Each week, the O-Zone staff will rank the top 15 area boys’ basketball teams based on dominance by Class, aka how they stack up pound-for-pound with the other schools in their respective Class.
Strength of schedule and recent success are also factored into the rankings.
Overall record, Class and previous ranking are listed in parenthesis.
1. Walnut Grove (20-2, Class 5, PR: 1) – I suppose a six-point loss to a red-hot Class 3 team (Fair Grove) in a tournament championship game can be forgiven. Fair Grove led the majority of the game, including by 13 entering the fourth quarter, but Walnut Grove was able to cut the margin to only two points down the stretch. One night earlier, Logan Thomazin became Walnut Grove’s all-time leading scorer with a 40-point outburst against Fordland. Arguably the best pound-for-pound regular season game of the year comes next week when Walnut Grove, ranked No. 2 in Class 1, hosts Class 2 No. 1 ranked Hartville.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 vs. Halfway, Feb. 9 vs. Hartville
2. Hartville (15-5, Class 2, PR: 2) – The Eagles again fell to Mountain Grove on Saturday, this time 90-74. It was Hartville’s second loss of the season against the Panthers – a sign it’s not quite at the level it was last season – but the Eagles have still the No. 1 spot in the Class 2 state coaches’ poll on lock this season and they’re positioned well for a return to Columbia. The schedule has been brutal all season and it doesn’t get much easier next week when the Eagles host a sneaky-good Conway team on Tuesday, followed by a Thursday night trip to Walnut Grove.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 @ Dora, Feb. 4 vs. Vienna (@ SBU), Feb. 7 vs. Conway, Feb. 9 vs. Walnut Grove, Feb. 10 vs. Morrisville
3. Mtn. Grove (18-2, Class 3, PR: 3) – The Panthers claimed their tournament championship last week, following up a narrow six-point win over Rogersville on Thursday with a 16-point win against Hartville (90-74) in Saturday’s title game. Mtn. Grove’s on a roll in 2017. The Panthers have won 10 straight – including wins over state-ranked teams Licking and Hartville (twice). Mtn. Grove’s only two losses came in the Blue and Gold Tournament against Class 4 teams Rogersville and Bolivar, by a combined margin of six points. Class 3 is really tough this year – it’s our best overall Class top to bottom in terms of quality teams – but the Panthers have stood above all else in their Class thus far. Lamar jumped Mtn. Grove in the state coaches’ poll last week, but I’m sticking with the Panthers for the power rankings due to their better strength of schedule.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 @ Salem, Feb. 7 vs. MV-BT/Liberty
4. Thayer (19-2, Class 2, PR: 6) – A take-care-of-business 51-37 win over Ava last night sets up the Bobcats for a pivotal showdown this Friday night in Mountain View against Liberty, with the winner moving closer to an SCA championship. It’s the fourth meeting between Thayer and Liberty this season, with Thayer taking the first three games. Thayer’s quest for a conference championship won’t be easy, with three upcoming road games against perhaps the next best three teams in the conference.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 @ MV-BT/Liberty, Feb. 7 @ Cabool, Feb. 10 @ Mountain Grove
5. Kickapoo (14-4, Class 5, PR: 5) – Blowout wins against Parkview (71-47) and Camdenton (84-47) over the past seven days have the Chiefs on the path toward a fourth straight conference title, 19th (!) conference title overall, and 14th (!) since the 2000-01 season. Kickapoo seniors Jared Ridder and Cam Davis are also rewriting the program record books. Ridder is 182 points away from reaching Ryan Rippee’s all-time KHS scoring record of 1,485. Cam Davis is also 55 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career. Kickapoo has seven regular season games remaining, and you figure, at least a few more in the postseason, so Ridder and Davis – barring injury – will reach their respective milestones. Kickapoo hosts Lebanon on Friday then heads over to Drury on Tuesday for a showdown with Glendale, a game that will weigh heavily on the Ozark Conference title race.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 vs. Lebanon, Feb. 7 vs. Glendale, Feb. 10 @ Joplin
6. Bolivar (18-3, Class 4, PR: 4) – Bolivar and Hillcrest delivered a good one in the finals of the 82nd annual Liberator Tournament last Saturday, with the Hornets taking home a 68-66 overtime win. It was a great win for Hillcrest – its best yet – and a disappointing loss for the Liberators, who led by 10 at halftime. Conley Garrison surpassed 1,000 career points in the loss. I’m still leaning toward Bolivar as our best Class 4 team considering their body of work. Also, those three-games-in-three-days tournaments can often lead to some upsets – see Ozark beating Nixa in the Blue and Gold – and are far different from having a day or two to prepare for an opponent come districts. Remember: Bolivar thumped Hillcrest 74-58 in early December. A winner-take-all Game 3 between the two for a district title later this month? Sign me up.
