(Williamsville South and Timon treated fans to a duel between top WNY large schools)
As a pollster, I rank the top ten large and small schools in WNY each week. These rankings are based on games played through Saturday of each week. Here's how I see them and some of the rationale used to get there.
Large Schools
1. Canisius (MMA) - The Crusaders suffered their first loss of the season two days before Christmas when they got rolled by the Ramblers of Cathedral Prep. However that loss doesn't effect the Canisius win streak against teams from WNY, which is at 36 games.
2. Park (MMA) - Play in the Josh Palmer Fund Holiday Inn Classic at Elmira this week, a three-day/eight-team tournament. The Pioneers open against Elmira are on the opposite side of the bracket from Canisius, who also makes the trip. If Park wins that tournament, I'll take them to number one...even if the Canisius streak is still intact.
3. Williamsville South (A1) - Another streak remained intact just before Christmas. The Greg Dolan-led Billies have only lost to two WNY teams since he took the court as a freshman in December 2014 - a league split with Starpoint during his freshman campaign and a loss to Canisius last year. Williamsville South passed a big test with a win at Timon last Thursday night.
4. Timon (MMA) - Wins over Bishop Kearney and Amherst and the South loss have the Tigers sitting at 2-1. They will spend this week tuning up for what will be a major start to the New Year in league play, with a pair of games in Rhode Island.
5. St. Francis (MMA) - The Red Raiders' four wins over Orchard Park, West Seneca East, Dunkirk, & Kenmore West came by an average margin of 33 points. On Thursday night, they face the Cathedral Prep team that just defeated Canisius by 20.
6. North Tonawanda (A1) - Followed up their 13-point home loss to Lockport with a drubbing of CSAT. The Jacks face Starpoint on Thursday and could see Amherst on Friday night in a tournament championship game.
7. Niagara Falls (AA) - The Wolverines were two-points shy of a 50-point win over Lew-Port coming off a pair of losses in Rochester last weekend.
8. Cheektowaga (A2) - Three straight wins for the Warriors get them to 4-3 on the season. In two of those wins (Starpoint & Depew), Dom Welch outscored the opponent by himself. Then in a tournament championship win over St. Mary's, Welch registered a triple-double & earned MVP honors.
9. Amherst (A2) - Came away with a convincing 65-50 victory over Maryvale on Friday night. The Tigers host the Bob Hettler Tournament this week, facing Sweet Home in the opening round. A potential championship game with North Tonawanda looms.
10. Jamestown (AA) - Improved to 3-1 with wins over Clarence and Orchard Park prior to Christmas.
Small Schools
1. Health Sciences (B2) - With two months left in the regular season, the Falcons are already nine games into their season. An 8-1 record includes some routs and a win over Dunkirk. They play Rochester's Early College in the I-90 Showcase at Villa Maria College on Thursday n ight.
2. East (C2) - In their last two wins, the Panthers have scored 221 points, with junior Willard Anderson netting 79 points in those two games.
3. Chautauqua Lake (C1) - The Thunderbirds historic first victory over Olean kept them undefeated and sent them shooting up my rankings.
4. Dunkirk (B1) - The Marauders are 3-2 with three games coming up this week - two in the Harborcreek Tournament and the third against Rochester SOTA at the I-90 Showcase at Villa Maria College.
5. East Aurora (B1) - The Blue Devils improved to 6-1 with a win over CSAT, but slip back two spots under Chautauqua Lake & Dunkirk this week. East Aurora lost big to the same Olean team that Chautauqua Lake just defeated. They share the common opponent of CSAT with Dunkirk. EA beat them by 12, while Dunkirk's margin of victory was 22 points.
6. Ellicottville (D) - The Eagles are sitting at 5-1 with a few impressive victories and their lone loss at the hands of Chautauqua Lake by two points. A first-round Randolph Tournament battle with Sherman on Thursday is a game to keep your eyes on.
7. Nichols (MMA) - Play in the IAABO Tournament this week against Bradford (PA) and could possibly see Olean in the second round. We really need league play to begin in the MMA to sort some things out.
8. St. Mary's (MMA) - The Lancers' first loss of the season came at the hands of Cheektowaga on Friday night. It's tough to gauge that result in a small school poll context. We really need league play to begin in the MMA to sort some things out.
9. Walsh (MMA) - The Eagles lost their first game this season to Corning, despite Tavien Kemp going off for a WNY season-high 47 points. What does it all mean? I repeat, we really need league play to begin in the MMA to sort some things out.
10. Lackawanna (B2) - I wanted to put Franklinville here, but they lost to Burgard. I wanted to put Burgard here, but they lost to Middle College. I wanted to put Middle College here, but they lost to MST Seneca. I wanted to put MST Seneca here, but they lost to Newfane. I wanted to put Newfane here, but they lost to O'Hara, who lost to Tapestry...and Tapestry lost to Burgard and Medina. Follow all that? So the Steelers, now 5-0, get the last spot. I had them way up at #5 last week, but a pair of wins over Eden and Springville by a combined 10 points aren't the commanding results posted by the #5 small school in WNY.
- centercourt
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