Mike Ridaught
There was a shakeup in The Prep Zone Power Poll following last week’s district tournaments, including a new No. 1 team.
Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), which won the 4A-District 3 title last Friday with a 51-40 victory against previous No. 8 Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) in the title game, moved up one spot to the top of the all-classification girls basketball regional rankings.
The Crusaders, who are ranked No. 2 in Class 5A by MaxPreps, will host No. 20 Keystone Heights on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the Class 5A Regional Quarterfinals. The Indians (19-5) dropped two spots from No. 18 after losing to current No. 14 Dunnellon, 58-46, in the 4A-District 4 championship game.
Bishop Kenny (22-4) received five of the seven first-place votes.
Previous No. 1 St. Augustine had its 21-game winning streak snapped last week. The Yellow Jackets (21-1) lost to previous No. 13 Ponte Vedra, 47-44, in the 6A-District 4 championship game.
That dropped the Yellow Jackets, who received one first-place vote, to No. 3.
Despite only one loss, they are a No. 5 seed in the Class 6A state playoffs and will have to travel to RV (Received Votes) Gainesville on Thursday night. The Lady Hurricanes (14-7), who won the Class 6A-District 3 title, are the No. 4 seed in 6A-Region 1.
Spruce Creek (Port Orange), which moved up two spots to No. 2, won the 7A-District 2 title with a 43-38 win against West Port (Ocala) in the district championship game. They received the other first-place vote.
The Hawks (19-6), winners of nine in a row, will host previous No. 10 Mandarin (Jacksonville) in Thursday’s 7A regional quarterfinals. The Mustangs (17-3) lost at current No.15 Oakleaf (Orange Park), 68-40, in the 7A-District 1 championship game.
Wildwood moved up to No. 4 after defeating previous No. 6 Hawthorne, 46-32, in the 1A-District 8 championship game
The Wildcats (16-4), who are ranked No. 1 in Class 1A and 35th overall in the state by MaxPreps, will host Newberry in Thursday’s 1A regional semifinals.
Meanwhile, the Hornets (15-5) dropped to ninth following the loss.
As the No. 3 seed, Hawthorne will play at No. 2 seed Trenton (17-9) in Thursday’s regional semifinal. Despite winning its 90th straight district game, and its seventh straight district title, Trenton is not in the rankings.
Orange Park rounds out the top five.
The Raiders (22-5), winners of 11 in a row, won the 5A-District 3 title at RV Ridgeview (Orange Park), 55-44, in the championship game. They are ranked 36th overall in Florida & No. 3 in Class 5A by MaxPreps and will host Choctawhatchee (Fort Walton Beach) in Thursday’s 5A regional quarterfinals.
Rounding out the top 10 are Nease (Ponte Vedra), Ponte Vedra, which moved up six spots from No. 13 to No. 7, Mainland (Daytona Beach), Hawthorne, and Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville).
Despite the shake up, no teams dropped out of the top 20.
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 #5
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (4A) (4) (22-4) – 138
2. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (1) (19-6) – 129
3. St. Augustine (6A) (1) (21-1) – 121
4. Wildwood (1A) (16-4) – 112
5. Orange Park (5A) (22-5) – 107
6. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (6A) (22-4) – 103
7. Ponte Vedra (6A) (19-7) – 102
8. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (5A) (13-9) – 92
9. Hawthorne (1A) (15-5) – 78
10. Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (4A) (15-10) – 71
11. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (18-5) – 68
12. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (21-4) – 67
13. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (7A) (17-3) – 52
14. Dunnellon (4A) (24-3) – 48
15. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (7A) (11-11) – 44
16. St. John’s Country Day (Orange Park) (2A) (20-5) – 40
17. Eustis (4A) (15-9) – 24
18. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (17-9) – 21
19. Ribault (Jacksonville) (5A) (12-8) – 15
20. Keystone Heights (4A) (19-5) – 14
Also receiving votes: University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (15-11) – 8; Gainesville (6A) (14-7) – 6; Calvary Christian Academy (Ormond Beach) (2A) (20-2) – 4; Ridgeview (Orange Park) (5A) (16-10) – 4; Lake Weir (Ocala) (5A) (13-9) – 1; Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (7-14) – 1.
Playoff schedule for girls basketball teams (bold) in MainStreet’s coverage area
REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS – Thursday, Feb. 10
(All games at 7 p.m. unless noted)
6A – Region 1
No. 5 St. Augustine (21-1) at No. 4 Gainesville (14-7)
4A – Region 1
No. 8 Keystone Heights (19-5) at No. 1 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (22-4)
3A – Region 1
No. 5 P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) (8-6) at No. 4 Foundation Academy (Winter Garden) (18-7)
2A – Region 1
No. 6 Oak Hall (Gainesville) (11-4) at No. 3 Munroe (Quincy) (14-6), 6 p.m.
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS – Thursday, Feb. 10
1A – Region 3
No. 3 Lafayette (Mayo) (19-4) at No. 2 Fort White (17-2)
1A – Region 4
No. 4 Newberry (13-9) at No. 1 Wildwood (16-4)
No. 3 Hawthorne (15-5) at No. 2 Trenton (17-9)