Feb. 1 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. 31.

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

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

1. Strafford (22-0, C3, LW: 1)
Strafford is four wins away from a perfect regular season after wins over C3 Ash Grove (9-11), C3 Southern Boone (14-4) and C3 East Newton (9-9) this week. The closest of those three games was a 69-37 win over 14-win Southern Boone. Southern Boone hasn’t exactly had a tough schedule, but its previous largest margin of defeat was a five-point loss to Eldon. Goodness. The Indians host a good Class 2 team this week in Spokane (17-4), but what looks good on paper only sometimes means anything at all. Expect more of the same from Strafford.

This week: 2/2 Forsyth (C3, 10-7), 2/6 Spokane (C2, 17-4)

2. Skyline (19-2, C2, LW: 2)
Skyline had no trouble with a pretty good Class 3 team in California (11-4), dispatching the Pintos 63-38. Earlier last week, they beat C2 Stockton (6-14) by 49. The Tigers have now won eight straight for the second time this season. They host C3 Fair Grove (13-6) on Thursday. Last time these two met, the Tigers romped, 57-26.

This week: 2/2 Fair Grove (C3, 13-6), 2/4 Marionville (C2, 1-15)

3. Walnut Grove (17-3, C1, LW: 3)
First, congratulations to Bayley Harman. The junior reached 1,500 career points this week in a 67-31 win over Dadeville. She’s well on her way to 2,000 career points, which is just awesome. Walnut Grove also topped C1 Dadeville by 18 points and dropped its third game of the season, this one to C3 Springfield Catholic (12-9), 56-40. Grove’s three losses have come by 16 to C3 Catholic, five to C2 Pierce City (15-4) and 40 to C3 (but might as well be C6) Strafford. Against Class 1, competition, there has been no comparison.

This week: 2/3 Halfway (C1, 8-9), 2/6 Seymour Tournament

4. Thayer (19-1, C2, LW: 5)
Well, well, well. In last week’s edition of these power rankings, a significant portion was dedicated to what was expected to be a fantastic matchup between then-undefeated Gainesville and this Thayer team. The game lived up to every expectation, with Thayer hanging on for a 44-43 win thanks to a late turnover. The Lady Bobcats couldn’t have made a bigger statement and have rightfully rocketed from being unranked in Week 1 to my second-best C2 program behind Skyline. Thayer also beat C3 Cabool (8-10) last week, 65-44. Keep an eye on this week’s matchup with Alton. The Comets (13-7) nearly beat Thayer on Nov. 29, losing 55-53. Class 3 Mountain Grove isn’t going to be a pushover, either.

This week: 2/2 Mountain Grove (C3, 9-10), 2/6 Alton (C2, 13-7)

5. Gainesville (18-1, C2, LW: 4)
For the first time this season, the Lady Bulldogs have a tally in the loss column. Thayer came back from a 16-5 first-quarter deficit, knocking off Gainesville in Thayer, 44-43. The Bulldogs will likely get another shot at Thayer in sectionals, and I’m sure that potential rematch is already weighing heavy on their minds. Gainesville responded to that loss with a vengeance, running through a very good C2 Spokane team (17-4), 67-50.

This week: 2/2 Sparta (C2, 5-13), 2/6 Seymour Tournament

6. Purdy (19-1, C2, LW: 6)
Fifteen wins in a row for Purdy. FIFTEEN. That’s now the second-longest streak in our coverage area behind Strafford, which as you know, hasn’t lost. Purdy put forth wins 13, 14 and 15 in this ongoing streak last week, beating C2 Southwest Washburn (1-12) 68-52, C5 Joplin (4-13) in the Seneca Tournament quarterfinals 64-62, and Carl Junction’s JV team in the Seneca semis 46-28. If you’re saying, ‘man, that Joplin game was pretty close for facing a 4-13 team,’ then stop for a second and remember that Joplin is Class 5 and Purdy is Class 2. That ALWAYS matters. Purdy is off until Feb. 9.

7. Carl Junction (14-2, C4, LW: 9)
Carl Junction gets a bump this week after what’s just a great, great win over C5 Lebanon (13-5) in the Lebanon Tournament championship, 48-39. I’d been so anxious to see CJ face some high-end in-state opponents (especially ones I’ve seen live), and the Bulldogs didn’t disappoint. To get to the finals, CJ knocked off C5 Belton (4-10), 69-43, and C4 St. Charles, 49-19. The 39 points for Lebanon is the fewest its scored since MBCA C5 No. 5 Rock Bridge held it to 36. Which means, yeah, this CJ defense is as good as we thought. Including the win over St. Charles, they’ve now held teams to fewer than 20 points in EIGHT of their 14 wins. Oh yeah, they also beat Webb City last week, 47-26. Pretty solid C5 opponents this week in Willard and Nixa.

