Wolfson (Jacksonville) remains No. 1, setting up a #1 vs. #3 showdown with Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville)
Gainesville – The top-ranked team in the Prep Zone Power Poll avenged its only loss of the season in the opening round of the FHSAA state playoffs.
Wolfson (Jacksonville) defeated previous No. 16 Ribault (Jacksonville), 63-57, in the Class 5A regional quarterfinals, paying the Trojans (16-11) back for a 72-68 defeat in overtime in the Gateway Conference championship game on Jan. 23. The Wolfpack (27-1), a unanimous No. 1 with all eight first-place votes, will travel to #3 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) with a spot in the regional final at stake.
The Crusaders (25-3) remained third following a 63-35 win against Baker County (Glen St. Mary). Bishop Kenny is actually ranked No. 1 in the 5A state rankings, while the Wolfpack are ranked third.
Bolles (Jacksonville) swept both meetings against Bishop Kenny this year and was a unanimous selection as the No. 2 team in the regional rankings. The Class 4A No. 3 Bulldogs (26-3) will host Jackson (Jacksonville) (17-7), which moved up two spots to 12th following a 58-42 win at Bradford (Starke).
Rounding out the top five are Gainesville, which eliminated Ed White (Jacksonville), 56-47, in Class 6A, and defending 3A state champion Providence (Jacksonville), which defeated Rocky Bayou Christian (Niceville), 73-26.
GHS (24-4) will host No. 11 Vanguard (Ocala) (21-7) in the regional semifinals on Tuesday, while the Stallions (20-8) will host Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (16-10), which moved back in the poll at No. 19 following a 46-32 win at Maclay (Tallahassee).
Moving up three spots to sixth is Atlantic (Port Orange). The Class 6A Sharks (27-2) survived in overtime against Lake Gibson (Lakeland), 70-65, and will host No. 15 Deltona in a rematch of the 6A-District 5 championship game which Atlantic won by 18 points.
The Wolves (20-8) actually moved up five spots to 15th following a 68-58 win at 6A No. 10 Auburndale.
Class 3A P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) (23-4) moved up one spot to seventh, while 7A Creekside (St. Johns) (23-5), 5A Leesburg (23-4), and 1A Hawthorne (22-5) round out the top 10.
Class 8A Spruce Creek (Port Orange), which was ranked fourth last week, tumbled out of the top 10 all the way down to No. 14 following the Hawks’ (21-5) season-ending loss to unranked Seminole (Sanford) in the regional quarterfinals. They were the only top 10 team to lose.
Previous No. 17 Oakleaf (Orange Park) fell out of the rankings. The Knights (17-9), who had won nine of their last 10, were upset at home by Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville) in Class 7A.
Dunnellon, which was ranked 18th, also dropped out following a 78-77 loss to 4A No. 10 Lake Highland Prep (Orlando). The Tigers (19-9) were ranked 8th in the 4A state poll.
In addition to Trinity Christian, the other teams to move in to the rankings were Class 7A Lake Minneola (21-7) and 5A Ponte Vedra (18-10) at Nos. 17 and 18, respectively.
Bell (22-5), which set a school record for victories, narrowly missed the top 20 after a 76-69 win in overtime against Pahokee in the 1A regional semifinals.
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.
**This is the last poll until after the FHSAA Boys’ Basketball state tournament**
PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2015-16 BASKETBALL POLL #8
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, record through 2/11, and total voting points)
1. Wolfson (Jacksonville) (5A) (8) (27-1) – 160
2. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (26-3) – 152
3. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (5A) (25-3) – 144
4. Gainesville (6A) (24-4) – 133
5. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (20-8) – 129
6. Atlantic (Port Orange) (6A) (27-2) – 114
7. PK Yonge (Gainesville) (3A) (23-4) – 113
8. Creekside (St. Johns) (7A) (23-5) – 111
9. Leesburg (5A) (23-4) – 90
10. Hawthorne (1A) (22-5) – 89
11. Vanguard (Ocala) (6A) (21-7) – 82
12. Jackson (Jacksonville) (4A) (17-7) – 64
13. Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (5A) (22-6) – 58
14. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (8A) (21-5) – 57
15. Deltona (6A) (20-8) – 43
16. Hamilton County (Jasper) (1A) (20-5) – 40
17. Lake Minneola (7A) (21-7) – 33
18. Ponte Vedra (5A) (18-10) – 12
19. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (16-10) – 10
20T Mount Dora Christian Academy (2A) (26-2) – 9
20T Ribault (Jacksonville) (5A) (16-11) – 9
Also receiving votes: Bell (1A) (22-5) – 8; Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville) (7A) (17-12) – 6; Crescent City (1A) (15-10) – 3; Oakleaf (Orange Park) (7A) (17-9) – 1.
