Despite two losses over the past month, both to Class 4 competition, the Trenton Lady Bulldog basketball team has continued its slow rise in the Class 3 Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) high school basketball poll, moving up to #8 in the first rankings of 2017, released on Thursday morning.
Trenton, going into a home date with Maysville on Friday night, and next week’s Lawson Tournament, sits at 8-2, and the top ranked Class 3 girls squad in northwest Missouri. Defending state champion Strafford is top-ranked in Class 3, followed by fellow unbeaten teams Southern Boone and St. James. The Monroe City Lady Panthers, from the Clarence Cannon Conference, are 10-0 and ranked one slot ahead of Trenton at #7. California High School is ranked #9 with Licking at #10.
The Chillicothe Lady Hornets have dropped from #3 to #5 in the Class 4 girls poll, that the result of the first loss of the season for CHS, suffered at Class 5 #3 ranked Columbia Hickman over the Christmas Break. Chillicothe remains the top ranked girls team in northwest Missouri in Class 3, trailed by defending state champion St. Joseph Benton, who checks in at #7. The Smithville Lady Warrior squad that beat Trenton by a 41-36 final at NCMC Holiday Hoops is just outside the Class 4 “Top 10”.
Jefferson has moved to the top of Class 1, as the Lady Eagles received the #1 ranking this week, although that stay may be short-lived after South Nodaway won at Jefferson on Thursday night. North Mercer holds steady at #3, after a loss to St. Joseph Central, a win over Summit Christian Academy, and a win over #10 ranked Southwest Livingston over the past 2 1/2 weeks. Mercer plays at Newtown-Harris on Friday night.
Norborne is ranked #8, Mound City #5, South Nodaway #9, and Southwest Livingston #10 in the Class 1 MBCA girls poll.
In the MBCA boys poll, area highlights are Winston staying at #2 in Class 1 (behind 12-0 Walnut Grove), with Glasgow at #3, North Andrew at 4, Braymer 8, and Jefferson 9.
Stanberry’s unbeaten start brought the Bulldogs to the top spot in Class 2, however, the Bulldogs suffered a rare regular season loss, falling at Worth County on Tuesday night.
Here are the latest state rankings from the MBCA:
GIRLS:
Class 1
1 Jefferson 8-0
2 Walnut Grove 9-2
3 North Mercer 6-1
4 Leeton 7-0
5 Mound City 7-1
6 Wheatland 9-1
7 Higbee 8-1
8 Norborne 6-1
9 South Nodaway 9-0
10 Southwest (Livingston County) 6-1
Class 2
1 Clopton 9-0
2 Skyline 11-1
3 Norwood 8-0
4 Gainesville 10-0
5 Thayer 10-0
6 New Franklin 8-1
7 Purdy 7-1
8 Spokane 9-2
9 Scotland County 6-1
10 Mid Buchanan 10-0
Class 3
1 Strafford 12-0
2 Southern Boone 8-0
3 St. James 13-0
4 Father Tolton 10-1
5 Central (Park Hills) 11-1
6 Whitfield 8-5
7 Monroe City 10-0
8 Trenton 8-2
9 California 5-1
10 Licking 9-3
Class 4
1 Carl Junction 8-0
2 MICDS 10-0
3 Incarnate Word 11-1
4 Parkway North 8-1
5 Chillicothe 8-1
6 Pacific 11-2
7 Benton (St. Joseph) 6-3
8 Logan-Rogersville 9-4
9 West Plains 7-4
10 Grain Valley 5-2
Class 5
1 Jefferson City 11-0
2 Kirkwood 8-1
3 Hickman 9-1
4 Rock Bridge 9-2
5 Washington 8-1
6 Blue Springs South 7-2
7 Jackson 9-1
8 Lees Summit North 8-0
9 Kickapoo 10-3
10 Lebanon 7-3
BOYS:
Class 1
1 Walnut Grove 12-0
2 Winston 10-0
3 Glasgow 7-0
4 North Andrew 6-0
5 Hermitage 10-1
6 Advance 8-2
7 Scott County Central 7-4
8 Braymer 7-1
9 Jefferson 5-3
10 Greenfield 6-2
Class 2
1 Stanberry 8-0
2 Hartville 10-2
3 Thayer 10-2
4 Bismarck 9-2
5 Lincoln 8-1
6 Newburg 9-2
7 Knox County 8-2
8 Ellington 7-2
9 Mansfield 9-3
10 Crane 6-4
Class 3
1 Cardinal Ritter 11-3
2 Licking 12-0
3 Charleston 10-1
4 Southern Boone 7-0
5 Caruthersville 6-1
6 Summit Christian Academy 8-1
7 Lamar 8-1
8 Mountain Grove 7-2
9 Monroe City 9-0
10 Saxony Lutheran 10-1
Class 4
1 Sikeston 9-0
2 St. Mary’s 11-0
3 Vashon 9-2
4 Helias 7-1
5 Farmington 9-1
6 Jennings 10-2
7 Parkway West 7-3
8 Hillsboro 10-1
9 Bolivar 9-2
10 St.Charles 9-3
Class 5
1 Chaminade 10-1
2 Lee’s Summit West 8-0
3 SLUH 10-4
4 Webster Groves 7-2
5 Kickapoo 7-2
6 Nixa 9-1
7 Park Hill 10-0
8 Republic 9-1
9 Park Hill South 8-3
10 Liberty 8-2