This week: 2/2 Willard (C5, 11-7), 2/6 Nixa (C5, 9-9)

8. Kickapoo (17-4, C5, LW: 7)
Just one game last week for the Chiefs, easily handling C5 Camdenton (9-8) on the road, 86-56. Good to see Kickapoo respond like that after dropping a tough one to Ozark back on Jan. 24.

This week: 2/2 Parkview (C5, 3-12), 2/6 Glendale (C5, 5-14)

9. Rogersville (14-6, C4, LW: 8)
Rogersville with a patented 44-36 Rogersville-style win over C4 Bolivar (10-10), 44-36. That was it for the Wildcats this week, but there was a milestone to be had as Senior Sarah Jordan reached 1,000 career points in that win. Nice! Two tough and telling games coming this week against good C3 teams in Springfield Catholic and Mt. Vernon.

This week: 2/2 Springfield Catholic (C3, 12-9), 2/4 Mt. Vernon (C3, 15-4)

10. Wheatland (17-1, C1, LW: 10)
The Lady Mules keep rolling, man. I keep thinking back to that loss to Walnut Grove. Why? Because I can’t stress enough that its 58-42 loss was much closer than that final score. Keep that in mind with districts approaching. Back to last week now. Wheatland handled C1 Dadeville (6-10), 76-28, and C1 Halfway (8-9), 67-32. That’s the win differential you want to see from a high-end C1 team. They get a 14-win Macks Creek team Thursday that should provide a tougher challenge.

This week: 2/2 Macks Creek (C1, 14-4), 2/4 Verona (C2, 9-9), 2/7 Rich Hill (C2, 11-9)

11. Lebanon (13-5, C5, LW: 11)
Lebanon carried a decorated six-game win streak into its own tournament’s championship, but fell there to C4 Carl Junction (14-2), 48-39. The Yellowjackets trailed 23-11 at the half in that game, falling victim to a CJ defense giving up just over 26 points per game this season. Before that loss, though, Lebanon upended C5 Lee’s Summit West (8-9), 69-45, in the quarterfinals and MBCA C4 No. 5 Parkway North (15-3), 53-52, in the semifinals.

This week: 2/2 Joplin (C5, 4-13), 2/6 West Plains (C4, 12-8)

12. Norwood (18-2, C2, LW: 12)
The Lady Pirates fell just short of a Mansfield Tournament championship last week, falling to a good C3 Licking team (16-5) by five. That loss was bookended by a pair of good wins. The first over C3 Houston (9-10), 70-60. The other over C2 Hartville (14-8), 59-46.

This week: 2/2 Conway (C3, 4-12), 2/6 Ava (C3, 6-11)

13. Pierce City (15-4, C2, LW: 13)
Light schedule for Pierce City last week with the Lady Eagles facing only C1 Greenfield (3-12) and winning easily, 58-20. Pierce City closes its schedule with six league games in its final seven, with three of those coming this week. Two of those three include Sarcoxie (16-1), with one of those games coming in Oklahoma City. Sarcoxie is just on the outside of these rankings due to a weaker schedule, meaning those two games are just as important to them as to Pierce City. Watch those results closely.

This week: 2/3 Lockwood (C2, 13-6), 2/4 Ash Grove (C3, 9-11), 2/5 Sarcoxie (C2, 16-1), 2/7 Sarcoxie

14. West Plains (13-7, C4, LW: 14)
The Zizzers topped C5 Nixa this week, 67-59. That’s a nice-looking win for the Zizzers seeing as Nixa dropped Branson last week, 42-40. Elle Williams tallied her 1000th career point in that Nixa win. Lots of milestones this week across the landscape! West Plains followed that win with a 52-17 win over C5 Glendale (5-14).

This week: 2/2 C5 Rolla (4-12), 2/5 C5 Lebanon (13-5)

EDIT: A previous version of these power rankings had Nixa beating West Plains due to an incorrect report.

15. Ozark (11-6, C5, LW: NR)
Winners of five of six, Ozark returns to the rankings after upsetting Kickapoo back on Jan. 24 and following that up with a good win last week over C4 Salem, 59-48. The Tigers got handled this year by a pair of very good Arkansas programs and by MBCA C5 No. 5 Columbia Rock Bridge, but its other three losses have been by single-digits to Rogersville, West Plains and St. Joseph Central. Play those games again and this team could easily be 14-3 with a pretty darn good résumé. They get a hot Nixa team this week fresh off wins over West Plains and Branson before another tough test against Willard.

This week: 2/2 Nixa (C5, 9-9), 2/6 Willard (C5, 11-7)

Keep an Eye On: Branson (C5, 15-4), Sarcoxie (C2, 16-1), Clever (C3, 15-5), Spokane (C2, 17-4), Newburg (C2, 15-4), Hartville (C2, 14-8), Neosho (C5, 16-5), Alton (C2, 13-7), Licking (C3, 16-5), Salem (C4, 12-5)