The Kansas Basketball Coaches Association released its latest rankings on Tuesday, Jan. 11 and the top of the Class 6A boys basketball rankings remains largely undisturbed.
The preseason favorite Lawrence Free State maintained its spot atop Class 6A boys basketball in the latest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association rankings released on Tuesday, Jan. 11. Blue Valley West maintains its second place spot, despite a 4-point loss to Blue Valley Northwest on Jan. 7.
Olathe South and Shawnee Mission South have had the biggest jump in the rankings this season while Lawrence High dropped out of the top 10 after being ranked No. 3 in the last KBCA release. The Lions lost to 73-64 against Olathe West on Jan. 4 before picking up blowout wins over Shawnee Mission West and Olathe Northwest.
Olathe South (5-2) has steadily crept up the rankings this season, moving to the No. 3 spot after starting as No. 9 in the preseason. The Falcons have gone undefeated against Kansas opponents so far with both losses against Missouri schools in Lee's Summit and Staley. The Falcons have won their first three Sunflower League games against Mill Valley, Shawnee Mission East and Olathe North and averaged a 22.7-point margin of victory in those contests.
Shawnee Mission South (5-1) cracked the top five after starting the season unranked. The Raiders pulled out a few victories in some very close contests to start the year with five straight wins and landed one spot behind No. 4 Dodge City.
SM South went 2-1 in single-possession games already this season, beating Shawnee Mission Northwest in overtime on Dec. 10 and pulling out a 58-56 win over Shawnee Mission North on Jan. 7. However, the Raiders streak of late-game luck came to end with a 56-55 loss to Mill Valley on Jan 14.
Eudora (6-1) had an even larger meteoric rise in Class 4A. The Cardinals hold the top spot after beginning the season unranked. Eudora started the season with a 49-40 loss to Basehor-Linwood, but the team has rattled off six straight wins since then. The closest game for the Cardinals in that stretch was a 44-28 win over No. 5-ranked Paola.
In Class 5A, St. James Academy (5-2) sits at No. 8. The Thunder have maintained its spot on the edge of the coaches poll so far this season. The team has twice started two-game win streaks, only to drop close games against Blue Valley North and North Kansas City (Mo.).
Pittsburg (7-1) found itself in the 10-spot after winning its last seven contests by double-digit margins.
Galena (7-1) has maintained its top five spot in Class 3A, coming in at No. 4 this week behind Hesston, Royal Valley and Cheney. Frontenac (6-1) slid into the top 10 for the first time with its No. 9 ranking.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Shawnee Mission West (8-0) took over the top spot in the Class 6A girls basketball rankings after the previous No. 1 Shawnee Mission Northwest stumbled down the standings.
The Vikings added wins over Lawrence High and Olathe East since returning from winter break.
SM Northwest came out on the wrong side of a 37-36 battle with Olathe Northwest on Jan. 4. The team responded with a 61-30 victory over Shawnee Mission East on Jan. 7.
Blue Valley (6-1) made its way into the top five after starting the year unranked. The Tigers won their first six games before losing 63-41 against Bishop Miege on Jan. 11.
Spring Hill (5-3) made a similar move in Class 5A, going from preseason unranked to seventh in the latest ranking. The Broncos started the year 1-2 with tough losses against Lansing and Shawnee Mission South. They responded with four straight wins, including a 43-40 victory over Baldwin.
But Eudora (7-1) knocked off Spring Hill 56-42 on Jan. 11, likely sliding the Broncos down while giving Eudora a claim for a higher spot in the next Class 4A rankings. The Cardinals rank No. 4 at the moment after winning their last seven games by at least 14 points, including a 48-34 win over Louisburg on Jan. 7. Louisburg (4-2) remains in the Class 4 top 10 at seventh.
Miege (6-0) holds onto its top spot in Class 4A. Ottawa (5-1) breaks into the top 10 in the final spot behind Labette County (7-1).
St. Paul makes its way onto the Class 1A-Div. 1 top 10. The team has opened the season with a 7-0 undefeated record heading into its Jan. 14 with a 4-1 Girard.
WRESTLING
Both Baldwin wrestling teams finished with third-place team finishes at the Burlington Wrestling Invitational on Jan. 8 at Burlington High School.
Baldwin boys took third at the 30th Annual Burlington Wrestling Invitational on Jan. 8 at Burlington High School.
Baldwin girls took third at the 5th Annual Burlington Girls Wrestling Invitational on Jan. 8 at Burlington High School. The Bulldogs finished with 125 points, landing behind tournament champion Burlington at 177 and runner-up McPherson at 171.
Madi Hargett and Willow Dubois took first in their weight classes at the event. Elee Pittman placed second at 191, picking up first-period pinfalls in each of her first three matches before facing the reverse outcome against Erin Kutina of McPherson in the finals.
Hargett earned second-period pinfall victories in all three of her matches to win the 235-pound weight class. Hargett took down Sierra Dempsey of Santa Fe Trail in the semifinals and Ciara Rawson of McPherson in the finals. Dempsey and Rawson have a combined 13-3 record this season.
Dubois won her first two matches with pinfalls in less than a minute and 14 seconds. Hannah Reddick of Fredonia gave her a bigger fight in the finals, but Dubois picked up a pinfall at the 2:45 mark to secure first place at 126 pounds. Nora Prather (132) and Kaitlin Base (170) advanced to the third-place matches, but both ultimately settled for fourth place.
Baldwin and Gardner-Edgerton girls teams earned eighth place in their respective classes in the latest KWCA team rankings.
The Baldwin boys scored 141 points, trailing tournament champion McPherson at 206.5 and runner-up Mulvane at 166.5 points. Jack Harvey and Zayne Nowak won their weight classes at the event.
Harvey picked up three pinfall victories in the 182-pound weight class with only his semifinal match requiring a second period. After beating Jackson Hughes of Mulvane at the 1:23 mark, Harvey pinned Brock Zimmerman of Burlington with 18 seconds left in their match to advance to the finals. Harvey took down Tristan VandeVelde late in the first period to secure gold.
Nowak picked up two pinfall victories in a combined 2:12 of match time to the finals. His first-place match against Cooper Bittle of Rock Creek took a little bit longer than that. The two 195-pounders needed an overtime period to decide the victory. Nowak earned a takedown to win 8-6.
Jaiden Michael (152) and Jonathan Wren (220) earned fourth-place finishes, each securing multiple pinfall victories to reach the semifinals before dropping their last two matches.
Blue Valley Southwest boys team has seven wrestlers ranked in the top six for their weight class in the KWCA rankings, with two in the top spot, two more at No. 2 and one more in the top three.
Blue Valley Southwest went head-to-head with Washburn Rural and finished in a 35-all tie, with Rural picking up the victory based on the sixth tiebreaker criteria.
Blue Valley Southwest finished a dual with Washburn Rural tied 35-all. Washburn Rural picked up the victory based on the sixth tiebreaker criteria. The Timberwolves have a 6-2 record in duals so far this season.