Feb. 8 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 Feb. 8.

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

FEB. 1 POWER RANKINGS
JAN. 25 POWER RANKINGS
JAN. 18 POWER RANKINGS
JAN. 11 POWER RANKINGS
JAN. 4 POWER RANKINGS
DEC. 21 POWER RANKINGS
DEC. 14 POWER RANKINGS
DEC. 7 POWER RANKINGS
NOV. 28 POWER RANKINGS

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1. Strafford (24-0, C3, LW: 1)

Strafford (which has now won 40 GAMES IN A ROW dating back to last season) won two games by 99 combined points last week. Decent job! Those wins came over two teams with combined records of 28-14, mind you. The first: 100-40 over C3 Forsyth (11-9). The second: 81-42 over C2 Spokane (17-5). Over its last six games, Strafford has now won by 39, 60, 51, 32, 41 and 42 points for an average win differential of 44.2 PPG. As of Feb. 8, Abby Oliver is on pace for 160 3-point makes this season, which would break Chadwick’s Maddie Hursh’s record of 149 set in 2014. Oliver is shooting 53 percent from 3, which is actually two percentage points behind Hayley Frank’s mark. Frank is averaging a double-double (23.0 PPG, 11.2 RPG) and dishing out 6.1 assists per game. Strafford is one of three undefeated girls teams remaining in Missouri (and four teams total). One of those three is fellow C3 member St. James (22-0). Now excuse me as I go check on the psyche of anyone on the Indians’ schedule.

This week: 2/13 Pleasant Hope (C2, 2-14)

2. Skyline (21-2, C2, LW: 2)

Skyline is now riding a season-high 10-game win streak after wins over C3 Fair Grove (15-7) and C2 Marionville (2-17). Neither game was too close with Skyline beating Marionville by 38 and Fair Grove by 19. Fair Grove stuck with Skyline for a while but the Tigers pulled away behind a big second half from Kaylee DaMitz. It was Skyline’s third win this season over Fair Grove with the other two coming by 31 and 10 points. Good road matchup this week against C4 Osage (19-3). Top-seed Skyline will get Pleasant Hope (2-19) to open the C2D10 tournament on Feb. 20.

This week: 2/9 Osage (C4, 19-3), 2/13 Ash Grove (C3, 11-12)

3. Walnut Grove (19-3, C1, LW: 3)

Eleven wins in 12 games now for Walnut Grove after easily handling C1 Halfway (8-10) and C2 Morrisville (4-15) last week. Grove took Morrisville by 34 and Halfway by 40. Grove hasn’t had any trouble with C1 opponents this year outside of a 16-point win over one-loss Wheatland back on Dec. 15. Walnut Grove is the 1-seed in District 5 (surprise!) and will face winless Everton (0-16) on Feb. 18.

This week: 2/14 Fair Play (C2, 9-7)

4. Thayer (21-1, C2, LW: 4)

Thayer got disrespected in the C2D3 tournament seeding meeting. The Bobcats were given the 2-seed behind 1-seed Neelyville (18-3). I’m not discounting Neelyville as a very good team, but Thayer did everything and more to earn a top seed in that tournament. Thayer has four wins against ranked (No. 5 Gainesville) or once-ranked (C4 Salem, C2 Van Buren, C2 Hartville) opponents. Neelyville has none and lost to Van Buren. Thayer is perfect against in-state opponents. Neelyville has two in-state losses. Thayer beat C2 Alton by two points and seven points. Neelyville beat Alton by six. What more do these people want? Where is the common sense? Expect the Bobcats to use this as bulletin-board material and come into a very tough C2D3 tournament with some fire. Anyway, last week, Thayer beat Alton (14-9), 67-60, and C3 Mountain Grove (9-11), 58-27, to secure its second 10-game win streak of the season.

This week: 2/9 Eminence (C1, 13-9), 2/13 Willow Springs (C3, 12-9)

5. Gainesville (20-1, C2, LW: 5)

Easy going last week for Gainesville. The Bulldogs eased by six-win Sparta, 65-30, and Rogersville’s JV squad, in Seymour Tournament pool play, 61-30. Gainesville will see Sparta again in the opening round of the C2D5 tournament, where the Bulldogs were awarded the top seed on Wednesday. Fun rematch this week with a trip to Norwood on Monday. The Bulldogs handed the Pirates (20-2) their only C2 loss with a 45-29 win in the Sparta Tournament championship back on Jan. 11.

