The first state rankings for the 2017 the season have been released by the NYSSWA. Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:
Class AA
No teams ranked
Class A
Canisius #2
Park #3
Williamsville South #9
Cheektowaga #14
North Tonawanda #20
Timon #25
Class B
Health Sciences #9
East Aurora #10
Dunkirk #20
Lackawanna #23
Class C
Chautauqua Lake #3
East #7
Silver Creek #12
Barker #15
Class D
Ellicottville #6
Sherman #8
Franklinville #19
** According to the rankings...
- For a second straight season, Section VI Class AA isn't getting much love on the state level. No arguments from me on this one yet. Section V has a pair of teams ranked, Fairport is #13 and Aquinas is #22. Canisius just defeated Aquinas over the weekend. Niagara Falls, who I consider the front runner of our Class AA, faces them on Thursday night at the ADPRO Challenge.
- Canisius & Park are back in a familiar position. They are the top two ranked teams in the CHSAA, meaning the Manhattan Cup winner would also be the favorite to win a catholic state title.
- Williamsville South is favored to emerge as the overall Class A champ for a third straight season, but pegged to drop the regional to Rochester East. When I saw Rochester East as Section V's highest ranked team, I began looking to see where UPrep was ranked. What I discovered was, UPrep has been bumped to Class AA by Section V. Good call!
- The state rankings are high on Cheektowaga, debuting at #14 in the state's Class A. It's rare to see them look past record (1-2), which I'm fine with. The Warriors are at Maryvale this Wednesday. Their big debut sets up an opening for Flyers if they can knock off Cheektowaga like they did in last season's quarterfinals, after starting the season 2-0 and defeating Olean.
- Health Sciences and East Aurora are the two highest ranked teams in the Far West Region. That would mean the Class B crossover game would also be a ticket to Glens Falls...err...Binghamton. (Going to take awhile to train the brain that Glens Falls no longer equals NYSPHAA state championships). Hornell is Section V's highest ranked team in Class B and East Aurora opened its season with a win over them.
- Chautauqua Lake and East are predicted to face off in the overall Class C Final. However, East Rochester of Section V is ranked #2 in Class C, ahead of both teams. History suggests that the Section VI winner beating the Section V winner in Class C is about as sure a thing as Olean advancing to the regional when they are in Class B. The last time Section VI didn't send its Class C sectional champion to the state final four was in 2009. That was so long ago that, to put in perspective, 2009 was the year Kyle Husband won his first Manhattan Cup at Canisius. My apologies to the Bombers of East Rochester, but I like what history is telling me and think Section VI keeps that streak going for at least a couple more years.
- Section VI has three Class D teams ranked in the state. As is always the case, Rochester's highest ranked Class D team is a private school (CG Finney this season). One of my favorite parts of the season is watching our Class D winner knock off what should be a Class B private school team, masquerading as a Class D public school. It makes for a great start to Regional Saturday.
Click HERE for the complete NYSSWA State Rankings.
-centercourt
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