Nease continues to remain at the top of the Fab Five girls basketball rankings for the seventh straight week, but Bishop Kenny continues to stay close on their heels.
We also take a look at each district and give you a run down of who is doing what in each district as the playoffs are only a few weeks away.
1 Nease (17-1)
Last ranking: 1
Last week: def. Ed White 75-13, def. St. Augustine 79-19
Next: at Englewood (Jan 14), Middleburg (Jan 15), at Ponte Vedra (Jan 18)
Note: Two more easy wins for the Panthers this week has them one more win from clinching the No. 1 seed in the upcoming 3-7A tournament. A 27-0 run in the first quarter put away White early thanks to balanced scoring from Camilly Hobby (15 points, 8 rebounds), Stephanie Manherz (11 points, 4 steals), Tia Robinson (10 points, 3 rebounds), Kiya Turner (9 points, 7 steals), Grace Beyer (9 points, 2 steals) and Cecelia Morris (8 points). Against St. Augustine a 29-4 run to start the game helped Nease run away from the rival Yellow Jackets. Four Panthers were in double figures led by Manherz (20 points, 4 assists, 3 steals), Peyton Carter (16 points, 5 rebounds), Turner (14 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals) and Hobby (12 points, 6 rebounds); along with Beyer (8 points, 3 rebounds) and Robinson (6 points, 6 rebounds). Nease can clinch the top seed with a win Tuesday over its biggest district threat in Middleburg, whom they beat by 40 in the first meeting.
2 Bishop Kenny (17-2)
Last ranking: 2
Last week: def. Paxon 42-18, def. Parker 55-37, fell to Father Lopez 57-26
Next: at Yulee (Jan 15), Hilliard (Jan 19)
Note: A 2-1 week keeps the Crusaders here even after a humbling loss to a solid Father Lopez team. A 10-0 run to star the game and a 14-2 run in the second quarter sparked the Crusaders to the easy win over Paxon thanks to Maddie Millar (18 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists), Jasmyne Roberts (15 points, 7 rebounds) and Rose Dolmovich (7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists). Against Parker the Crusaders trailed by one at the end of the first quarter, before going on a 21-7 run in the second quarter to pull away thanks to Roberts (24 points, 14 rebounds), Millar (15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals) along with Cara McCarthy (6 rebounds, 5 assists). Two nights later, the Crusaders got a much needed wakeup call against Father Lopez (16-2) and saw their 12 game winning streak come to an abrupt end. With 11 of its 17 wins coming by 10 points or more, the loss was a good thing for them and will help them come playoff time. The host Green Wave jumped out to a 18-3 first quarter lead and never looked back. Rose Dolmovich led the Crusaders in scoring with 10 points, along with Maddie Millar 6 points and Lindsey Miller 5 points.
3 Middleburg (13-3)
Last ranking: 3
Last week: def. Ridgeview 63-29
Next: at Nease (Jan 15), at St. Augustine (Jan 17), at Fernandina Beach (Jan 18)
Note: In its lone matchup of the week, tied at 2-2, the Broncos went on a 18-0 run to run away with it thanks to big games from Britany Range (25 points) and Mallory Roney (18 points). Now comes the highly anticipated rematch with Nease where the Broncos will look to redeem themselves after a 40 point home loss back in early December. A win would go along way to setting the tone the rest of the season and perhaps a huge confident boost too. The Broncos can’t put everything into the meeting with Nease though with another district game with St. Augustine two days later followed by a non-district showdown with a solid Fernandina Beach team.
4 Sandalwood (10-4)
Last ranking: 4
Last week: fell to Spruce Creek 53-50
Next: Gateway Conference Tourney (Jan 16-18)
Note: In a battle for first place in 1-9A, visiting Sandalwood came up short against host Spruce Creek. Ahead 9-8 after one quarter, the Hawks went on a 25-8 run during the second quarter to pull ahead; the Saints outscored the Haws 28-19 in the second half but came up three point short. Caitlin McGee led the Saints in scoring with 23 points and 11 rebounds along with Amari Wright (9 points, 11 rebounds) and Naydya Matthews (9 points, 9 rebounds). The Saints were scheduled to travel to Deland a night later but that game was rescheduled for Jan 23 and now will turn their attention to claiming the best public school team in the city competing in the Gateway Conference tournament.
