(Fredonia's Patrick Moore defends Isaiah Thomas of Dunkirk / Photo by Ron Szott)
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) - Quite the stretch of games for the Crusaders, when Walsh (not an easy team to beat) is considered your easiest game of the week. After knocking off Aquinas for a second time this season, the Crusaders finally got tripped up by Greece Athena at the RAP Showcase. The Trojans are led by Vermont commit Anthony Lamb, who was a one-man wrecking crew. I think Canisius is the better team, but they definitely were not on Saturday night. Oh look - the Park game is coming up again, and then Cathedral Prep visits on Saturday. Did I mention these guys play everybody?
2. Park (MMA) - The Pioneers are ready for another 'Game of the Week' this Wednesday when they travel to what is sure to be a jam-packed Bernard J. Kennedy Field House to do battle with Canisius again. A win will take their very best performance, but they better save something for Timon on Friday.
3. Amherst (A2) - The Tigers are a six-point loss to Park from being unbeaten. They have won eight straight games by an average of 30.6 per game and only one of those wins was by less than 21 (a 16-point win).
4. Williamsville South (A1) - Speaking of big wins, the Billies put a 37-point shellacking on West Seneca East on Friday night. Can you imagine if ECIC allowed me to re-align the divisions annually based on strength? ECIC I this year would have been: Amherst, South, North, Jamestown, Starpoint, Lancaster, Orchard Park, & Cheektowaga. That would have been fun, huh?
5. McKinley (A1) - Beat Burgard by 36 last week, after crushing the Bulldogs by 61 on 12/17/15. East & South Park will attempt to slow the Macks this week. Good luck to them.
6. Timon (MMA) - Really like the way the Tigers have been playing the last couple weeks. They are taking care of business with convincing victories and have become very consistent with the way they are playing. They host St. Joe's on Wednesday, and then get Park at their place on Friday night. The Pioneers better hope they don't have a letdown in South Buffalo coming off the Canisius game, because I feel like the Tigers will be waiting to pounce. Pay attention to that one on Friday night!
7. Niagara Falls (AA) - I pushed Timon ahead of Falls this week, because the Wolverines are not doing what Timon is doing - handling the teams they should handle. The one-point win over Grand Island and a 12-point win at home against North Tonawanda tells me the Wolverines are not playing at their highest level. When they are, I think they're the best in AA. It's February now, time to find your identity.
8. Williamsville North (AA) - Winners of seven straight and alone in first place in ECIC I, but the grind of the league schedule is the three-game finale to the regular season. Jamestown visits on Tuesday, before a pair with Lancaster next week.
9. Jamestown (AA) - After suffering losses in their first two home games in ECIC I (gasp), the Red Raiders can actually still lay claim to a title in ECIC I if they can win at North on Tuesday and get some help from Lancaster next week. That Jamestown game at North draws me in every single season.
10. Starpoint (A2) - Time to breakdown the Spartans season and where my head is at. Starpoint competed at Park this year and only lost there by three. They also won a great game against Timon at the ADPRO Challenge. But then they had that Lockport incident followed by a loss at St. Joe's. I don't know what was going on with the Spartans that week, clearly they weren't right (particularly at Lockport). Obviously, Lockport and St. Joe's were different teams then, as both have veered way off the grid recently. Last week I had Cheektowaga ranked #10 coming off a lopsided loss at Amherst. Then last week, the Warriors escape Maryvale at home by one, before losing to Irondequoit in a game I saw. I'm going with my gut on this one, and saying that if the two played, I'd favor Starpoint. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get to see them go at it during Buff State week in Class A2 and we can see what's up.
Small Schools
1. Olean (B1) - Improved to 16-0 after defeating Williamsville East by 35 points. Only Williamsville South has that kind of margin of victory over the Flames this season. Just one victory has been by single digits all season.
2. Walsh (MMA) - The Eagles took the sting of the Canisius loss out on Cardinal O'Hara, who they rolled by 23 points at their place. Hosting St. Francis & Nichols this week.
3. St. Mary's (MMA) - After getting out of Cardinal O'Hara with a four-point win, the Lancers went into St. Joe's on Saturday and won all four quarters to hand the Marauders a crushing 31-point loss. They will need wins over Niagara Catholic and Nichols this week to keep pace with Walsh in the MMA Class B race.
4. Health Sciences (B2) - Locked up the Charter Cup by sweeping Tapestry this season, winning the second round at their place on Saturday.
5. Middle College (C2) - The Kats were idle last week. They have games with Burgard, Bennett, and Riverside coming up this week. If they continue winning, they'll still have a shot at the Yale Cup.
6. East Aurora (B1) - The Blue Devils lost two games in two days last week, falling at Amherst on Friday and losing to Livonia at the RAP Showcase on Saturday. I think the teams that beat them would also knock off the teams below them on this ballot. EA has two tough, but winnable games coming up against Cheektowaga on Tuesday and at Maryvale on Friday.
7. Fredonia (B2) - Completed the sweep of Chautauqua Lake with a rout on Friday night. A big week coming up for the Hillbillies has them visiting rival Dunkirk before hosting the undefeated Huskies from Olean on Friday night.
8. Cardinal O'Hara (MMA) - Three loses last week to teams I wasn't expecting the Hawks to beat. I liked the way they kept the St. Mary's game close (four-point loss) and kept them here another week on the strength of the recent wins over Cleveland Hill, Nichols, and Tapestry. They will need a win at Niagara Catholic on Wednesday to stay here - the Patriots just got whacked at Nichols last week.
9. East (C1) - The Panthers, like Middle College, were idle last week. They host McKinley, Hutch-Tech, and Bennett this week.
10. Tapestry (C1) - I dropped Tapestry last week, but replaced Niagara Catholic (who lost to Timon & Nichols) by a combined 50 points last week) with them this week after they defeated Grand Island. The Thunderhawks have a pair of games with Global Concepts this week.
-centercourt
Any word on the Playoff Dates for Monsignor Martin?
Posted by: TMont | Monday, February 01, 2016 at 03:07 PM