The Bishop Kenny girls basketball program has made five straight FHSAA state semifinal appearances.
Halfway through the 2023-24 season, last year’s Class 4A state runners-up appear to be on their way to a sixth consecutive trip to Lakeland.
In fact, they could win their first state title since 1992.
In the first FHSAA rankings of the season that were released on Tuesday, Bishop Kenny is the No. 1 team in Class 4A and the No. 7 overall team in Florida.
They went 8-1 since the first all-classification regional rankings of the year were released on Dec. 11.
Their only losses are to nationally ranked DME Academy & Sumter, the No. 3 overall team in South Carolina. Bishop Kenny has wins against No. 4 Ribault (Jacksonville), No. 8 Ridgeview (Orange Park), and No. 19 Mainland (Daytona Beach).
The Crusaders (12-2) received all 11 first-place votes.
Duval County is dominating the region as the top four teams in the rankings reside in Jacksonville.
Providence is ranked second, followed by Class 4A Bolles (12-4), and 4A Ribault (9-2), which moved up five spots from No. 9.
The second-ranked Stallions (14-2), who were in the 3A state semifinals last year, went 8-2.
They have played a difficult schedule and have wins against No. 8 Ridgeview, 61-55 (OT), at No. 3 Bolles, 53-50, at No. 10 Trinity Catholic (Ocala), 63-61 (OT), at No. 16 Hawthorne, 62-27, vs. No. 7 Orange Park, vs. No. 18 Beachside (St. Johns), and at RV Madison County. Their losses are against Cincinnati Country Day (No. 13 overall team in Ohio), and Wayne County (No. 67 overall team in Tennessee).
Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (11-5), which lost in the 7A-Region 1 Final last year, rounds out the top five.
Class 1A state runners-up Wildwood (8-3) leads off the second five at No. 6, followed by Orange Park at No. 7, Orange Park schools Ridgeview and St. Johns Country Day, which are tied for eighth, and No. 10 Trinity Catholic (Ocala).
Previous No 20 North Florida Educational Institute (Jacksonville) (4-5), which went 2-3, dropped out of the rankings, while Class 5A St. Augustine (11-1), which went 7-0, moved in at No. 13.
Among teams in the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area, defending 1A state champion Hawthorne is ranked 16th, while P.K. Yonge (Gainesville), which lost at Providence in last year’s 3A-Region 1 Final, is No. 18.
The Hornets dropped 12 spots from No. 4 following a 3-3 start, while the Lady Blue Wave (6-4) also fell 12 spots from No. 6 after a 2-3 record since the last rankings.
Class 1A Trenton (10-1), Oak Hall (Gainesville) (4-0) and Eastside (Gainesville) (10-2), which won the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational last week, are receiving votes.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, girls basketball, boys basketball, softball & baseball teams (regardless of FHSAA classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2023-24 GIRLS BASKETBALL POLL #2
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, record through 1/1 & total voting points)
Teams in bold are inside the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area.
1. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (4A) (11) (12-2) – 220
2. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (14-2) – 207
3. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (12-4) – 194
4. Ribault (Jacksonville) (4A) (9-2) – 168
5. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (11-5) – 152
6. Wildwood (1A) (8-3) – 128
7. Orange Park (6A) (9-3) – 121
8T. Ridgeview (Orange Park) (5A) (8-4) – 116
8T. St. John’s Country Day (Orange Park) (2A) (11-3) – 116
10. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (8-4) – 111
11. University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (7-2) – 106
12. Beachside (St. Johns) (6A) (12-3) – 94
13. St. Augustine (5A) (11-1) – 86
14. San Jose Prep (Jacksonville) (3A) (8-4) – 70
15. Ponte Vedra (6A) (8-4) – 69
16. Hawthorne (1A) (3-3) – 54
17. Lake Minneola (6A) (10-4) – 49
18. P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) (3A) (6-4) – 42
19. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (5A) (4-8) – 37
20. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (7A) (8-4) – 36
Also receiving votes: Leesburg (5A) (11-1) – 31; Madison County (1A) (8-2) – 20; North Florida Educational Institute (Jacksonville) (2A) (4-5) – 15; Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville) (7A) (10-1) – 14; Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine) (7A) (12-3) – 13; Trenton (1A) (10-1) – 10; Springstead (Spring Hill) (6A) (9-3) – 7; DeLand (7A) (9-2) – 6; Oak Hall (Gainesville) (2A) (4-0) – 6; Menendez (St. Augustine) (5A) (9-4) – 5; Dunnellon (4A) (10-2) – 4; Eastside (Gainesville) (4A) (10-2) – 2; Creekside (St. Johns) – 1.