Jan. 4 Girls Basketball Power Rankings

By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer

Each week, OzarksSportsZone.com will release local girls basketball power rankings. Like our other power rankings, these rankings will be based on dominance by Class, not head-to-head matchups.

Recent success and strength of schedule are also factored into the rankings. These rankings are through games played on Jan. 3.

Overall record, Class and last week’s ranking are listed in parenthesis.

DEC. 21 POWER RANKINGS
DEC. 14 POWER RANKINGS
DEC. 7 POWER RANKINGS
NOV. 28 POWER RANKINGS

1. Strafford (12-0, C3, LW: 1)
If Strafford needed a statement win, it got it by beating Mercer County, Ky. in the Pink & White Pink Division championship. Mercer County is the No. 2 ranked team in Kentucky and the 76-75 title-clinching win came a day after Mercer County upset Argyle, Texas (MaxPrep’s No. 5 team in the nation heading into last week), 62-43. That is a big part of what makes the win over Mercer so significant. Mercer County is a team with a point guard heading to Louisville next season. Argyle has seniors heading to Texas A&M and Fresno State and a third who turned down offers from five Big 10 schools to play Div. II ball with her sister. And Strafford WON THIS BRACKET! Abby Oliver (who hit a pair of free throws with 6.8 seconds left to put Strafford up 76-75) said back on Dec. 3 that this year’s Indians are going to be a lot better than last year’s state title team. If that seemed crazy to anyone then, it’s not now. Oh, and the Indians beat Stockton 98-26 on Monday. Big road matchup coming with Class 2 No. 1 Skyline (11-1) on Thursday.

This week: 1/5 @Skyline (C2, 11-1), 1/9 Conway (C3, 2-6)

2. Skyline (11-1, C2, LW: 2)
Skyline dropped its first game of the season in the Pink & White White Division quarters, falling to Class 5 Lebanon, 59-53. The Tigers led by five with three minutes to play before Lebanon closed the game on a 14-3 run. This was technically an upset with Lebanon a 6-seed and Skyline the 3-seed, but Lebanon is still a Class 5 program with a 7-3 record and this one girl named Kelsey Winfrey who is playing basketball at Mizzou next season (and went for 27 points and nine boards against Skyline). Skyline rebounded with good wins over Class 3 Fair Grove (7-4) in the consolation semis and C5 Branson (9-2) in the fifth-place game. Skyline has since added a 56-34 win over Class 4 Marshfield (2-9) and hosts a huge game with C3 No. 1 Strafford (12-0) on Thursday night.

This week: 1/5 Strafford (C3, 12-0), 1/7 Skyline Tournament

3. Walnut Grove (9-2, C1, LW: 3)
Pierce City knocked Walnut Grove out of its own tournament with a 53-48 semifinal win back on Dec. 27. The Eagles were a 5-seed and Grove the No. 1, so this was certainly an upset despite the Eagles being in Class 2. (That loss ended up looking a lot better after Pierce City (9-2) beat Class 2 Hartville (9-4) by 20 in the title game.) A big Class 1 test going down Friday in Hermitage.

This week: 1/6 @Hermitage (C1, 8-3), 1/10 Morrisville (C2, 3-8)

4. Kickapoo (10-3, C5, LW: 4)
The Chiefs had a good showing in the Pink & White, beating Class 3 Fair Grove by 11 and Class 5 Lebanon by 12 before falling to top-seed and defending Arkansas 7A State Champion North Little Rock, 68-56, in the title game. The Chiefs are still playing without Ari Acuff, which is important to note. Lebanon (7-3) visits Kickapoo for a rematch on Thursday night.

This week: 1/5 Lebanon (C5, 7-3), 1/9 @Hillcrest (C5, 1-11)

5. Carl Junction (7-0, C4, LW: 5)
Carl Junction has been off since Dec. 19 and will keep on with their 22 days of rest until Jan. 9 when they face a big test in C5 Republic (7-5). This is far and away CJ’s toughest opponent so far this season (no wins over opponents above .500 up to this point) and will finally provide a measuring stick as to just where the Bulldogs are.

This week: 1/9 Republic (C5, 7-5)

6. Rogersville (9-4, C4, LW: 6)
The Lady Wildcats continue to impress. This is one of the most fundamentally sound basketball teams you’re going to see and they showed that in the Pink & White, beating C3 Clever by 11 and upsetting 3-seed C5 Ozark, 47-46, for a spot in the Pink Division semifinals. Rogersville held Strafford to a season-low 50 points in the semis but fell 50-38. Not that you want to call a loss impressive, but Rogersville kept things close with Argyle (Tex.) in the third-place game, only losing 45-34 to one of the top team’s in the country. So yeah, impressive.

This week: 1/9 Buffalo (C3, 4-8)

7. Norwood (9-0, C2, LW: 7)
Usually when I take 15 days off from something, I get fat and slow. Or forget how to do it. Or where it is. But the Pirates took 15 days off and beat Morrisville by 55 on Tuesday to keep their perfect record alive and well. Fifty-five! Not fair! They should get some tougher games this week with the Sparta Tournament starting on Thursday.

