Four county girls teams remain ranked

Published 10:18 am Thursday, December 15, 2016

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

While things were a little more chaotic in this week’s guys rankings with seven teams being at least nominated for a spot in the top 10, the girls poll remained a lot more consistent this week with the same four teams from the original rankings being ranked yet again in the new poll.

Spain Park, Thompson, Montevallo and Westminster at Oak Mountain all cracked the top 10 of their classes poll.

The Lady Jags and Lady Bulldogs came in as the highest ranked girls’ teams this week as Spain Park (6-3) took the No. 4 spot in 7A for the second consecutive week and Montevallo (8-1) moved up two spots to No. 4 in Class 3A. The Jags haven’t played in that time span, while Montevallo has played twice and beaten Calera and Westminster at Oak Mountain. They beat the 1A No. 10 Knights in a tough one 50-42 on Dec. 13. Those two wins extended the Bulldogs’ win streak to seven straight games.

Thompson (6-4) also improved their ranking in 7A moving up one spot from No. 9 to No. 8. The Lady Warriors have won five of their last seven games including wins over Oak Mountain, Helena and Pelham. For some reason they have struggled with an average John Carroll team this year who Thompson has now lost to twice. The Warriors have two big games against Chelsea and Spain Park before the end of this week.

The final team ranked in the Week 2 poll was Westminster at Oak Mountain. Even after a loss to Montevallo the Lady Knights (7-2) were able to hold steady at the No. 10 spot in Class 1A for the second consecutive week. Westminster beat Thorsby 43-26 on Dec. 9, Prattville Christian 45-43 on Dec. 10 and fell by just eight, 50-42, to the No. 4 Bulldogs on Dec. 13, making them 2-1 over their last three games.

The rankings for classifications with county teams ranked are below:

CLASS 7A
1. Sparkman (13-2)
2. McGill-Toolen (10-2)
3. Hoover (9-4)
4. Spain Park (6-3)
5. Gadsden City (10-2)
6. Hewitt-Trussville (9-7)
7. Central-Phenix City (7-2)
8. Thompson (6-4)
9. Auburn (8-4)
10. Tuscaloosa County (8-3)
Others nominated: Lee-Montgomery (4-8).

CLASS 3A
1. Lauderdale County (8-1)
2. Locust Fork (9-0)
3. Lexington (9-1)
4. Montevallo (8-1)
5. Midfield (4-4)
6. Plainview (10-0)
7. Pisgah (7-2)
8. Hillcrest-Evergreen (7-0)
9. Pleasant Valley (5-4)
10. Clarke County (7-2)
Others nominated: Carbon Hill (9-0), Daleville (8-3), Geneva (10-3), Glencoe (5-3), Montgomery Academy (3-2), Susan Moore (8-2).

CLASS 1A
1. Loachapoka (10-1)
2. Spring Garden (6-2)
3. Decatur Heritage (5-1)
4. J.F. Shields (5-3)
5. Linden (1-1)
6. Pleasant Home (6-2)
7. Skyline (11-1)
8. Vina (13-2)
9. Brantley (8-2)
10. Westminster-Oak Mountain (7-2)
Others nominated: Addison (7-0), Georgiana (3-2), Isabella (8-2), Holy Spirit (6-1), R.A. Hubbard (5-3).