This week: 2/9 Seymour (C2, 4-13), 2/13 Norwood (C2, 20-2)

6. Purdy (20-1, C2, LW: 6)

The second-longest girls basketball win streak in the area (Strafford: 40) hit 16 with a 67-46 win over McDonald County (C4, 6-13) in the Seneca Tournament championship last Saturday. Sami House, Layne Skiles and Rion Boyd combined for 45 points in that win. This week’s tournament win was Purdy’s third in-season tournament championship this season, previously winning the Marionville and Diamond tournaments.

This week: 2/9 McAuley Catholic (C2, 12-7), 2/13 Wheaton (C1, 8-9)

7. Carl Junction (16-2, C4, LW: 7)

Carl Junction moved into a virtual tie for second with Republic in the COC-Large thanks to wins this week over C5 Willard (11-9) and C5 Nixa (8-12) being coupled with Republic’s loss to Branson (a team CJ beat, 29-27). The Tigers beat CJ head-to-head, but both now have one conference loss. Carl Junction was impressive against a scrappy young Nixa team that upset Branson not too long ago. The Bulldogs were forced to play much of the first half without Alex Vogt yet still entered halftime with a 19-10 lead, eventually pulling away in the second half and winning by 14. HUGE game this week at Ozark. Ozark is perfect in conference play and still must face Republic as well as Branson. This conference is wide open with less than two weeks to go.

This week: 2/9 Ozark (C5, 13-6), 2/13 Carthage (C5, 9-9)

8. Kickapoo (19-4, C5, LW: 8)

The return of Ari Acuff has provided Kickapoo with a huge spark with district play approaching. Acuff went for 19 points in Kickapoo’s 101-34 win over C5 Glendale (5-16) on Monday as the Chiefs continue to roll through a comparatively soft stretch of their schedule. Kickapoo also defeated Parkview last week, 55-35. With those two wins, the Chiefs sit at 6-0 in the OC. That’ll do.

This week: 2/9 Joplin (C5, 5-14), 2/13 Rolla (C4, 5-13)

9. Rogersville (16-6, C4, LW: 9)

Two good wins last week over two good C3 opponents in Springfield Catholic (13-10), 47-30, and Mt. Vernon (19-6). Mt. Vernon had won 12 of 13 games coming into last Saturday’s matchup with Rogersville at Drury and the Wildcats still won big, 72-44. Only two others teams have held Mt. Vernon to fewer points this season and only Kickapoo has scored more against the Mountaineers—73.

This week: 2/9 Marshfield (C3, 7-14), 2/13 Hollister (C3, 7-13)

10. Wheatland (21-1, C1, LW: 10)

That 21-1 record sure does look nice, and Wheatland knows it too. The Mules have an ever-evolving Twitter hashtag showing that sparkling record off:

Wheatland Lady Mules beat class 2 Rich Hill Lady Tigers on the road 71-39. Sutt with 29 and 7 3’s, Fatino with 19, Asare with 12 #21-1

— Coach Bryan (@LadyMules) February 8, 2017

The Mules have pushed their win streak to 13 games with wins this week over a trio of teams at .500 or better. Wheatland first beat C1 Macks Creek (15-6), 61-58. Then topped C2 Verona (11-10), 53-44. Lastly came C2 Rich Hill (11-11), 71-39. Sophomore Madi Sutt topped 1,000 career points in the win over Verona and had a week-high 29 points against Rich Hill. As expected, Wheatland is the 1-seed in the C1D7 tournament. The Mules get the winner of Lakeland (beat 64-57 on Jan. 3) vs. Weaubleau (beat 72-35 on Jan. 6) on Feb. 23.

