The girls basketball programs at Mercer, Trenton, and Chillicothe continue to see positive returns from the state’s coaches, as all three teams both up one spot in this morning’s latest release of the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) poll.
The move upward for Dan Owens’ Lady Cardinal team pushes Mercer, for the first time this season, to the #1 spot in Class 1. With only one loss this season (against Class 5 St. Joseph Central), Mercer dominated its opponents last week in winning the Meadville Tournament, then continued their fine play with a 74-12 win over Winston on Tuesday night.
In Class 3 girls, the Trenton Lady Bulldogs, on the eve of their Grand River Conference championship game against Stanberry, are up to their highest-ranking of the season, now sitting at #6 in the state poll. Trenton is 19-2, including a perfect 7-0 in the school’s first year as a member of the Grand River Conference.
The Chillicothe Lady Hornets continue to see-saw in the Class 4 girls rankings, moving up to #2 (behind Incarnate Word), after falling to #3 a week ago. Chillicothe faces its biggest test of the season tonight (Thursday night), with the #9 ranked defending state champions from St. Joseph Benton visiting the Lady Hornets in an MEC showdown.
The only team to beat Chillicothe’s girls this season, Columbia Hickman, checks in at #6 in Class 5, with Jefferson City leading that poll.
The Winston boys join the Mercer girls as leading the HDC Conference regular season race, and enjoying the top spot in the MBCA Class 1 poll. The Mercer boys are ranked #10, with the Stanberry Bulldogs, heading to Trenton to play for the GRC title on Friday night (7:30 / Hot Country Z 101.7 and KGOZ-TV) ranked #9 in Class 2.
Here are the girls and boys MBCA polls, in their entirety:
GIRLS
Class 1
1 North Mercer 16-1
2 Walnut Grove 16-3
3 Wheatland 17-1
4 Jefferson 16-2
5 Leeton 17-2
6 Norborne 13-2
7 Mound City 15-4
8 Rock Port 14-3
9 South Nodaway 15-3
10 Higbee 13-4
Class 2
1 Clopton 17-0
2 Skyline 18-2
3 Thayer 18-1
4 Norwood 17-2
5 Gainesville 18-1
6 Purdy 17-1
7 Scotland County 13-1
8 Spokane 17-3
9 Santa Fe 16-1
10 Schuyler County 13-3
Class 3
1 Strafford 21-0
2 St. James 20-0
3 Father Tolton 17-2
4 Boonville 15-2
5 Southern Boone 14-4
6 Trenton 17-2
7 Monroe City 16-2
8 Central (Park Hills) 14-4
9 Whitfield 14-6
10 Principia 17-3
Class 4
1 Incarnate Word 16-3
2 Chillicothe 16-1
3 MICDS 18-2
4 Carl Junction 14-2
5 Pacific 15-2
6 Parkway North 13-4
7 Osage 16-3
8 St. Pius X (KC) 14-2
9 Benton (St. Joseph) 11-5
10 Sullivan 13-4
Class 5
1 Jefferson City 16-1
2 Kirkwood 14-2
3 Washington 15-2
4 Lee’s Summit North 15-0
5 Rock Bridge 15-3
6 Hickman 15-3
7 Kickapoo 16-4
8 Blue Springs South 11-3
9 Jackson 14-3
10 Lebanon 15-5
BOYS
Class 1
1 Winston 18-0
2 Walnut Grove 18-2
3 North Andrew 17-1
4 Hermitage 17-2
5 Scott County Central 17-4
6 Glasgow 15-3
7 Greenfield 15-3
8 Advance 17-4
9 Leeton 15-3
10 Mercer 14-3
Class 2
1 Thayer 18-2
2 Hartville 15-5
3 Lincoln 17-1
4 Wellington-Napolean 16-1
5 Salisbury 16-3
6 Marionville 17-2
7 Ellington 15-3
8 Knox County 15-4
9 Stanberry 15-3
10 Newburg 13-5
Class 3
1 Cardinal Ritter 14-5
2 Southern Boone 16-1
3 Charleston 15-4
4 Mountain Grove 16-2
5 Licking 16-3
6 Caruthersville 11-3
7 Lamar 14-2
8 Saxony Lutheran 18-2
9 Blair Oaks 14-3
10 Lawson 16-2
Class 4
1 Vashon 14-2
2 St. Mary’s 16-3
3 Sikeston 17-2
4 Helias 15-4
5 Jennings 17-3
6 Farmington 15-4
7 Bolivar 17-3
8 Parkway West 13-4
9 Center 14-4
10 Hillsboro 16-3
Class 5
1 Chaminade 16-2
2 Lee’s Summit West 16-1
3 Webster Groves 14-2
4 SLUH 15-5
5 Kickapoo 13-4
6 Nixa 16-2
7 Liberty 13-4
8 Park Hill 15-4
9 Park Hill South 14-5
10 Republic 13-5
