1- Washington 10-0
10-0 in Class AA. Enough said.
Tough games:
Feb 13 vs RC Central
Feb 23 vs Mitchell
2- Yankton 11-2
It was a tough decision for the staff on where to put these next few teams. Washington is for sure #1, but after that, it is much tougher. The win over Roosevelt certainly helps, as does the win over Aberdeen Central. In fact, even the Bucks losses aren’t bad: a road defeat from Washington and another loss on the road against a Brandon Valley team that matches up very well with Yankton. So Yankton will move up to #2.
Tough games:
Feb 04 @ Sioux Falls Pentagon vs Harrisburg
Feb 19 vs Mitchell
3- Vermillion 11-0
Digital Z South Dakota has said it all year…VERMILLION IS GOOD. For the Top 3 teams in Class A, Vermillion defeated SFC and SFC defeated Dakota Valley. So until Feb 9th when the Tanagers take on the Panthers, that is how they will stay.
Feb 09 vs Dakota Valley
Feb 18 @ Flandreau
4- Sioux Falls Christian 11-2
The Chargers have kind of taken the SD basketball world by storm over the last couple of days, and a huge win over Dakota Valley definitely is newsworthy. They have also defeated STM, Dell Rapids, and Mitchell, so they quickly rise to #4 in our rankings
Tough games:
Feb 11 @ Western Christian (IA)
Feb 20 @ Sioux Valley
5- Mitchell 10-1
They lost against SFC, but otherwise have been great. We are very interested to see how they matchup against Yankton.
Tough games:
Feb 19 @ Yankton
Feb 23 @ Washington
6- Dakota Valley 10-1
It is definitely a bummer to drop a team this good, this far down the rankings with 1 loss. But that one loss was by 20 points to a very good team. A lot of other teams above them really don’t have a single loss that is that bad, so the Panthers drop to #6, but they have some opportunity to move up.
Tough games:
Feb 09 @ Vermillion
Feb 12 vs Dell Rapids
7- Sioux Valley 12-1
Another fantastic Class A team with their only loss coming to Dakota Valley. Again, they can’t be ranked higher than Dakota Valley at this moment, and Dakota Valley can’t be ranked higher than SFC, and SFC can’t be ranked higher than Vermillion. As they say in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, “there’s always a bigger fish.”
Tough games:
Feb 04 @ Flandreau
Feb 20 vs SFC
8- De Smet 11-1
The top team in Class B is at #8, because again, they lost to Sioux Valley who lost to Dakota Valley, and so on, and so forth. It goes on all the way up the rankings. Good team, but it’s going to be tough for the Bulldogs to move up any higher.
Tough games:
Feb 04 @ Elkton-Lake Benton
Feb 09 @ Flandreau
9- St. Thomas More 12-2
Highest rated West River team. Only South Dakota loss is to SFC and like we said earlier, that’s just how it is.
Tough games:
Feb 06 @ O’Gorman
Feb 22 vs Belle Fourche
10- Harrisburg 7-2
Back-to-back losses against Roosevelt and Washington dropped them far in the rankings, but again, chance to rise back up.
Tough games:
Jan 30 @ RC Central
Feb 04 @ Sioux Falls Pentagon vs Yankton
“Near The Rankings” by class:
AA
RC Central
O’Gorman
A
Winner
Mobridge-Pollock
B
Elkton-Lake Benton
Howard
