Forsyth when Clever was able to make a 51-50 lead with 1:50 remaining hold up and win by that exact score. Clever also scored wins over Crane and Spokane last week, helping put itself in position to win an SWCL championship. The Blue Jays are now 6-2 in games decided by six points or less. Clever steps out of conference this week, with road games at Hollister (Feb. 9) and Ash Grove (Feb. 12
13. Crane (14-6, C2, PR: 12) – Odd week for the Pirates, who lost by double digits at Sparta and Clever then rebounded Saturday by beating a premier Class 1 team (Walnut Grove) that formerly held the top spot in our power rankings. After seeing some Class 2 basketball last week, there’s just a lot of parity after Hartville. Class 2, District 10 may end up being the most competitive, unpredictable tournament we have in two weeks. This week, Crane plays at Spokane (Feb. 9) and hosts Blue Eye (Feb. 12).
14. Mtn. Grove (17-4, C3, PR: 14) – Wins against Salem and MV-BT/Liberty last week have set the Panthers up to claim the SCA championship. They have four league games remaining, with Tuesday night’s road trip to Thayer being the toughest. Mountain Grove closes out the week at home against Houston on Friday.
15. School of the Ozarks (16-3, C1, PR: 15) – Three more lopsided wins for the Warriors, who beat New Covenant, Riverview Baptist (Forsyth) and Seymour. S of O had balanced scoring in all three games, with five players scoring 8 or more in the wins over Seymour and New Covenant, then nine players scoring at least 4 points in the blowout win over Riverview. Since losing to Mountain Grove in the Seymour Tournament semifinals in early January, the Patriots have won nine straight. It’s a three-game week for Sparta, which plays tonight at Lutie then visits Sparta on Friday. About 16 hours later, the Patriots will play for the Mark Twain Conference Tournament title at New Covenant on Saturday, Feb. 13 in a makeup game from last month.
Knocking on the door: Hurley (16-7, C1), Hermitage (17-5, C1), Mansfield (14-6, C2), Licking (16-5, C3), Conway (13-7, C3), Republic (16-4)
