Much like last night’s episode of The Walking Dead (spoiler alert: a lot of crazy, awesome stuff happened), we have some major changes coming to the bottom-half of our power rankings this week.
Two new teams join the Top 15 this week, multiple Class 3 teams are on the rise, while some big-school powers take a bit of a drop. What does it all mean? Well, nothing in the long run since it’s just meant to spurn conversation and debate.
We’ll find out starting next week once small-school district tournaments get started.
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 (20-4, C2, PR: 1) – Three Summit Conference wins last week (over Conway, Mansfield and Seymour) have the Eagles on the verge of a league title. Hartville trailed by one entering the fourth quarter against Conway, but controlled the final period to claim their second close victory over the Bears this season. As guard Deric Jones said afterwards, the Eagles hope the game is an indicator that they can grind out wins in defensive struggles, something they’ll probably need to do at least once come playoff time. Hartville closes out the regular season this week with games at Gainesville (Feb. 16) and Laquey (Feb. 18). A win over Gainesville would give Hartville an outright Summit Conference title.
2. Kickapoo (21-2, C5, PR: 2) – Kickapoo puts out a stacked starting five each night, but the Chiefs also have perhaps the best bench in the area. That depth showed last Tuesday night against Glendale, as the Chiefs’ reserves helped them take control of the game in the first half. Guys like Hayden Schmitz, Isaac Blakeslee and Derrick Roberson would be major contributors at other schools, but have found their niche for the Chiefs. Three nights later, Kickapoo put up a 67-spot in the first half on its way to a 94-37 court-warming victory over Joplin. The Chiefs host Rolla on Tuesday night then travel to Waynesville on Friday in games that will weigh heavily on deciding the eventual Ozark Conference champion. Kickapoo needs no reminder of how good Rolla is, as the Bulldogs beat Kickapoo at home last year to earn a share of the OC championship.
3. Walnut Grove (22-2, C1, PR: 3) – Bouncing back from a Feb. 6 loss to Crane, the Tigers defeated Class 3 El Dorado Springs by 22 and Class 2 Bakersfield 56-50 in a neutral-site game last week. Walnut Grove closes out the regular season Tuesday night against Fair Play and could earn an outright Polk County League championship with a victory. The Tigers may meet Fair Play again in two weeks in the Class 1, District 5 title game at Willard High School.
4. Bolivar (18-4, C4, PR: 4) – The Liberators dominated the second and third quarters to win at Catholic on Tuesday, then finished the week with a 31-point win at The Pit against Central. In the win over Catholic, Bryce Krueger (27) and Brandon Emmert (16) combined for 43 of the team’s 57 points. Bolivar has now won eight straight since losing to Kickapoo in the Tournament of Champions 7th place game. The Liberators play at Buffalo on Tuesday and host Rogersville on Friday night. Rogersville – with wins over Branson and Republic, and close losses to Glendale and Ozark – is much better than its 8-12 record indicates.
5. Rolla (22-1, C4, PR: 5) – The Bulldogs sent their stellar senior class out with a 75-58 home win over Parkview last Tuesday night, getting a combined 44 points from Kobe Wands (24) and Sam Marshall (20). Rolla followed that up by winning 83-63 at Camdenton on Friday night. Talk about potent consistency: In 23 games this season, Rolla has scored 70 or more points in 16 of them. Rolla travels to Kickapoo on Tuesday night in a game that will go a long way in deciding the Ozark Conference champion. The Bulldogs are coming with some support, too, as two fan buses are set to make the trip to Springfield. While Kickapoo’s certainly a big game, the Bulldogs face another big test on Friday night when they return to Springfield to face Glendale in their league finale.
6. Fair Grove (20-3, C3, PR: 8) – Two more dominating wins for the Eagles last week, as they beat Pleasant Hope by 27 and Marionville by 17. Fair Grove’s winning streak, which dates back to Dec. 30 against Strafford, is now at 12 games. Fair Grove concludes the regular season this week against Strafford, with a Mid-Lakes Conference championship on the line. The two will most likely meet again less than a week later, in the Class 3 District 11 semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 25. If Fair Grove’s great senior class is going to add to the trophy case (conference championship, district championship), they’re going to have go through Strafford, a team that had beaten them seven straight times before the Blue and Gold meeting last December.
7. Strafford (18-6, C3, PR: 9) – The Indians blew out Mt. Vernon and Skyline to pick up two more wins last week. The Indians are two wins away from reaching the 20-win mark for at least the seventh straight season (full year-by-year records only date back to the 2009-10 season on MSHSAA’s website). That’s some solid basketball each year. Strafford plays at Marionville on Tuesday then hosts Fair Grove on Friday to close out the regular season.