Upcoming games: Feb. 4 vs. Waynesville (@ SBU), Feb. 7 vs. Catholic, Feb. 10 vs. Central
7. Nixa (17-2, Class 5, PR: 7) – The Eagles rolled to their tournament championship last week, with dominating wins against Aurora, Belton and Ozark. The Ozark victory (70-51) avenged a previous loss to the Tigers in the Blue and Gold. After beating Branson last night, Nixa faces a rubber match with Ozark at home this Friday.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 vs. Ozark, Feb. 7 vs. Carl Junction
8. Hillcrest (14-4, Class 4, PR: 13) – And here’s where things to start to get a bit crazy in this week’s power rankings. I’ll admit: I love what the Hornets are doing and showing right now. They seem to have found an identity. To battle back and grind out an overtime win against Bolivar – after trailing by 10 at halftime – shows the ceiling Hillcrest possesses. It was the Hornets’ third game in three days and fourth in five days, a gauntlet that started with a grueling double-overtime loss (118-115) at Glendale last Tuesday. Tired legs? Not so much. Maybe most encouraging: Hillcrest beat Bolivar with sophomore Tyem Freeman only scoring seven points. Tim Washington, who also had a really good game against Glendale, led Hillcrest with 22. Hot take alert: I would NOT be against Hillcrest and Bolivar playing again with a district championship on the line. Also: Obligatory Tyem Freeman ridiculous dunk highlights.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 @ Parkview, Feb. 7 vs. Joplin, Feb. 10 @ Lebanon
9. Fair Grove (17-4, Class 3, PR: 9) – As we enter the trio of Class 3 teams who could all beat one another on a given night, I’m going with Fair Grove as the best of the bunch this week. The Eagles claimed the Sparta Tournament championship over the weekend, blowing out Forsyth in the semifinals then holding on to beat Walnut Grove in the title game. Fair Grove followed that up with a 59-51 win at Reeds Spring last night, giving the Eagles an eight-game winning streak. Also, in the “kinda surprising but not really surprising stat department,” Fair Grove’s Garrett Kesterson made 11 – yes, ELEVEN – 3-pointers in Monday’s quarterfinal win against Bakersfield in the Sparta Tournament. Kesterson’s one of the premier shooters the Ozarks has seen in recent years.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 vs. Skyline, Feb. 7 @ Pleasant Hope, Feb. 10 vs. Marionville
10. Licking (17-3, Class 3, PR: 8) – The Wildcats eeked out a five-point home win over St. James last night, setting up a run toward a Frisco League championship in the coming weeks. Licking’s already defeated Laquey, Stoutland and Crocker in conference play, but defending champ Iberia and state-ranked Newburg still loom.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 @ Dixon, Feb. 7 vs. Newburg, Feb. 10 vs. Richland
11. Hermitage (18-2, Class 1, PR: 12) – Hermitage continues to slice up teams not named Walnut Grove or Fair Play. The Hornets blew out Bronaugh (75-46) and Osceola (85-39) over the past week. Dillon Meyer went off for 33 points in the win over Osceola. I’m taking a bit of a risk here moving the Hornets up, considering they’ll face Fair Play tonight in the championship game of the Lakeland Tournament (update: welp! Fair Play beat Hermitage in double-overtime). Fair Play’s played Hermitage to a pair of close losses (68-63 on Dec. 28 and 53-50 on Jan. 17) this season.
Upcoming games: Feb. 1 vs. Fair Play (Lakeland Tournament finals), Feb. 3 vs. Climax Springs, Feb. 7 vs. Macks Creek
12. Clever (14-5, Class 3, PR: 9) – The Blue Jays draw the short straw for ranking position this week, despite a pretty solid showing recently. After suffering a double-overtime loss to St. Joseph Benton in the opening round of the Nixa Tournament, Clever rebounded with victories against Winnetonka (53-38) and Harrisonville (72-48). Harrisonville, for what it’s worth, played Lamar to a two-point loss in mid-December. Clever hammered Forsyth 78-53 last night, giving the Blue Jays an inside path toward a repeat SWCL crown with only four conference games remaining.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 @ Spokane, Feb. 4 vs. Pembroke Hill (@ Drury), Feb. 10 vs. Ash Grove
13. Republic (14-5, Class 5, PR: 11) – Some weeks, I have a hard time justifying moving teams up into the 6-to-12 range. This isn’t one of those weeks. I wish I could move EVERYONE up. I feel like we have a lot of teams playing really well right now, or in Republic’s case, taking care of business and winning games they should. Republic, unfortunately, gets the “no respect” label this week, despite winning their two most recent games. The Tigers rallied from a halftime deficit to win 60-53 at Father Tolton Catholic last Friday night. Treydon Rackley scored 26. Republic then defeated a much-improved Neosho team 65-45 on the road last night. Rackley (24) and Ty Stevens (20) combined for 44 points.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 @ Webb City, Feb. 7 vs. Branson, Feb. 11 vs. Savannah (@ Drury)
14. Greenfield (16-3, Class 1, PR: 14) – The Wildcats are playing like they want to be conference champions, as well as earn a showdown with Walnut Grove for a district title. Greenfield cleared two big SRVC hurdles recently, with dominating wins against Lockwood (64-40 on Jan. 27) and Pierce City (63-44 on Jan. 31). Beating Lockwood – on Lockwood’s courtwarming night – helped the Wildcats avenge a courtwarming loss of their own against Lockwood from last season. Marcus Wright led four Wildcats in double figures with 16 points. Greenfield’s won 10 straight games.
Upcoming games: Feb. 7 @ College Heights Christian, Feb. 10 vs. Sarcoxie
15. Lamar (15-3, Class 3, PR: Unranked) – It came down to Lamar or Greenwood for this final spot, and I went with the Tigers due to their better strength of schedule and lofty ranking in the Class 3 state coaches’ poll. Lamar took 3rd in the Bolivar Tournament last week, beating Camdenton and Savannah but losing to Hillcrest (74-56) in the semifinals. Lamar trounced Seneca 72-50 last night, behind 24 points from Trey Mooney. Lamar lost to Seneca earlier in the season. It’s a sign many of Lamar’s multi-sport athletes (i.e. football players) are starting to get their basketball legs.
Upcoming games: Feb. 3 vs. Cassville, Feb. 10 Mt. Vernon
Dropped out: Mansfield (14-6, Class 2)
Knocking on the door: Marionville (18-2, Class 2), Greenwood (16-3, Class 2), Lincoln (18-1, Class 2), Glendale (15-5, Class 5)
