Mike Ridaught
The St. Augustine girls basketball team has yet to lose during the 2021-22 season.
Following wins against previous No. 10 Ponte Vedra, 42-39, this past Tuesday, and 56-53 at previous No. 11 Orange Park last Thursday, the Yellow Jackets remained on top of The Prep Zone Power Poll powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
St. Augustine (18-0) received five of the seven first-place votes to remain No. 1. They are also ranked 28th overall in Florida by MaxPreps and seventh in Class 6A.
Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), which received one first-place vote, stayed second in the all-classification regional rankings. The Class 4A No. 3 Crusaders (14-4) defeated previous No. 5 Hawthorne, 55-40, this past Tuesday.
The top four teams remained the same this week.
Nease (Ponte Vedra) is third. The Class 6A No. 9 Panthers (14-3) went 2-0 with wins against previous No. 18 Columbia (Lake City), which dropped to 20th this week, and Heritage (Palm Bay).
Spruce Creek (Port Orange), which received the other first-place vote, is still No. 4 despite going 1-1. However, the Class 7A No. 5 Hawks (10-5), who lost at nationally ranked Lake Highland Prep (Orlando), 61-47, this past Tuesday, won at Orlando Christian Prep, 63-32, last Friday.
Following a 3-0 record since last week’s rankings, Mandarin (Jacksonville) moved up two spots to No. 5. The Class 7A Mustangs (14-0) are the only other undefeated team remaining.
Class 1A Wildwood, which went 2-0, including a 66-53 win against 6A No. 10 Lake Gibson (Lakeland), remained sixth. The Wildcats (11-3) are followed by 1A Hawthorne (8-2), 3A Providence (Jacksonville) (12-3), 5A Mainland (Daytona Beach) (8-6) and 3A Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (15-2) in the top 10.
Class 4A schools Dunnellon and Keystone Heights moved into the top 20. The Tigers (16-2) and Indians (13-3) are tied for 17th.
Madison County (10-4) moved into the rankings at No. 19. The Cowboys defeated RV (received votes) Trenton (10-6), 41-37, on Monday in a Class 1A showdown.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, girls volleyball, 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 weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2021-22 GIRLS BASKETBALL POLL #3
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, record through 1/11, total voting points)
1. St. Augustine (5A) (5) (18-0) – 137
2. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (4A) (1) (14-4) – 132
3. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (6A) (14-3) – 125
4. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (1) (10-5) – 120
5. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (7A) (14-0) – 103
6. Wildwood (1A) (11-3) – 102
7. Hawthorne (1A) (8-2) – 89
8. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (12-3) – 82
9. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (5A) (8-6) – 76
10. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (15-2) – 75
11. Ponte Vedra (6A) (11-6) – 71
12. Orange Park (5A) (13-5) – 66
13. Ribault (Jacksonville) (5A) (9-5) – 53
14. Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (4A) (9-7) – 50
15. St. John’s Country Day (Orange Park) (2A) (11-3) – 49
16. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (7A) (5-9) – 25
17T. Keystone Heights (4A) (13-3) – 17
17T. Dunnellon (4A) (16-2) – 17
19. Madison County (1A) (10-4) – 14
20T. Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (6-9) – 12
20T. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (10-6) – 12
Also receiving votes: Gainesville (6A) (8-4) – 10; North Marion (Citra) (4A) (9-5) – 10; Paxon (Jacksonville) (4A) (13-4) – 8; St. Joseph Academy (St. Augustine) (2A) (10-5) – 5; Trenton (1A) (10-6) – 4; P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) (3A) (6-4) – 2; Fleming Island (Orange Park) (6A) (10-4) – 2; Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (11-2) – 1; Eustis (4A) (7-9) – 1.