8. Clever (19-5, C3, PR: 12) – Hmm, our third straight Class 3 team here. If only we had a way to decide which of these teams would be the best in some sort of tourna-… oh wait, we do! Fair Grove, Strafford and Clever – along with Conway, which cracked the Top 15 this week – are the top four seeds for next week’s Class 3, District 11 tournament in Fair Grove. The semifinal games should be the best among our small-school tournaments that week. Clever, thanks to regular season wins over Fair Grove, Strafford and Conway – all relatively close outcomes – is the top seed for the tournament. Since a 1-point win at Forsyth on Feb. 2, Clever has posted four convincing wins in a way you’d like to see from good teams this time of the season. Clever will look to win the outright SWCL title this week, with a home game Tuesday against Sparta then a Friday night trip to nearby Billings.
9. Thayer (21-3, C2, PR: 7) – The Bobcats just missed out on a home win over Mountain Grove last week, a victory that would have been their best yet this season. All three of Thayer’s losses have come to Class 3 teams within their own conference and with the Bobcats not playing the likes of Crane or Hartville, it’s a little hard to gauge how they project in the Class 2 race. Thayer’s most notable Class 2 win was probably a pair of victories over Bakersfield in late December/early January. Thayer’s the top seed for next week’s Class 2 District 2 tournament in Van Buren. If the Bobcats can advance, and assuming Hartville does as well, we’d have a scenario set up for a Hartville-Thayer Class 2 title game. Just sayin’.
10. School of the Ozarks (20-3, C1, PR: 14) – Impressive week for the Patriots, who won four games including the Mark Twain Conference Tournament finals over Hurley on Saturday. School of the Ozarks had one of its best wins of the season on Friday night when it went to Sparta – on Sparta’s Senior Night – and beat a good Trojans team, 68-58. Less than 24 hours later, S of O used a big third quarter to pull away from Hurley and claim the MTC Tournament title. A season after winning its first district title, School of the Ozarks now has the most wins in program history, with a long way still to go. S of O closes out the regular season tonight at home versus Everton. The Patriots are the top seed and host for next week’s Class 1 District 4 tournament.
11. Republic (18-4, C5, PR: Unranked) – As I tweeted after the game last Friday, Republic has quietly put together an impressive resume through mid-February. It was a bit of smoke and mirrors at times, and I’m not sure if Nixa – which was missing a key player – wouldn’t have ended up winning had the game gone to OT, but the Tigers got the job done. Republic’s victories over Bolivar and now Nixa mean the Tigers land in front of Nixa for this week’s rankings. Ty Stevens’ game-high 25 points, 18 coming in the first half, gave Republic an early lead that they did not relinquish. Wins like that and an 18-4 record means the Tigers probably aren’t under the radar any more. Ozark hosts Willard on Tuesday then travels to Ozark this Friday night.
12. Nixa (18-4, C5, PR: 6) – Three of the Eagles’ four losses have come to state-ranked teams, while the other one came to a team now ranked above them on this list, Republic. Nixa got off to a really slow start against Republic last Friday, and the Eagles had to play catch-up for the entire second half. Despite coming out of its trademark 2-3 zone due to Republic’s hot shooting, Nixa actually fared better with a man-to-man defense. There’s a very good chance Nixa will have an opportunity to get payback on Republic in the Class 5, District 12 tournament two weeks from now. Nixa hosts Ozark on Tuesday then travels to Webb City on Friday.
13. Mountain Grove (19-4, C3, PR: 14) – A blowout win over Houston and a 4-point win over Thayer have the Panthers on the inside track toward a second straight SCA championship. Mountain Grove concludes the regular season with games at Ava (Feb. 16) and at home versus Cabool for Senior Night (Feb. 19). The Panthers are the top seed and host for next week’s Class 3, District 10 tournament. Mountain Grove will be striving for a much better showing than last season, when it was on the unfortunate end of one of the biggest upsets in local district play, falling as the 2-seed in the first round against a 4-21 Hollister team.
14. Glendale (13-8, C4, PR: 10) – The Falcons bounced back from a disappointing loss to Kickapoo last Tuesday by thumping Lebanon, 80-39, at home Thursday night. Sophomore Monty Johal scored a season-high 41, becoming just the second GHS player in history to score 40 or more in a game. Glendale still has a slim chance to earn a share of the Ozark Conference title, but they’ll need some help from Rolla by way of a Bulldogs’ victory over Kickapoo tomorrow night. This week, Glendale plays at Joplin on Tuesday and hosts Rolla on Friday.
15. Conway (15-8, C3, PR: Unranked) – If you’re the Bears, you don’t necessarily hate getting the 4-seed for the Class 3, District 11 tournament, right? Assuming you can get by Catholic in the first round, you’d be facing a top-seeded Clever team in the semifinals that you played to a 44-40 loss in mid-December. If you happen to pull the upset there, you’d await either Strafford or Fair Grove in the finals after those two teams battle in what’s sure to be an intense, emotion-filled semifinal. Conway’s about 20 or so points away from being 19-4 and owning wins over the likes of Hartville, Clever, Strafford and Fair Grove. Conway plays at Hollister on Monday and closes out the regular season Friday at Norwood.
Knocking on the door: Ozark (16-6, C5), Crane (16-7, C2), Hermitage (18-6, C1), Licking (19-6, C3), Aurora (15-7, C4)
