CS8
1. Southeast – The Spartans pulled it off. Everyone thought they would give Lanphier a game, but as Coach Lawrence Thomas said after the game, not many outside of the team thought they would actually beat Xavier Bishop and the Lions in the City Championship. Freshman Anthony Fairlee officially had his coming out party with 26 points and 14 rebounds in the biggest game of his career so far. If he can put up numbers like that, the boys from the East Side are going to stay at the top of the Power Rankings for awhile.
2. Lanphier – Lanphier spent much of the City Championship game battling back against a Southeast team that was there to make a point. It looked like they'd pulled it off, as Xavier Bishop helped will the Lions back to a three point lead while three of his fellow Lanphier starters sat on the bench with five fouls. But Trevyon Williams' 25 foot three pointer in the final 10 seconds of that tile game changed the complexion of this season entirely. Southeast and Lanphier now sit tied in the loss column of the Central State 8 rankings and should they stay that way, the season finale' at Scheffler Gynasium with the CS8 title on the line could be as epic as that City Final was.
3. MacArthur – It took a game winning shot from Dallas McClain against Glenwood and an unusual strategy of stalling for four minutes in the third quarter to eventually beat Jacksonville in overtime, but the Generals were a perfect 5-0 in the Non-City tournament. Possibly the most impressive part of that is the fact they were missing one of their best players Keymonta Johnson in the Glenwood game. Mac is probably out of the mix in the Central State 8 race, but they could continue to play spoiler. They've got another matchup with Southeast, a team that they've beaten in two of three meetings this season. The Spartans got the one that matters from a conference perspective.
4. Glenwood – The Titans suffered a serious blow to their run at a repeat as CS8 champs last week when they lost to MacArthur at home. But with the Southeast win over Lanphier on Saturday, the Titans are still breathing in conference. Glenwood still gets two shots at Lanphier but will first have to travel to Decatur to try to get some revenge on Mac this Friday. Watch out for senior guard Ethan Hunt, who continues to torch the net from three-point range.
5. Jacksonville – The Crimsons can play with the best and struggle against teams they shouldn’t. Last week they needed overtime to hold off Lincoln at the Bowl and then were able to push the Generals to another overtime on their home floor in Decatur. James White is becoming a top three-point threat in the conference and the big boys inside continue to get better and better.
6. Lincoln – The non-City tourney got the Railsplitters some confidence back and Lincoln charged back to almost clip the Crimsons at the Bowl. Aron Hopp continues to be a solid scoring option, but the ‘Splitters need more scoring to stay with the top teams in the CS8.
7. Rochester – Tuesday's loss to Pleasant Plains showed the struggles of the Rockets this season. Scoring is a problem and scoring three points and four points in a single quarter of a conference game against Glenwood just highlights those issues. The Orange and Blue can work on that against Riverton on Saturday because they get the top team in the Power Rankings on Friday.
8. Springfield High – The Senators stepped up and got a solid win at City on Saturday, stomping the Cyclones on the big stage. The night before, they stayed with the Spartans for awhile. Baby steps for the Solons, who obviously have the support of the best student section in the capital city.
9. SHG – Nobody wants to go 0-3 at City. The Cycs have shown potential when they can get Albert Okwuegbunam the ball in the paint. That being said, SHG let Xa score 50 points in less than three quarters of a game.
10. Eisenhower – They stay in games, but can’t finish down the stretch. The Panthers are still searching for that first conference win and without Stephon Jarrett, a trip to Lober Nika on Friday will be a tough road test.
Area
1. Pleasant Plains – Pleasant Plains continues to play stellar all-around basketball, even during the rigors of a tough and competitive schedule. The Cardinals picked up their second win over a CS8 team on Tuesday, by dominating Rochester on the road. Here are reasons why Pleasant Plains is far and away the number one team in the area. Lets take a glance at the box score from that victory against Rochester. Austin Finley: 21 points and six rebounds. Nik Clemens: 10 points and 10 rebounds. Isaac Collins: 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Daulton Nibbe: Nine points, seven assists and three steals. Cole Greer: eight points, eight rebounds and six assists. The Cardinals forced 13 turnovers and gave it up just three times. Next level productivity from multiple sources, efficiency, balanced play and terrific coaching from Cliff Cameron has Pleasant Plains rolling right now.
2. Williamsville – We raved about Pleasant Plains in the number one spot, but how about the season the Bullets are having? Williamsville has played the Cardinals twice and both times, the Bullets have played Pleasant Plains tough. Harrison Creswell has really come into his own as a polished post player and because of that, has received several DIII and junior college looks, including Millikin, Lincoln Land, Parkland and Rock Valley. Coach Nick Beard has also benefitted greatly from having a seven to eight man rotation that gives him consistent, productive minutes. A great measuring stick game awaits the Bullets on Friday night, when they host Quest Charter – a team out of Peoria that is very competitive at the 1A level.
3. Riverton – One of the biggest surprises in recent weeks has been the surge of the Riverton Hawks. Former SHG coach, Blake Lucas said on the Channel1450.com Press Box on Sports Radio 1450 last week that Riverton coach, Kyle Weber is one of the top young coaches in the state. High praise from a fellow young coach that had success over on Washington street. Riverton dove into the Sangamo schedule later than the rest of the conference, but the Hawks are a sneaky good 4-0 in conference play so far. Why did the Hawks jump into the No. 3 slot? Riverton beat Athens last Friday at home, ending the Warriors 15-game winning streak and knocking the Warriors out of this position. There’s not one player on Riverton that is going to consistently take over a game, night in and night out and they don't have a lot of size, but every game, Riverton finds a different player that could hurt you. Whether that’s point guard, Ryan Roscetti getting to the rack or penetrating, Zak Merchant heat checking and knocking down three-pointers or Anthony Frank mixing it up inside and outside, the Hawks are a dangerous team this time of year.
4. Athens – If we were bracketology experts constructing an NCAA Tournament bracket, the Warriors would undoubtedly make the big dance. But their seeding would be a major question. Athens doesn’t boost a particularly strong strength of schedule. The Waverly Tournament isn’t what it used to be and the Mohawk Classic doesn’t present a stout field. The Warriors do have the best player amongst the area teams in Matt Wendling, who leads the area in points per game, with 25.1 and is fifth in rebounds per game with eight. He's capable of carrying this team in a post season run and athletically, the Warriors have one of the best rosters in the area. A 15 game winning streak, which was snapped by Riverton is legitimate at any level, but we’re still a little unsure about Athens because of its strength of schedule.
5. Auburn – The Trojans haven't done anything to fall out of the top five in our Power Rankings, but Riverton has done enough to jump up. After a third place finish at County, the Trojans are right in the middle of their Coaches vs. Cancer this week where Aubrey Beard has been a prominent force through a couple games.
Honorable Mention
PORTA – PORTA had to replace a handful of key contributors from last years team, which hasn't been easy. It showed early in the season, too. After a hot start, PORTA cooled off, but the Jays have started to find somewhat of a groove. Its one of the most well-coached teams in the area and Max Muller is putting together a sensational scoring season. He's second in the area, averaging 19.2 ppg.
South County: We haven’t had a chance to see much of South County yet, with the exception of the Waverly Tournament, but its 5-1 in the MSM and sitting atop the conference. If South County keeps this trend up, we’ll be able to see more of them in the coming weeks. In a Tuesday night win vs. Hart-Em, Justin Gill and Lewis Wallbaum both dropped 20 points.
