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. Kickapoo (2-1, Class 5, PR: 1) – The Chiefs took their first loss of the season over the weekend, falling to host Jonesboro (Ark.) in the finals of the Hurricane Classic. No reason to hit the panic alarm as the Hurricane are very good – ranked No. 20 in the FAB 50 Midwest Rankings – and feature a pair of Division I commits in guards Desi Sills (Arkansas) and Marquis Eaton (Arkansas State). Kickapoo trailed by one at halftime but saw Jonesboro pull away in the third quarter when it outscored the Chiefs 19-13. Sills went for 22 points and 10 rebounds against the Chiefs while Eaton had 14 points and eight assists. Not surprisingly, Jared Ridder is off to a torrid start for the Chiefs, averaging over 26 points per game. He scored 34 in Kickapoo’s opener and Cam Davis poured in 30 against Jonesboro. The Chiefs remain in Arkansas this weekend – this time Fayetteville – for the Bulldog Classic. It kicks off a busy stretch of six games in nine days.
Upcoming games: Fayetteville (Ark.) Bulldog Classic (Dec. 8-10), Dec. 13 vs. Branson, Dec. 16 @ Ozark
2. Hartville (4-0, Class 2, PR: 2) – No state championship hangover here. The Eagles are off to another impressive start. Hartville claimed the championship at the Clever Tournament last weekend, by knocking off a pair of state-ranked Class 3 teams: Fair Grove in overtime in the semifinals and Clever in the finals. They’ve got a really good shot to be a No. 2 seed –at worse, a No. 3 seed – in the Blue and Gold Tournament, which seeds next week. A great early season Summit Conference game comes this Friday when Hartville hosts 5-0 Fordland.
Upcoming games: Dec. 9 vs. Fordland, Dec. 13 @ Seymour, Dec. 16 vs. Hazelwood Central (at Waynesville High School)
3. Mountain Grove (2-0, Class 3, PR: 3) – Two comfortable home wins for the Panthers thus far, 69-52 over Catholic and 94-34 over Dora. One of December’s best non-tournament games comes next week (Dec. 13) when the Panthers travel east on Highway 60 to face Class 2 No. 2-ranked Mansfield
Upcoming games: Dec. 8 @ Conway, Dec. 13 vs. Mansfield, Dec. 17 @ North Ark. Shootout (Harrison, Ark.)
4. Walnut Grove (5-0, Class 1, PR: 4) – There’s a strong case for the Tigers to be the No. 1 team on this list. Walnut Grove’s handled everyone in its path thus far in convincing fashion, from Class 4 West Plains (71-52), to Class 3 Forsyth (81-70), to Class 1 and fellow district member Greenfield (78-58). Walnut Grove’s offense is on fire to start the season. Through five games, Walnut Grove’s averaging 75 points per game. Its lowest output was 69 points against Flippin (Ark.) in the Forsyth Tournament, a game it won by 34. Victories over Flippin, Forsyth and West Plains last weekend gave the Tigers the Forsyth championship. WG followed that up by hammering Greenfield on Tuesday, but a challenging three-game stretch is ahead.
Upcoming games: Dec. 9 @ Crane, Dec. 13 @ Lockwood, Dec. 15 vs. Wheatland
5. Licking (4-0, Class 3, PR: 6) – Any time Licking plays, you’ve got the chance for some highlight worthy plays, such as this alley-oop that Nathan Wilson threw to Brady Smith last night. Willow Springs margins of victory in its four wins so far: 28, 19, 28 and 27. The Wildcats beat Newburg 54-26 in the finals of the Frisco League Tournament last Saturday and handed Willow Springs a 68-41 home loss on Tuesday.
Upcoming games: Dec. 9 @ MV-BT/Liberty, Dec. 12 @ Crocker, Dec. 15 vs. Salem
6. Mansfield (4-0, Class 2, PR: 7) – The Lions have lived up to their preseason state No. 2 ranking (in the coaches’ poll) so far. The strength of schedule hasn’t been great, but Mansfield has handled its business so far with comfortable wins over Richland, Houston, Ava and Lighthouse Christian. The Lions Morrisville in the semifinals of the Mansfield Tournament on Thursday night, then either Seymour or Ava in Saturday’s title game. Two big early season tests come next week when Mansfield hosts Mtn. Grove on Tuesday and travels to Catholic on Friday.
Upcoming games: Dec. 8-Dec. 10 Mansfield Tournament, Dec. 13 vs. Mtn. Grove, Dec. 16 vs. Catholic
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7. Nixa (3-0, Class 5, PR: 8) – Impressive start by the Eagles, who defeated St. Joseph Lafayette (95-63), state-ranked Raytown South (76-55) and DeSmet (79-75) to win the MBCA Hall of Fame Classic at Parkview over the weekend. If Nixa’s consistently scoring 70+ points per game – something it did 10 times last season – it’ll be a load to handle in the COC-Large and districts. Big game for the Eagles on Tuesday when they travel to Glendale.
Upcoming games: Dec. 13 @ Glendale, Dec. 16 vs. Central
8. Clever (3-1, Class 3, PR: 5) – The Blue Jays survived a tough test against McAuley Catholic in the semifinals of the Clever Tournament before losing 61-55 to defending Class 2 state champ Hartville in the finals. There’s going to be a lot of worthy teams in the mix for seeds in the 3-5 range next week and Clever is certainly among them.
