Top-ranked Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) is one of four unbeaten teams remaining
Gainesville – The top team remained the same in the first Prep Zone Power Poll of 2016.
Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) remained unbeaten and stayed No. 1 in the regional rankings, receiving eight of the nine first-place votes.
The Class 5A Crusaders (15-0), one of four unbeaten teams in the area, posted wins over a pair of 8A teams (South Miami & Stoneman Douglas) to win the Kreul Classic. They also defeated No. 10 Flagler Palm Coast, 57-55, on Saturday.
Rival Bolles (Jacksonville) is ranked second. The Class 4A Bulldogs (15-2) lost to previous No. 8 Jackson (Jacksonville) on Dec. 17, but the ‘Dogs have won seven straight since, including a 55-41 win over #6 Deltona at the Bernard Wilkes Classic on Saturday. Their only other loss was to defending 4A state champion Godby (Tallahassee).
Another Jacksonville team, Wolfson, is ranked third. The Wolfpack (16-0) are also unbeaten and their smallest margin of victory this season has been 15 points (at St. Johns Bartram Trail).
Despite a couple of losses to out of state teams during the holiday break, Providence (Jacksonville) remained fourth. The defending 3A state champion Stallions (11-4) had wins against 3A #6 Westminster Academy (Fort Lauderdale) & #9 P.K. Yonge (Gainesville), 66-62.
Rounding out the top five is defending 6A state runners-up Gainesville High. Despite a loss to Santa Fe (Alachua), which snapped a 21-game home court winning streak, the Purple Hurricanes (12-2) bounced back and went 2-1 to finish third at the Farm Bureau Insurance in Spartanburg (SC).
Class 6A Deltona (12-2) is ranked sixth, followed by 8A Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (12-3), which received the other first-place vote, Jackson (11-3), which has won 10 in a row, P.K. Yonge (10-2) and Flagler Palm Coast (9-3) in the top 10.
The only other two unbeaten teams are Mount Dora Christian (16-0) and Atlantic (Port Orange) (14-0), who are ranked 11th and 14th, respectively.
Class 5A Leesburg, which has won nine games in a row, and 6A Vanguard (Ocala), which finished third at the Kingdom of the Sun, are in the poll for the first time this season at 18th and 20th, respectively.
The Yellow Jackets (11-2) went 3-0 to win the DeLand Gus Gibbs Rotary Tournament championship with a win against 8A Vero Beach in in the semifinals, and they went 3-0 to win the Great 8 Holiday Tournament championship which included wins against teams from Kentucky, Tennessee & 8A Orlando Timber Creek in the championship.
The Knights (8-6) lost to 6A #2 Dillard (Ft. Lauderdale) by only two, 49-47, at the Kingdom of the Sun. That was their only loss of the tournament, where they had their best showing since 1988.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, basketball, baseball & softball teams (regardless of FHSAA classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters.
PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2015-16 BASKETBALL POLL #2
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, record through 1/2, and total voting points)
1. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (5A) (8) (15-0) – 179
2. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (15-2) – 162
3. Wolfson (Jacksonville) (5A) (16-0) – 152
4. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (11-4) – 147
5. Gainesville (6A) (12-2) – 144
6. Deltona (6A) (12-2) – 132
7. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (8A) (1) (12-3) – 125
8. Jackson (Jacksonville) (4A) (11-3) – 120
9. PK Yonge (Gainesville) (3A) (10-2) – 113
10. Flagler Palm Coast (8A) (9-3) – 87
11. Mount Dora Christian Academy (2A) (16-0) – 78
12. Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (13-3) – 67
13. Creekside (St. Johns) (7A) (12-4) – 63
14. Atlantic (Port Orange) (6A) (14-0) – 60
15. Hawthorne (1A) (9-5) – 54
16. Nature Coast Tech (5A) (11-5) – 53
17. Dunnellon (4A) (8-5) – 35
18. Leesburg (5A) (11-2) – 33
19. Hamilton County (Jasper) (1A) (8-3) – 27
20. Vanguard (Ocala) (6A) (8-6) – 13
Also receiving votes: Lake Minneola (6A) (10-5) – 10; Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (9-6) – 8; Eastside (Gainesville) (5A) (7-5) – 7; Oakleaf (Orange Park) (7A) (8-5) – 5; University Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (7-2) – 4; Ribault (Jacksonville) (4A) (6-5) – 4; Trinity Christian (Deltona) (2A) (10-2) – 3; Mount Dora (4A) (8-5) – 2; Taylor County (Perry) (4A) (7-3) – 1.
