Poll Ballots - 2016 - Week 7 - The View From Centercourt

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 Saturday of each week. Here's a look at how I see them and some of the rationale used to get there.

Large Schools

1. Canisius (MMA) - They're now a unanimous number one after winning the first round of the Park series. For the Crusaders, things are just starting to heat up. They host #2 small school Walsh on Tuesday, Aquinas (#6 in NYS Class AA) on Thursday, and face Greece Athena (#6 in NYS Class A) in Rochester on Saturday. Like I said last year - these guys play everybody.

2. Park (MMA) - They get a few days to stew over their first loss after Canisius ended the 17-game winning streak, before hosting St. Francis on Friday night.

3. Amherst (A2) - I spent my Friday evening watching the Tigers, and they're every bit as impressive as I imagined they could be with the team they have this season. Sweet Home & East Aurora visit the Jungle this week.

4. Williamsville South (A1) - After falling behind 17-3 at the start on Friday, the Billies settled in and won an intense league battle on the road against their top challenger in ECIC II, Starpoint.

5. McKinley (A1) - Hit the century mark for the fourth time this season, in another lopsided win in the city. Burgard is up next for the Macks.

6. Niagara Falls (AA) - Won their seventh straight, but barely. A one-point win over Grand Island raised some eyebrows and shows how wide open the Class AA race could be this season.

7. Timon (MMA) - Defeated St. Mary's on Friday for their sixth win in nine games. The Tigers last three losses - Canisius, Aquinas, & Park.

8. Williamsville North (AA) - Sitting pretty atop the ECIC I standings, after sweeping Orchard Park last week. The Lancaster/Jamestown game on Monday night will be of great interest to North - they might actually cheer for the Red Raiders (or just quietly hope they win).

9. Jamestown (AA) - Speaking of the Red Raiders, they visit Lancaster tonight in the 'Game of the Week'. After dropping the first round to both Lancaster and North, Jamestown needs a win against the Legends to stay in the race for a league title.

10. Cheektowaga (A2) - In the same week, the Warriors found themselves on each end of a rout. After putting one on St. Joe's on Monday, they took their lumps at Amherst on Friday night. They host Maryvale & Springville this week, before a weekend game in Rochester against West Irondequoit.

Small Schools

1. Olean (B1) - Dunkirk has size, talent, and athleticism. The Huskies beat them by 18 points more than they scored, in a 90-36 thrashing. Southwestern and Williamsville East are scheduled this week. They're sitting at 14-0 right now, and 11 more wins...

2. Walsh (MMA) - They put it to St. Mary's on Tuesday night, beating the Lancers by 16 and even played Park to a four-point game at their place. There may not be a bigger home court advantage in WNY. I'll be at Canisius tomorrow night to see if Walsh can compete with the Crusaders on the road (they played the eventual Class A Fed champs to a 10-point game at their place last season).

3. St. Mary's (MMA) - Coming off a week that saw them go 1-2 with losses at Timon & Walsh. The Lancers will have to get back on track with a pair of road games this week at O'Hara and at St. Joe's.

4. Health Sciences (B2) - The Falcons have their mojo back and then some, after a week that saw them drop double figure losses on a pair of respected opponents. Health Sciences beat South Park by 15 points and then rocked Tapestry by 25.

5. Middle College (C2) - The Kats also hammered South Park last week with a 22-point win, and then completed the sweep of East when Gary Foster hit the game-winner with seven seconds left.

6. East Aurora (B1) - Winners of five straight, the Blue Devils just keep creeping up my ballot. They'll skyrocket up if they can win at Amherst Friday night. They gave the Tigers their closest league game of the season in the first meeting between the two.

7. Niagara Catholic (MMA) - Double-digit wins for the Patriots in their last two, which were both league games, as they knocked off Cardinal O'Hara & Nichols.

8. Fredonia (B2) - Coming off a pair of blowout wins over Maple Grove and Oracle, heading into Friday's home game with Chautauqua Lake.

9. Cardinal O'Hara (MMA) - Knocked off Nichols by 13 points last week, and followed that up with a win over Cleveland Hill over the weekend. The Hawks had a one-point loss to the team above them on my ballot, Fredonia.

10. East (C1) - The Panthers had another close loss to Middle College on Friday night, dropping a two-point decision in the final seconds. But the same Panthers just lost to Burgard, which indicates the young squad at East hasn't figured out how to play consistently yet. If that doesn't change, the streak of six consecutive sectional titles for the school will come to an end this season.

-centercourt