This week: 1/5 Sparta Tournament, 1/10 Bradleyville (C1, 6-1)

8. Thayer (10-0, C2, LW: 8)
Like Carl Junction, Thayer has been off since Dec. 19. The Lady Bobcats return to action Thursday against Koshkonong (C1, 2-9) in the Liberty Tournament. Koshkonong shouldn’t be a problem for Thayer, but potential matchups with the likes of Liberty, Alton and Hartville provide intrigue. (Alton played Thayer within two points on Nov. 29.)

This week: 1/5 Liberty Tournament, 1/9 Ava (C3, 5-5)

9. Purdy (7-1, C2, LW: 9)
Purdy has had the longest break of any team in these power rankings, having been off since a Dec. 15 win over Verona. They jump back in with three road games this week including a back-to-back against winless Jasper and a pretty good Cassville team on Thursday and Friday.

This week: 1/5 @Jasper (C2, 0-8), 1/6 @Cassville (C3, 7-3), 1/10 @Seneca (C3, 5-5)

10. Gainesville (10-0, C2, LW: 14)
In the last edition of these power rankings, I said that we’d find out in the Mountain Grove Tournament if Gainesville is for real. Well, meet your Mountain Grove Tournament champions. (Which means yes they’re for real, if that wasn’t clear.) The Bulldogs got past C2 Plato (7-6) in the semifinals before what could be considered a statement win of sorts over C4 Salem (7-4) in the championship. Gainesville trailed 28-24 early in the fourth quarter before closing that game on a 13-2 run, shutting down Payton Curley late. If the basketball gods are good, we’ll get an undefeated Gainesville vs. an undefeated Norwood matchup in the Sparta Tournament this week.

This week: 1/5 Sparta Tournament

11. Wheatland (10-1, C1, LW: 10)
The Mules faced an underrated Lakeland team on Tuesday and escaped with an overtime road win, 64-57. Lakeland (7-3) has been good defensively but having to win this one in OT is a bit of a concern, especially since Hermitage had no problem with Lakeland two weeks earlier, winning by 23.

This week: 1/6 @Weaubleau (C1, 5-3), 1/9 Lakeland Tournament

12. Fair Grove (7-4, C3, LW: NR)
The 15-point loss to Mt. Vernon back on Dec. 12 looms pretty large, but I like what Fair Grove did in the Pink & White and believe Alana Findley (22.1 PPG, 12.6 RPG) and Co. are only going to keep improving. This is a roster with only one senior (Lorin Weaver) and one that played C5 Kickapoo to a 63-52 loss in the Pink & White White Division quarterfinals and Skyline to a 51-41 loss in the consolation semifinals. This is a Class 3 field that is looking for someone to really step into that No. 2 spot behind Strafford and Fair Grove has a chance down the road to be that candidate. We’ll learn a lot about the Lady Eagles this week with what they do against Ash Grove and then this weekend in the Skyline Tournament.

This week: 1/5 Ash Grove (C3, 7-4), 1/7 Skyline Tournament

13. Clever (8-4, C3, LW: 10)
Clever fell to C4 Rogersville, 54-43, to open the Pink & White but tallied off three straight consolation wins over C5 Camdenton (6-4), C4 Hillcrest (1-11) and C4 Bolivar (6-7), the last coming in the consolation finals. Another higher-Class test comes Thursday against C5 Willard (6-4).

This week: 1/5 Willard (C5, 6-4)

14. Pierce City (9-2, C2, LW: NR)
Pierce City just BURST onto everyone’s radar by upsetting three higher seeds on its way to a Walnut Grove Tournament championship last week. The Lady Eagles beat 4-seed Ash Grove (C3, 7-3) and 1-seed Walnut Grove before all but dismantling 2-seed Hartville (C2, 9-4) in the championship, 51-31. This is a team coming along fast after finishing last season 15-12. They’ve won six in a row since a 3-2 start and their only losses have come to Class 3 schools. They now join a CROWDED pack of talented Class 2 schools.

This week: 1/5 Crane (C2, 3-10), 1/9 College Heights Christian (C2, 2-4)

15. Hermitage (8-3, C1, LW: 13)
The Walnut Grove tournament was a bit of a struggle for Hermitage, falling to C2 Hartville by 25 and to C2 Fordland (8-4) by a pair. Hermitage rebounded with 58-45 conference win over Weaubleau on Tuesday and has still proven to be one of the best Class 1 programs in the area. Their biggest test of the season is coming to town on Friday in the form of Class 1 No. 1 Walnut Grove.

This week: 1/6 Walnut Grove (C1, 9-2), 1/9 Lakeland Tournament

Keep an Eye On: Lebanon (C5, 7-3), Branson (C5, 9-2), West Plains (C4, 7-4), Spokane (C2, 10-2), Hartville (C2, 9-4), Newburg (C2, 7-3), Alton (C2, 7-4), Salem (C3, 7-4), Licking (C3, 9-3)