5 Ribault (13-4)
Last ranking: 5
Last week: def. Stanton 71-11
Next: Gateway Conference Tourney (Jan 16-18)
Note: A 27-2 run to start the game helped Ribault pull away early and take control of their game with Stanton including a 57-6 halftime lead. Four players were in double figures led by Asia Fleming (17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals), Jada Aktins (14 points, 10 rebounds, 7 steals), Mesi Triplett (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Peris Starks (11 points, 12 rebounds). Now comes the Gateway Conference tournament and the chance to prove its still among the elite teams in the city and maybe the premier public team in the city. The Trojans enter the tourney as the No. 3 seed behind No. 1 seed Sandalwood and No. 2 seed Raines.
Dropped out: None
Honorable Mention: Bartram Trail (12-5), Bolles (10-4), Columbia (11-4), Creekside (13-5), Episcopal (10-4), Fernandina Beach (16-2), Flagler Palm Coast (13-1), Keystone Heights (12-6), Orange Park (14-2), Raines (15-3), St. Johns Country Day (11-3), University Christian (10-2)
District Standings (According to Max Preps)
Overall record, District record
District 1-9A
Spruce Creek (15-3) (3-0)
Palm Coast (13-1) (2-1)
Sandalwood (10-4) (2-1)
Deland (9-8) (0-2)
Mandarin (7-9) (0-3)
District 3-8A
Lee (12-7) (6-0)
First Coast (8-11) (4-2)
Atlantic Coast (4-10) (2-4)
Fletcher (6-8) (0-6)
District 4-8A
Bartram Trail (12-5) (5-1)
Creekside (13-5) (5-1)
Fleming Island (10-6) (4-2)
Buchholz (2-11) (1-5)
Oakleaf (3-14) (0-6)
District 3-7A
Nease (17-1) (6-0)
Middleburg (13-3) (5-1)
St. Augustine (5-6) (4-3)
Ed White (4-9) (2-6)
Englewood (1-11) (0-7)
District 3-6A
Ribault (13-4) (5-0)
Bishop Kenny (17-2) (3-1)
Parker (7-5) (3-2)
Paxon (5-8) (2-3)
Stanton (5-9) (1-4)
Yulee (4-11) (0-4)
District 4-6A
Orange Park (14-2) (6-0)
Ridgeview (7-5) (5-1)
Wolfson (3-8) (2-4)
Westside (2-7) (1-3)
Baker County (5-8) (0-6)
District 5-6A
Ponte Vedra (8-5) (5-0)
Menendez (10-6) (5-1)
Palatka (3-7) (1-3)
Clay (2-12) (2-3)
Matanzas (0-11) (0-5)
District 3-5A
Raines (15-3) (5-0)
Bolles (10-4) (4-1)
Fernandina Beach (16-2) (5-1)
Episcopal (10-4) (3-3)
Andrew Jackson (7-9) (2-4)
Baldwin (2-6) (1-5)
West Nassau (3-11) (0-6)
District 4-5A
Keystone Heights (12-6) (4-2)
Bradford (5-8) (4-2)
Fort White (8-8) (2-3)
Interlachen (10-5) (2-3)
Newberry (3-13) (2-4)
District 2-4A
University Christian (10-2) (2-0)
Providence (7-7) (2-0)
St. Joseph (8-6) (1-1)
Florida Deaf (10-5) (1-3)
Bishop Snyder (4-13) (1-3)
District 2-3A
St. Johns Country Day (11-3) (4-0)
Deltona Trinity (12-2) (1-1)
St. Francis (4-9) (1-1)
Lake Mary Prep (4-8) (0-1)
Warner Christian (2-3) (0-2)
District 2-2A
Impact Christian (8-1) (4-0)
First Coast Christian (1-6) (1-2)
Eagles View (0-8) (0-3)
District 3-1A
Hawthorne (12-2) (5-0)
Williston (11-6) (2-2)
Hilliard (7-9) (2-2)
Union County (1-10) (0-5)