Upcoming games: Dec. 9 @ Strafford, Dec. 10 vs. Ellington (@ Glendale High School), Dec. 15 @ Carthage
9. Bolivar (4-0, Class 4, PR: 11) – I’ve got some recency bias here since I covered their win over Hillcrest last night, but No. 11 felt wayyyyy too low for the Liberators after seeing them up close. Class 4 isn’t very deep this year, but the Liberators are without a doubt our best team in that group at the moment. Depth could be a question going forward for the Liberators, but they’ll have the two best players on the floor most nights in Conley Garrison and Brandon Emmert. That’s usually a recipe for 25+ wins and a postseason run. Bolivar also won the Battle at the Border Tournament in Branson over the weekend, defeating Lake Hamilton (Ark.) in the finals. Bolivar has an intriguing game next week when it travels to Helias Catholic on Dec. 16. The Crusaders could be a potential opponent for Bolivar in the Class 4 quarterfinals.
Upcoming games: Dec. 9 @ Aurora, Dec. 16 @ Helias Catholic
10. Glendale (2-0, Class 5, PR: 9) – The Falcons had a close call in their home game against Rogersville on Monday, leading 31-29 at halftime before pulling away in the second half to win 69-58. Monty Johal and Jordan Walton are the headline players for Glendale, but it may be the emergence of Jaxon Davis (37 total points through two games) that could lift the Falcons to a different level. You’ll want to be at Glendale High School this Friday night when the Falcons take on Norman North (Okla.) and 5-star guard Trae Young as part of the Ozark Mountain Shootout, which continues Saturday.
Upcoming games: Dec. 10 vs. Norman (Okla.) North, Dec. 13 vs. Nixa, Dec. 16-17 Coral Springs (Fla.) Tournament
11. Fair Grove (4-1, Class 3, PR: 12) – If we’re going off their common opponents (Hartville, McAuley Catholic), there’s not much of a gap – if any – between Clever and Fair Grove, so I tried to reflect that a bit more in this week’s rankings. Fair Grove’s scored at least 64 points in all five games so far and is averaging 72.8 points per game overall. They’ll likely be 6-1 overall and set up as a dangerous mid-seed for the Blue and Gold Tournament.
Upcoming games: Dec. 9 @ Buffalo, Dec. 13 vs. Hollister, Dec. 16 vs. Aurora
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12. Republic (3-0, Class 5, PR: 14) – “Fisher Ball” continues to produce victories and titles for Republic, as the Tigers claimed the Republic Invitational championship with a 56-45 overtime win over Ozark last Saturday. Republic was led by its guard tandem of Ty Stevens (21 points) and Treydon Rackley (20 points). It’s a physical half-court battle with scoring in the mid-50s when you play Republic, and more often than not the last few seasons, the Tigers end up on top. Republic faces Class 3 No. 2 ranked Cardinal Ritter in the Ozark Mountain Shootout at Glendale High School this weekend.
Upcoming games: Dec. 10 vs. Cardinal Ritter (@ Glendale High School), Dec. 13 vs. Parkview
13. Lincoln (4-0, Class 2, PR: 15) – The Cardinals claimed the Warsaw Tournament title over the weekend, highlighted by a 78-59 win over Butler in the finals. Lincoln’s closest call came in the opening round against No. 8 seed Warsaw, as Lincoln may have still been dealing with some football rust. Lincoln’s main rotation looks to be centered on seven seniors led by the trio of Boone Kroenke (20 ppg), Mason Sanders (16.3 ppg) and Connor Spunaugle (13.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg). After blowing out Northwest (Hughesville) on the road Tuesday night, Lincoln takes on Lakeland for its home opener this Friday.
Upcoming games: Dec. 9 vs. Lakeland, Dec. 12 @ Skyline, Dec. 13 vs. La Monte, Dec. 16 vs. Sacred Heart
14. Hermitage (4-0, Class 1, PR: Unranked) – Hermitage has transitioned to a guard-heavy team this year and that may benefit them down the road when they face Walnut Grove. The Hornets won the Humansville Tournament last weekend, defeating Halfway in the semifinals and rival Wheatland in the title game. Hermitage isn’t very deep, but they’re balanced through four games – Dillon Meyer, Austin Hostettler, Victor Le Verdier and Jeff Salmon all average between 12-19 points per game.
Upcoming games: Dec. 13 vs. Humansville, Dec. 16 vs. Dadeville
15. McAuley Catholic (3-2, Class 2, PR: 13) – The Warriors gave Clever a battle in the semifinals, but didn’t have much gas left in the tank the following day as they were blown out by Fair Grove 70-42 in the 3rd place game of the Clever Tournament. The Warriors’ rotation goes about eight deep – seven of which are seniors – and I still like them to win a lot of games this year despite the two losses last weekend.
Upcoming games: Dec. 9 @ Sarcoxie, Dec. 13 vs. Exeter, Dec. 16 vs. College Heights Christian
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Dropped out: Hillcrest (1-3, Class 4)
Knocking on the door: Eminence (2-0, Class 1), Thayer (5-1, Class 2), Fordland (5-0, Class 2), Crane (5-0, Class 2), Lamar (3-1, Class 3), Webb City (1-0, Class 4), Rogersville (4-2, Class 4), Ozark (3-1, Class 5), Parkview (4-1, Class 5)
