Large Schools
1. Niagara Falls (AA) - Halfway through their regular season, the Wolverines remain unblemished following a 36-point thumping of CSAT and a 24-point victory over the defending league champs from Niagara Wheatfield. Falls will look to add another pair of victories to the résumé with games against Kenmore East, and Lew-Port this week.
2. Amherst (A2) - The Tigers slide down the 290 for a game at Sweet Home on Tuesday and host Iroquois Friday night, following two more league routs last week over Hamburg and Williamsville East.
3. Jamestown (AA) - Took down Clarence in their only action last week and will wait until Saturday to play again, another league opponent, when Williamsville North makes the trip south.
4. Health Sciences (AA) - Seven straight victories for the Falcons after knocking off Global Concepts and then Nichols on Saturday afternoon. Monday night is the first of two rivalries games against Tapestry, along with games against Maritime and BASCS later in the week.
5. Canisius (A) - Finished in third place at the BK Classic, picking up a victory over host school Cathedral Prep on Saturday. The Crusaders began their week with a pair of high-scoring losses, one in an epic double overtime thriller (93-92) on Delaware Avenue and the other in the first round of the BK Classic against Lincoln Park (86-78). On Tuesday, their buddies from St. Francis come to town and then they’ll head over to Lancaster to dance with St. Mary’s on Thursday.
6. St. Francis (A) - Knocked off one of the two state ranked opponents they played last week by beating St. Joe’s ahead of a loss on Saturday to visiting Bishop Grimes. The Red Raiders' grueling schedule picks right back up where it left off this week with a trip to Canisius and then a game against Nichols.
7. St. Joe's (A) - A tough week for the Marauders after a 1-point loss at St. Francis and then taking a big early lead in Aquinas, only to see that slip away on Saturday. They'll look to bounce back at St. Mary’s on Tuesday and then again when Cardinal O’Hara visits on Thursday.
8. McKinley (A1) - The battle in the Yale Cup was a decent game until the fourth quarter when the Macks opened up a can and finish the game on the 34–6 run against I-Prep. Their toughest week of the regular season is here, with a trip to South Park on Tuesday, a visit from Bennett on Thursday, and the Timon Tigers in the feature game of the MLK Classic on Saturday afternoon.
9. South Park (A2) - The Sparks will fight for first place in the Yale Cup against McKinley on Tuesday night and then take a trip to I-Prep on Thursday, before finishing the week off with an MLK Classic game at McKinley against Global Concepts on Friday evening. The Sparks have been off since December 21st and should be eager to see the ball tip on Tuesday.
10. Niagara Wheatfield (A1) - The Falcons' win over Ken East last week was the 22nd straight in NFL play, but that streak finally came to an end against a powerful Niagara Falls team on Saturday afternoon. Niagara Wheatfield hopes to get back into the win column on Tuesday night against Lew-Port.
Small Schools
1. Timon (B) - Knocked off Cardinal O’Hara by 30 and hung 102 points on St. Mary's in a 27-point win, before suffering their second loss of the season at home to Syracuse CBA by 14. An interesting week ahead with a big one on Tuesday night at Nichols, a visit from Park on Thursday, and then a trip to Elmwood Avenue to face McKinley at Mack High in the MLK Classic.
2. Nichols (B) - The Vikings were victorious in the best game I’ve watched all season when they handed Canisius a loss after two overtimes, courtesy of the biggest scoring outburst we’ve seen this season by Jakye Rainey (51 points). They also earned a win over O’Hara before falling to Health Sciences on Saturday afternoon. Nichols has definitely made a strong case for the top spot among the small schools after winning in the gym that Timon lost at and also for being the only team that knocked off Aquinas, a Class AA team ranked higher in the state than the CBA squad that just knocked off Timon. However, instead of flip-flopping the teams this week, I’m leaving things where they are and where I think they'll be, but Tuesday answers the question. Frannies is waiting for the Vikings this Thursday night and Aquinas has a score to settle on Saturday afternoon.
3. Allegany-Limestone (B2) - The Gators had last week off to prepare for a pair of big ones in their gym coming up this week… Olean on Tuesday and Salamanca on Friday.
4. Lew-Port (B1) - The Lancers made quick work of Wilson last week, but the task at hand gets larger in the days ahead. They’ll visit Niagara Wheatfield on Tuesday night and then host WNY’s top squad from the Falls on Friday.
5. Randolph (C) - Defeated Portville 88–23 last week. Frewsburg comes to to Randolph this week, and then they head out to York from Section V on Saturday.
6. Bennett (B2) - I took the Tigers from unranked, all the way to the spot after watching them on Friday evening in a win at East. I had seen them in the beginning of December, the same weekend their football squad was winning a state title. My, how things have changed since then! With their full complement of players, these guys are legit, and should only improve as the season goes on. Tuesday night they face Hutch Tech and then McKinley comes in on Thursday in what you be a good one.
7. Salamanca (B2) - The Warriors dropped a low-scoring affair in Avon on Saturday, a loss they will need to rebound from quickly with Fredonia coming in this week ahead of a big one on Friday night at Allegany-Limestone.
8. Holland (C) - Dealt visiting Olmsted a 78–47 defeat and also won at Tonawanda last week. They’ll make a trip to Cleveland Hill for a league game this week and also face MST Seneca at McKinley on Saturday afternoon in the MLK Classic.
9. Depew (B1) - Suffered a setback against Cheektowaga in a close ECIC III game last week. The Wildcats take on Lake Shore on Monday night and East Aurora comes in on Saturday.
10. East Aurora (B1) - After a rough start to the season, the Blue Devils flipped the switch shortly before Christmas and have the lights shining brightly right now. Their last three wins have come against McKinley, Lackawanna, and most recently, Cheektowaga…a game I had the pleasure of watching. Between what I saw in person and the strength of opponent in those last three wins, I felt they deserved to have their name here. They will be right back here and then some if they win at Depew next week.
-centercourt
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