Eastside (Gainesville) defends No. 1 ranking in the all-classification regional poll with a pair of wins
GAINESVILLE – For the second consecutive week Eastside (Gainesville) remained on top of The Prep Zone Power Poll.
The Rams (18-1) won at previous No. 15 Hawthorne and at home against North Marion (Citra) for their 15th consecutive victory.
Eastside is ranked #3 statewide in Class 4A according to Max Preps. They received eight of the nine first-place votes.
Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville), which held the top spot four times this season, remained second in the all-classification regional rankings.
The Tigers (14-5), ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, defeated previous #4 Paxon (Jacksonville), 72-53, in the Gateway Conference Tournament championship game, and #16 Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville), 54-42, in the semifinals.
Jackson received the other first-place vote.
Providence (Jacksonville) is still third.
The Stallions (19-4), ranked #4 in Class 3A, went 2-1 last week with a 54-45 loss to 6A #4 Bartow on Saturday.
Columbia (Lake City) moved up two spots to fourth.
The Tigers (14-4), ranked 8th in 6A, went 3-0 against teams ranked or receiving votes. They defeated RV Madison County, #10 Forest (Ocala) and RV Hawthorne.
Ponte Vedra is ranked fifth.
The Sharks (19-2) also moved up two spots following a 2-0 week that included a win at previous No. 9 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville).
Paxon is ranked sixth, followed by Bolles (Jacksonville), Bishop Snyder (Jacksonville), Santa Fe (Alachua), and Forest in the top 10.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, volleyball, girls basketball, boys 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 and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2020-21 BOYS BASKETBALL POLL #6
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, record through 2/1, classification state ranking by Max Preps and how they fared last week)
1. Eastside (Gainesville) (4A) (8) (18-1) – 179
2. Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (3A) (1) (14-5) – 167
3. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (19-4) – 157
4. Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (14-4) – 146
5. Ponte Vedra (5A) (19-2) – 138
6. Paxon (Jacksonville) (4A) (16-6) – 133
7. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (17-4) – 130
8. Bishop Snyder (Jacksonville) (3A) (16-6) – 125
9. Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (12-4) – 90
10. Forest (Ocala) (6A) (12-5) – 88
11. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (7A) (15-5) – 82
12T. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (4A) (11-7) – 73
12T. Episcopal (Jacksonville) (3A) (16-5) – 73
14. Palatka (4A) (13-6) – 48
15. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (6A) (15-8) – 43
16. Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville) (5A) (13-8) – 38
17. Wildwood (1A) (15-7) – 36
18. The Villages (4A) (11-7) – 29
19. Impact Christian Academy (Jacksonville) (2A) (11-8) – 20
20T. Williston (1A) (12-4) – 19
20T. First Coast (Jacksonville) (6A) (10-5) – 19
Also receiving votes: West Nassau (Callahan) (4A) (13-11) – 18; Hawthorne (1A) (10-7) – 17; Mount Dora Christian Academy (2A) (18-5) – 8; Newberry (1A) (11-6) – 4; Taylor County (Perry) (1A) (10-5) – 3; Leesburg (5A) (11-4) – 3; Madison County (1A) (9-5) – 2; Lecanto (5A) (17-3) – 1; Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (4A) (15-7) – 1; St. Joseph Academy (St. Augustine) (3A) (15-6) – 1; Bell (1A) (14-7) – 1.
