Holiday hoops led to some upheaval in our Boys’ Basketball Power Rankings. Five teams in the Top 10 of our Dec. 21 rankings lost at least one game over the break in the Blue and Gold Tournament, and only three undefeated teams remain.
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.
Current record, Class and previous ranking are listed in parenthesis.
1. Kickapoo (11-0, C5, PR: 1) – The Chiefs won the Blue Division of the Blue and Gold Tournament in convincing fashion, routing Ozark 73-44 in the finals last Wednesday. Kickapoo won all four of its B&G games by 25 or more points. Kickapoo has no shortage of scorers, but it’s the Chiefs’ defense – especially on the perimeter – that can push them into elite territory. Kickapoo may be undersized in the post against certain teams, but it’s hard to exploit that advantage when you’re ball-handlers are being constantly hounded for 32 minutes by the likes of Niekie Thomas-Fontleroy, Isaac Johnson, Cameron Davis and Derrick Roberson. The Chiefs generate those turnovers into transition offense, where they have guys that can finish at the rim or knock down 3-pointers. Kickapoo allowed over 65 points in its first three games of the season; only Ozark (59) has scored more than 50 against the Chiefs since. Kickapoo’s going to be tough to beat if it can continue that type of defensive output. The Chiefs play at Hillcrest on Tuesday and host West Plains on Friday.
2. Bolivar (8-0, C4, PR: 2) – The Liberators ended the longest title streak in Blue and Gold history last week, knocking off Nixa 46-44 to claim the Gold Division title. Unlike Kickapoo, all four of Bolivar’s B&G games were relatively close outcomes, but the Liberators still found a way to win in the end. The Nixa victory marked Bolivar’s first B&G title since 1998. Liberators senior guard Johnny Scott proved himself to be one of the area’s most versatile defenders. A night after chasing around Clever leading scorer Jakob Partee and limiting him to six points, Scott manned up in the post and took turns guarding Chase Allen and Christian Bundy against Nixa. Bolivar has a Blue and Gold rematch when it hosts Aurora on Tuesday, before traveling to Republic for a Thursday game.
3. Walnut Grove (12-0, C1, PR: 5) – Walnut Grove added Class 2’s No. 5-ranked team to its holiday tournament this season, then proceeded to knock them off. In a matchup of undefeated teams, Walnut Grove (12-0) defeated Iberia (9-1) 65-61 in the title game last week. Trailing by four going into the fourth quarter, Walnut Grove out-scored Iberia by eight in the final frame. Iberia’s a legit Class 2 contender – they return 6’10” Missouri Southern signee Dexter Frisbie among others from a team that won over 20 games last season – so this is a great early season win for Walnut Grove. The Tigers won’t run into too many Class 1 teams the likes of the Rangers until deep in the state tournament if they can make it that far again. Walnut Grove has a big Polk County League game at home this Friday against potential sectional-round opponent Hermitage.
4. Nixa (8-1, C5, PR: 4) – Did Bolivar play that well, or did the Eagles have an off game? Judging by his postgame comments, Nixa coach Jay Osborne would probably claim the latter. Either way, Nixa has its first loss of the season and some things to work on going forward. It starts in the backcourt, where Osborne will be preaching aggression to his guards instead of relying on 3-point shooting. Additionally, Nixa’s post players – despite a height advantage – were unable to score consistently against Bolivar when left in one-on-one situations. As far as these rankings go, it’s hard to penalize the Eagles for playing a potential Class 4 title team down to the final possession. As for that (surprisingly?) close semifinals game vs. Mountain Grove… the Panthers are one of the best Class 3 teams we have and Nixa may have been caught looking ahead against an opponent they didn’t know much about. Nixa defeated Central 74-50 on Saturday at Drury. Nixa plays in the Springfield Catholic Invitational this Thursday-Saturday.
5. Hartville (7-3, C2, PR: 3) – Hartville got its money’s worth in the Blue and Gold, playing four close games. Unfortunately for the Eagles, two of those games ended in losses. A day after pulling away in the second half to beat Camdenton, the No. 2 seed Eagles fell to 7-seed Strafford in the quarterfinals, 58-56. Coach Brett Reed said mistakes caught up to Hartville, which entered the Blue and Gold as the No. 1 ranked team in Class 2. On the consolation side, Hartville beat Conway before losing 47-42 to Republic in the 5th place game. The schedule doesn’t ease up for Hartville this week, with 11-1 overall Licking coming to town Tuesday before a Friday night game at Willow Springs.
6. Clever (9-2, C3, PR: 7) – The Blue Jays had a good showing at the Blue and Gold, rallying late to play eventual champ Bolivar to a 60-55 loss in the semifinals then bouncing back the next night and defeating Mountain Grove 64-58 for 3rd place. Sophomore guard Devan Hampton had a coming out party in that Bolivar game, as the Liberators struggled to stay in front of him when Hampton drove to the basket. If he develops a consistent jump shot….watch out. Clever’s only two losses are to teams that were ranked either No. 2 (Bolivar) or No. 1 (Hartville) in their respective classes last week. The third-place finish at the Blue and Gold, as well as an early season win over Fair Grove, should help the Blue Jays’ seed hopes for what’s shaping up to be a top-heavy Class 3, District 11 field. Clever has road games at Blue Eye (Jan. 5) and Willard (Jan. 8) this week.