This week: 2/14 Humansville (C1, 7-12)

11. Lebanon (16-5, C5, LW: 11)

Like every other team in these rankings outside of West Plains (more on that in a couple seconds), Lebanon was perfect last week. The Yellowjackets had no problems with C5 Joplin (5-14), traveling west for a 59-32 win. The more notable win this week came over C4 West Plains (14-8), one of the top area C4 teams. The Yellowjackets came out of that conference matchup with a 56-47 win, keeping them a game behind Kickapoo in the OC. Lebanon also topped C4 Helias Catholic (8-13), 57-40, getting 34 points, 10 rebounds and six steals from Kelsey Winfrey in that one. Best wishes to Carsyn Bowman, who is undergoing surgery this week for a torn ACL. According to coach Brendan Kelley, Lebanon will also be without Kamryn Mack (8.1 PPG) for about a week.

This week: 2/9 Hillcrest (C4, 1-18), 2/13 Camdenton (C5, 10-9)

12. Norwood (20-2, C2, LW: 12)

Two sub-.500 opponents meant two wins last week for Norwood. The Pirates took care of C3 Conway (5-13), with a 67-34 conference win, and C3 Ava (7-14), 66-40. This week is all about revenge for Norwood with C2 Gainesville (20-1) visiting on Monday. The Bulldogs handed Norwood its only C2 loss of the season, beating the Pirates in the Sparta Tournament championship, 44-29. Norwood was given the 2-seed in the C2D4 tournament (Gainesville is No. 1) and will face Seymour in the Feb. 18 quarterfinals.

This week: 2/10 Houston (C2, 10-12), 2/13 Gainesville (C2, 20-1)

13. Pierce City (18-4, C2, LW: 13)

Pierce City had a great trip to Oklahoma City last week, beating Sarcoxie (16-2) in Chesapeake Arena, 80-61. That win kept the Lady Eagles perfect in the SRVC. Equally as impressive, Belle Golubski (20 points), Ragan Blinzler (19 points), Christine Stellwagen (12 points) and Kendyl Hayward (10 points) all hit double-figures. The Lady Eagles must like the bright lights.

When the ref photobombs the team picture..???? @CoachG_PC @stine_3 @kristen_jon @RBlinzler @portillo_kayla @belle_g5 @Libbey_jo @emilyylanese pic.twitter.com/crgWo7yHLi

— Bryan Stellwagen (@bstellwagn) February 6, 2017

Pierce City also put up wins over C2 Lockwood (13-9), 53-34, and C3 Ash Grove (11-12), 61-49.

This week: 2/9 Jasper (C2, 2-14), 2/14 Golden City (C1, 3-13)

14. West Plains (14-8, C4, LW: 14)

Lebanon’s depth proved too much for West Plains last Monday. The Lady Zizzers dropped that conference matchup in Lebanon, 56-47, after trailing 23-22 at the half. Elle Williams went for a game-high 18 points, but Lebanon saw three girls hit double figures and Kelsey Winfrey finish with a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds). That loss was the only loss by ANY team last week in these power rankings. The Zizzers did get one win last week, beating C4 Rolla (5-13), 65-29. West Plains still has just two C4 losses, with both coming in early December (Pacific, Rogersville).

This week: 2/9 Waynesville (C5, 14-5), 2/13 Hillcrest (C4, 1-18)

15. Ozark (13-6, C5, LW: 15)

Two good-looking wins over two good C5 teams last week for Ozark. The Lady Tigers took care of a Nixa team that’s better than its 8-12 record, winning 60-49 and getting 37 combined points from the senior-freshman duo of Mikayla Putt and Madi Braden. The other win came over Willard (11-9) on the road, 77-68. Two HUGE conference matchups this week against Carl Junction and Branson. Both travel to Ozark this week and combine for a 33-6 record.

This week: 2/9 Carl Junction (C4, 16-2), 2/10 Battle (C5, 4-9), 2/13 Branson (C5, 17-4)

Keep an Eye On: Branson (C5, 17-4), Licking (C3, 18-5), Mt. Vernon (C3, 18-6), Clever (C3, 16-6), Spokane (C2, 17-5), Hartville (C2, 16-8), Alton (C2, 13-8), Salem (C4, 14-5), Sarcoxie (C2, 16-2)