By Staff

Final 2016 Girls Basketball Power Rankings

It’s time to close the books on the 2015-16 girls’ basketball season.

*Insert Sad Face*

We’ll piece together our final power rankings for the season, but fair warning: With only 15 spots, some district champions and deserving teams did not make the cut.

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.

Crane (C2: 32-1) – At this point, what can you say about Crane that hasn’t been said about Michael Jordan’s Bulls? The Lady Pirates won their fourth straight Class 2 title with a 78-57 win over Neelyville. Naturally, Lexie Vaught capped her career with a 22-point, 13-rebound and 10-assists triple-double, putting an exclamation point on her case for Miss Show-Me Basketball. The numbers are staggering. Crane went 123-7 over the last four years. Their 32 wins this season is a school-record and that includes Ws against Class 5 state champ Kickapoo, Class 3 state champ Strafford and 3A Arkansas state champ Valley Springs. Crane, which won its final 20 games of the season, finished ranked No. 85 in the USA Today Computer Poll and its lone loss came to North Little Rock, who finished No. 49 in the MaxPreps National Poll and won the 7A championship in Arkansas.
Kickapoo (C5: 26-3) – Kickapoo is back. The Lady Chiefs claimed the Class 5 state championship with a 63-53 win over Kirkwood, getting double-doubles from junior Jordan Sanders and sophomore Audrey Warren. Kickapoo ended the season with a 20-game streak, winning 18 of those by 10 or more points. The Ozark Conference champs are ranked No. 65 in the MaxPreps National Poll and all three of their losses came against teams that were nationally ranked at some point this season. The scary part is Kickapoo returns four starters, three of which are D-1 prospects.
Strafford (C3: 29-3) – The first Final Four in program history also resulted in Strafford’s first state championship in school history. The Lady Indians held on to beat Saxony Lutheran 52-48, giving Strafford 15 straight wins to end the season. Freshman Hayley Frank finished with one of the most prolific freshman seasons in state history, including that epic 70-footer in Strafford’s quarterfinal win over St. James. Crane, Kickapoo and Marshfield are the only teams that were able to beat the Mid-Lakes Conference champs and they return four of their top six players, as well as a talented eighth grade class.
Republic (C5: 25-2) – In a normal year Republic wins the Class 5 state championship. The crazy part is that Republic is the smallest school in Class 5 and it’s safe to assume that if they’re still in Class 4 they easily take home the title. After all, RepMo beat both Class 5 finalist, Kickapoo and Kirkwood, during the regular season. Regardless, the Lady Tigers had another fantastic season with a 20-win season for the sixth time in a row and COC Large title. MaxPrep had Republic ranked at No. 104.
Skyline (C2: 28-5) – Crane has robbed Skyline from winning multiple state titles in the last four years. Skyline gave Crane a better game than Strafford and Kickapoo did, which goes to show just how good they are. Skyline owns wins over Fair Grove, El Dorado Springs and Bolivar, all of whom won district titles. Don’t feel too bad for Kevin Cheek, he returns talented guards Kaylee DaMitz and McKinsey Mountain. This team will be the favorites to win it all next year.
Carl Junction (C4: 26-3) – Many people expected this team to being playing in Columbia, but an overtime loss to Owensville ended that dream. Carl Junction still had its best season ever, setting a school-record for wins and winning the Big 8 in the program’s final year in the conference. The other two losses came to Class 5 Republic and Fox. CJ was a perfect 12-0 at home and will return one of the best 1-2 punches in the Ozarks next year with Alex Vogt (14.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.8 SPG) and Megan Scott (11.6 PPG, 7 RPG, 2 BPG) both returning.
Gainesville (C2: 27-2) – You can make an argument that this was the second best team in Class 2. In fact, over the last two years Gainesville lost just four games, three of which came to Crane. The Lady Bulldogs had an incredible run, winning the Summit title again and racking up wins over Salem, Houston, Skyline and Crocker along the way. USA Today ranked them No. 9 in Missouri regardless of class. Madison Strong ends her career with school-records in points (2,237).
Walnut Grove (C1: 23-10) – You can’t say enough about what Walnut Grove was able to accomplish this year. After losing back-to-back loaded senior classes, the Lady Tigers were able to put together another Final Four run and 20-win season. The semifinal loss to Naylor marked the first time since 2012 that Walnut Grove lost to a Class 1 team. But, they again won the Polk County League and Bayley Harman appears to be a combination of every Harman to ever come through the program. The Lady Tigers return EVERYONE from this team as well.
Crocker (C2: 25-3) – Yet another good team in a really loaded Class 2 picture. Nancy Ward led the Lions back to the playoffs, winning the Frisco League title along the way. Their other two losses came to Class 3 Cuba and Class 4 Osage and Crocker’s wins over Hartville, Stoutland, Iberia are impressive. Unfortunately this marks the end of an era with the graduation of standout senior guards Lindsay Medlen and Kelsi York.
Branson (C5: 22-5) – Remove Kickapoo and Republic and Branson goes to the Final Four and plays for a state championship. The Lady Pirates finished as the COC Large and Class 5 – District 11 runner-up because of Republic and Kickapoo respectively, but the resume is still impressive. The only teams to beat Branson (Carl Junction, Kickapoo, Strafford, and Republic (2)) were all district and/or state champs. Replacing Ashley Forrest will be tough, but Kip Bough will bring back Amanda Kearney (24 PPG), Terra Utz-Depriest and Lauren Garrison.
Fair Grove (C3: 20-8) – Fair Grove is yet another team that ran into a brutal conference and district. The Lady Eagles finished as the district runner-up to Strafford and you can make the case that Fair Grove would have held its own in Columbia as well. Jenny Talbert must replace a senior class that seems to be good at every sport they play, but she also brings back talented freshmen Alana Findley (12.9 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 1.4 BPG) and Harley Maxwell (6.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG)
Salem (C4: 22-5) – Don’t let the lack of a district title fool you; this was a very good team in Class 4. Salem lost to Osage by three in the district semifinals and Osage went on to lose to Helias Catholic by three in the district championship. The Lady Tigers won the SCA, going a perfect 7-0, and have won 39 games in the last two seasons after nearly a decade of sub .500 seasons. Jake Reardon will bring back his entire roster, led by 5-foot-10 guard Payton Curley (20.1 PPG, 3 SPG).
Spokane (C2: 22-7) – Don’t tell Doug Hepler what it’s like to play a tough schedule. In his first year at Spokane the Lady Owls were beyond resurgent and their losses all of high quality (Crane (2), Clever, Strafford, Marshfield, Ozark and Ash Grove). Finishing as the district runner-up is never a bad thing when the champ happens to be Crane.
Bradleyville (C1: 22-6) – It wasn’t long ago that Bradleyville was a doormat in Class 1 and now the Lady Eagles are district champs. Autumn Thomas has led the program to an average of 20 wins in the last two seasons, culminating with the program’s first district title in two decades. Bradleyville also won the Mark Twain Conference tournament and split the regular season championship. Thomas will also return two of her best players in sophomores Kourtney Shipley and Dorian Hayes.
Waynesville (C5: 19-8) – The Lady Tigers won their third district title in the last five years, pulling off back-to-back upsets as the No. 4 seed and shocking state-ranked Jeff City in the championship. Waynesville beat Hickman during the regular season as well and won eight of its last 11 games to end the season behind the dominant play of Kallie Bildner (26 PPG, 14 RPG). Losing the 6-foot-2 senior hurts, but the Lady Tigers will again be loaded in 2016-17.