7. Thayer (9-1, C2, PR: 6) – Thayer begins this week coming off of a third-place finish at the Cabool Tournament. The Bobcats suffered their first loss of the season in the tournament semifinals, 67-57 to a MV-BT/Liberty team it had beaten in the finals of its own tournament earlier in the month and will see again in the official SCA meeting on Feb. 2. The February meeting will mark the 17th time the two schools have played since 2010. In a 70-50 semifinals win over Plato at the Cabool Tournament, Zack Horton, Ayden Henry and Zyman Langley combined for 56 of the team’s 70 points. Those three have formed a nice scoring trio for Thayer, but defense has also been key; the loss to Liberty marked the first team this season that Thayer has allowed over 60 points. Thayer has road games at Alton (Jan. 5) and Gainesville (Jan. 7).
8. Rolla (10-1, C4, PR: 10) – The Bulldogs continue to trend up. Rolla won its own tournament in convincing fashion last week, hammering Waynesville 80-47 in the title game. Rolla went bombs away from deep, knocking down 10 first-half 3-pointers. Even with the red-hot shooting, Rolla coach Mark Miller said it was his team’s defensive performance that he was most excited about, as the Bulldogs held Waynesville under 50 points. Rolla, if you’re keeping track, is averaging 75 points per game. The Bulldogs host Waynesville in a rematch and official Ozark Conference game on Tuesday, then travel to Union this Friday night.
9. Glendale (4-3, C4, PR: 9) – No holiday tournament for the Falcons, so no change in their ranking this week. Glendale’s been off since beating Rogersville 65-56 on Dec. 17. The Falcons return to action Tuesday night at Branson, then head to Oklahoma for the Skiatook Invitational Thursday-Saturday.
10. Crane (8-2, C2, PR: 8) – The Pirates played Class 3 Clever to an OT loss in the Blue and Gold quarterfinals, then were ousted the next day by a Class 4 Aurora team (63-53). Crane didn’t have an answer for Clever’s Jakob Partee (27 points) and Aurora boasts some of the best front-court size in the area. Both were respectable losses though, and the Pirates will look to add some supplemental scoring alongside the duo of Tanner Gold and Dalton Hayes going forward.
11. Mountain Grove (7-2, C3, PR: 11) – I’ve seen them play four times so maybe I’m a little biased here, but Mountain Grove’s Treye Collins has to be one of the five best passers in the area. Time and time again in the Blue and Gold, I’d watch Collins catch it on the perimeter, then use a ball-fake or look-away to fool the defense, before threading a pin-point pass underneath the basket to a teammate for an easy layup. His passing and ability to break-down defenses with simple but effective passes was a big reason why Mountain Grove nearly had one of the biggest upsets in Blue and Gold history. Yes, Clever’s No. 6 and Mountain Grove’s No. 11 on this list (for now), but there’s not much separation between the two teams. That 3rd place game was tight from start to finish and could have gone either way. Mountain Grove takes part in the Seymour Tournament this week.
12. Fair Grove (10-3, C3, PR: 12) – Fair Grove finally ended an 0-for-7 streak against Strafford, beating the Indians 68-60 in the Blue Division 3rd place game last week. Normally, I don’t read much into prolonged series losing streaks like that among high school teams since most players only play varsity 2-3 years, but Fair Grove has guys like Kyle Cavanaugh, Garrett Kesterson and Evan Fullerton, who have all played since they were freshmen and had never beaten Strafford in their careers. It could be a big mental hurdle cleared for Fair Grove going forward. Fair Grove travels to Conway on Tuesday, a game that will have big district seeding implications, before hosting Stockton on Friday night.
13. Licking (11-1, C3, PR: Unranked) – Licking repeated as Cabool Tournament champions last week, defeating MV-BT/Liberty in the finals. The Wildcats are proving to be just fine sans-Lane Duncan. The Smiths (Brady, Dillon) along with versatile wing Nathan Wilson have led Licking to 11 wins thus far, with the lone loss coming versus Class 2 No. 5 Iberia. Wilson scored over 20 in all four games at the Cabool Tournament. In one of the best matchups of the week, Licking travels to Hartville on Tuesday before a Frisco League game at Stoutland on Friday.
14. Weaubleau (8-0, C1, PR: Unranked) – Weaubleau had the holidays off, with its last game coming Dec. 18 in a 70-45 win at Climax Springs. The Tigers return to action for the first time in two and a half weeks on Tuesday night, with a game at Hermitage that will have big seeding implications for Class 1, District 6.
15. Ozark (9-3, C5, PR: 13) – So is Ozark the team that played Kickapoo within a two-point loss on Dec. 18, or the one that got blown out by the Chiefs 12 days later? The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle, for now. On the right night, Ozark can hang with anyone in the area (Dec. 18 vs. Kickapoo, Dec. 5 win over Rolla, for example), but the Tigers have also been blown out twice. Not having that premier, No. 1 scorer will catch up to you on some nights. But, the Tigers are deep and balanced enough to contend for the 20-win mark and force a potential third meeting with Kickapoo in the district finals before the season is through. For now, Ozark will set its sights on the Springfield Catholic Invitational Jan. 7-9.
Knocking on the door: Bakersfield (9-2, C2), Strafford (6-5, C3), Aurora (6-3, C4), Hermitage (8-3, C3)
