Large Schools
1. Canisius (A) - Wrapped up home court advantage for the postseason with a sweep of rival St. Joe’s, in a week that also included big wins over Nichols and St. Mary’s. The Crusaders will tune up for the postseason at Health Sciences on Wednesday and head to Athol Springs to close out the regular season against St. Francis on Friday night.
2. Jamestown (AA) - Improved to 13–0 in ECIC I after winning a nailbiter against Lancaster on Saturday. The Red Raiders can complete a perfect season in league play with a win against Clarence this week.
3. Orchard Park (AA) - Moved to 15–2 on the season with wins over Hamburg, Clarence, and Frontier last week. The Quakers head to Will North for their final league game before finishing out the season against Cheektowaga and at Sweet Home.
4. Amherst (A2) - The Tigers earned another championship in ECIC II after beating Starpoint on Thursday. They finish up the regular season against Clarence this coming Thursday, where a win would give Amherst 18 victories on the year.
5. St. Joe's (A) - Completed the season sweep of St. Francis on Thursday night, before falling to Canisius for a second time on Saturday afternoon. Nichols visits Kenmore Avenue on Tuesday night and they travel to St. Mary’s on Friday, ahead of a Thursday night nonleaguer at Williamsville East.
6. Health Sciences (A2) - The Falcons will try to move their record to 16–3 with games against Bennett and BASCS, before taking on the #1 Crusaders in the regular season finale on Wednesday.
7. Williamsville East (A1) - Swept Sweet Home on Friday night to put themselves in great position to clinch a league championship in ECIC II with a win against West Seneca East this week. The Flames close out the regular season by hosting St. Joe’s on Thursday night in a game that features a pair of First Team All-Centercourt selections and the two quickest guards in WNY.
8. Niagara Wheatfield (A1) - Clinched their first NFL championship on Friday with their second double-digit win over Niagara Falls this season. The Falcons can make it an undefeated league championship title with wins a Ken West and Lew-Port to close out the regular season.
9. St. Francis (A) - A tough week for the Red Raiders saw them drop three straight heading into the final week of the regular season with games coming at Timon and against Canisius.
10. McKinley (A1) - Crushed Bennett on Tuesday night before a pair of games scheduled to follow were canceled . The Macks are in the driver's seat for another Yale Cup championship if they are successful with a busy week ahead - at East on Monday and hosting I-Prep Wednesday. Then on Thursday night they travel to Frontier, before an ambitious week ends with South Park visiting on Friday evening.
Small Schools
1. Olean (B1) - Clinched another league championship in CCAA I West last week and improved to 16–1 on the year. They have a date with Wellsville on Monday before road games at Salamanca and Clarence to end the regular season.
2. Timon (B) - The Tigers routed Tapestry on Saturday to bounce back from a pair of lopsided losses to Canisius and St. Mary’s earlier in the week. They take on Frannies, Cardinal O’Hara, and Nichols this coming week.
3. Randolph (C) - Wins at Cassadaga Valley and Portville this week would give the Cardinals and undefeated league championship in CCAA Central. Randolph has won its last seven games by an average margin of 33 points.
4. St. Mary's (B) - The Lancers racked up a pair of huge wins last week against St. Francis and Timon, before falling at Canisius on Sunday afternoon. They finish up the regular season with games at Cardinal O’Hara on Tuesday and hosting St. Joe’s on Friday, where they will look to avenge an earlier loss.
5. Lackawanna (B1) - Scored over 100 points for the sixth time this season in a 31-point win over Tonawanda, coming off of a 48-point win against Cleveland Hill. The Steelers can earn an undefeated league title in ECIC IV if they beat JFK on Tuesday.
6. Tapestry (B2) - Back-to-back losses for Tapestry in games against Health Sciences and Timon last week. The Thunderhawks will look for victories and momentum heading into the postseason when they take on Bennett and BASCS this week.
7. Nichols (B) - The Vikings have lost five straight & seven of their last eight following a home defeat to Cardinal O’Hara and a loss at Canisius. They'll look to climb back into the win column with games at St. Joe’s and Timon to close out the regular season.
8. Lew-Port (B1) - The Lancers earned regular season sweeps over both North Tonawanda and Ken East last week and will look to do the same this week at Grand Island, before closing out against league champion Niagara Wheatfield.
9. Salamanca (C) - Back-to-back road losses for the Warriors at Allegany-Limestone and Olean followed a win at Dunkirk. They have a rematch coming with Olean at their place on Wednesday and finish out by hosting Ellicottville Friday night.
10. Depew (B1) - Tough wins over East Aurora and Maryvale have the Wildcats set up for a league championship battle against Pioneer at their place on Wednesday night to decide the winner of ECIC III.
-centercourt
How does st Francis keep getting rewarded for losing ? 9 losses , losers of 6 of their last 8. Their last quality win was over a month ago . It this was a real ranking like a college one they wouldn’t be top 20 in wny let alone top 10.
Posted by: MMARules | Sunday, February 13, 2022 at 04:04 PM
I don't see it as I'm rewarding them, they dropped two spots in my rankings from last week. I also think comparing HS & college rankings doesn't really work - I understand what you're saying, I just think they are categorically different.
I've already dropped them below Health and now Will East, both teams they defeated this season. I still have them ahead of McKinley, because they beat the Macks on Elmwood Avenue this season.
When you analyze the streak you're pointing out, losers of 6 of their last 8, there's only one loss I see that could be considered a bad one and that's St. Mary's...who has been playing outstanding recently. They lost in Syracuse at Bishop Grimes on Day Two of their tournament in a back-to-back with less than 24 hours turnaround. Two nights later to St. Joe's who's been ranked ahead of Frannies for weeks. Lost to Timon (not a great loss) and then to Canisius. Two wins were then followed by the St. Mary's loss which I dropped them down for, then St. Joe's again and Aquinas (who beat Canisius twice this year).
There has to be some sort of context associated with the rankings in my opinion, otherwise just go by standings.
But my question back to you is, who deserves the spot over them and why? St. Francis has three wins over ranked large schools and four wins over ranked small schools, along with win over McQuaid (beat St. Joe's) and Syracuse CBA. There isn't another large school in WNY outside of the Top 10 that's even close to that resume.
Against Top 10 Large Schools:
Falls 0-3
Sweet Home 0-4
Lancaster 0-7
Posted by: centercourt | Sunday, February 13, 2022 at 05:58 PM
CC, Do you know what division Park School plays in the playoffs. Thanks
Posted by: BD1 | Tuesday, February 15, 2022 at 09:14 AM
Park plays the IAC teams in the postseason, that's it
Posted by: centercourt | Friday, February 18, 2022 at 12:58 PM