As a pollster for the Buffalo News, I'm asked to send in my weekly ballots ranking the top ten large and small schools. The polls are based on games played through Sunday of each week. Here's a look at how I see them and some of the rationale used to get there.
Large Schools
1. Niagara Falls (AA) – After seeing how good Bishop Kearney played without Chinonso Obokoh against Joe's, I place even more value on how well Falls played that BK team at full strength. On Friday they get the herculean task of facing Milton (GA) in the Burger King Classic. Check out these highlights of Auburn bound Shaquille Johnson, just one of four Division 1 starters for Milton.
2. Canisius (MMA) – The Crusaders are ready for a test after throttling O'Hara and St. Francis by a combined 87 points. We'll see if St. Mary's or McKinley is able to give them one this week.
3. Jamestown (AA) – One of the better stories of this season is the Red Raiders success despite losing two first-teamers from last season.
4. Bishop Timon-St. Jude (MMA) – One of the best surprises this season has been the inside play the Tigers have gotten from DeMilo Gibbs. He led Timon to a win as he scored 25 points against Walsh, who put its focus on limiting Kobis and Williams (a combined 16 points).
5. St. Joe's (MMA) – The Marauders own 20-point wins against Williamsville East and Buffalo East. This week they go global, welcoming China's Shanghai Nanyang high school to Kenmore Avenue on Tuesday.
6. McKinley (A1) – The Macks passed the first of several tests in the Yale Cup with a win at Hutch-Tech. They'll have their hands full on Saturday.
7. Kenmore West (AA) – Only losses to the top two schools in WNY. No other team has gotten to within 12 points of the Blue Devils.
8. Williamsville East (A1) – Hamburg totally stole the Flames' thunder by ending Williamsville South's ECIC II win streak. Will East will now have to focus on ending the Billies league championship streak instead.
9. Clarence (AA) – After a big win over Frontier, the Red Devils are tucked in right behind Will East with a one-point head-to-head loss.
10. Hutch Tech (A1) – Followed up a tough loss to McKinley by going into East and winning a tightly contested battle.
Small Schools
1. Olean (B1) – Is it outrageous to suggest that the Huskies should consider petitioning to play an independent schedule in the two seasons following this one?
2. Depew (B1) – After stunning the Lancers with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, the Wildcats dominated league rival Maryvale on the road.
3. St. Mary's (MMA) – If there's a universal formula to apply when a team only losses by one on the road that would keep the Lancers in the second spot, I'm unaware of it. For now, the Depew loss costs them one spot.
4. OTC/MEC (C1) – The Kats will have a chance to show everyone what they are made of when they face Stan Wier and the Blue Devils at the MLK Classic on Saturday.
5. East (B1) – How many small schools could beat Riverside? Probably the four above the Panthers. Like I said during the December beat downs, East will be just fine in the race for the Yale Cup.
6. Tonawanda (B1) – The first of three unbeatens in WNY. I got my first look at the Warriors on Friday and came away quite impressed. The best player in WNY that isn't being mentioned is Jesse Lalka. More to come on him in the comments section.
7. Silver Creek (C2) – The second of WNY's unbeatens. The unselfish style of the Black Knights is fun to watch.
8. MST Seneca (C2) – And the third. Aaron Frasier is on a mission this year, and it continues Thursday when the Indians host I-Prep.
9. Newfane (B1) – They could have debuted much higher on this ballot if not for the loss to Albion. They will fall off this ballot if they fail to end their five-year losing streak at Wilson.
10. Archbishop Walsh (MMA) – Wins over Portville, CSAT, Lackawanna, and Nichols was enough of a resume for me to give them the final spot. Congratulations to Whelpley on his 2,000 career points. The last guy to do that was Will Regan.
** With so many quality small schools vying for a place in the top ten, Panama and Dunkirk are left on the outside looking in. For Panama, I had to consider whether the ten teams that got in would also have registered a pair of wins against Cassadaga Valley. I believe they would have.
With Dunkirk, I wasn't ready to celebrate a loss. Heck, in theory, a three-point loss to Olean makes them number two right? Not really, or then we'd have to find a spot for Portville who only fell to the Huskies by nine (St. Mary's lost to Olean by eight). East lost by 29, and I doubt anyone ranked Dunkirk ahead of them.
A three-point loss to Olean would mean a lot more if there were any good wins to coincide with it. Here's the list of schools Dunkirk has beat: Falconer, Eden, Brocton, Gowanda, Lake Shore, Frewsburg, and Southwestern. Those seven schools have a combined 12 wins.
-centercourt
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