Providence (Jacksonville) remains unanimous No. 1 team heading into district tournament play
GAINESVILLE — The regular season is over for boys high school basketball, but the tune remains the same as district tournaments begin for teams in The Prep Zone Power Poll.
The Providence (Jacksonville) Stallions hope they can carry their fantastic regular season over to another state title.
The Stallions kept rolling through the last few weeks, beating No. 4 North Florida Educational Institute (Jacksonville) 69-43, winning 51-30 at No. 9T Nease (Ponte Vedra), and picking up victories over RV Fleming Island (Orange Park) and 5A No. 10 St. Petersburg at the Wally Keller Classic at Charlotte High School.
They had a 12-game winning streak ended in their final regular season game on Saturday, losing 79-72 to 5A No. 6 and No. 52 overall Barron Collier (Naples) at the Shootout at Fleming Island.
Providence (23-2), ranked No. 1 in 3A and No. 5 overall statewide by Max Preps, once again is a unanimous choice at the top of the all-classification regional rankings with all nine first-place votes.
There is a bit of a shakeup behind the Stallions.
Oakleaf (Orange Park) moves up to 2nd as they finish the regular season on a 15-game winning streak. The only loss for the Knights (20-1) to this point was an overtime defeat to Providence on December 9.
Ponte Vedra moves up three spots to 3rd. The Sharks (18-5) defeated Nease, then-no. 9 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), 17th-ranked St. Joseph Academy (St. Augustine), and No. 5 Ribault (Jacksonville) 44-42 at the MLK Classic at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville.
North Florida Educational Institute dropped two spots to 4th.
The Eagles (16-8) lost games to Providence and to teams from Virginia and North Carolina at a tournament in Charleston, South Carolina. NFEI did beat University Christian (Jacksonville) and 4A No. 12 Bay (Panama City) at a MLK Classic at University Christian.
Ribault rounds out the top five.
The Trojans (20-4) remained 5th as they defeated Riverside (Jacksonville) and No. 13T Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) in overtime to win the Gateway Conference Tournament. Ribault’s only loss over the last three weeks was the two-point setback to Ponte Vedra.
Paxon (Jacksonville) drops three slots to No. 6. The Golden Eagles (17-5) defeated Ed White (Jacksonville) and Fletcher (Neptune Beach), but lost to Andrew Jackson in the Gateway Conference tourney semifinals and also lost 40-36 to 7A No. 14 and No 56 overall Newsome (Lithia.
Mainland (Daytona Beach) moved up four spaces to 7th.
The Bucs are followed by No. 8 Gainesville, and two teams tied for 9th, Nease and Impact Christian Academy (Jacksonville).
Santa Fe (Alachua) moved up five spots and just misses the top 10 at No. 11. The Raiders (19-5) have won 17 games in a row and are the number one seed and hosting the District 5-4A tournament.
Columbia (Lake City) moved up one spot to 12th. The Tigers (16-9) lost to Santa Fe but they defeated Impact Christian and Hawthorne over the last few weeks.
The only team moving into the rankings this week is Wildwood.
The Wildcats (18-6), who are ranked No. 1 in Class 1A by MaxPreps, have won 10 games in a row are tied for 19th this week.
Fleming Island (Orange Park) dropped out from the previous poll.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, girls basketball, boys basketball, softball & baseball 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 by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2022-23 BOYS BASKETBALL POLL #5
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record through 2/4, and total voting points)
1. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (9) (23-2) – 180
2. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (6A) (20-1) – 153
3. Ponte Vedra (6A) (18-5) – 152
4. North Florida Educational Institute (Jacksonville) (2A)(16-8) – 151
5. Ribault (Jacksonville) (4A) (20-4) – 150
6. Paxon (Jacksonville) (4A) (17-5) – 127
7. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (5A) (19-5) – 126
8. Gainesville (6A) (19-6) – 107
9T. Impact Christian Academy (Jacksonville) (2A) (16-8) – 104
9T. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (6A) (17-7) – 104
11. Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (19-5) – 99
12. Columbia (Lake City) (5A) (16-9) – 76
13T. Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (4A) (13-11) – 63
13T. Orange Park (6A) (17-8) – 63
15. Episcopal (Jacksonville) (3A) (20-5) – 62
16. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (4A) (18-7) – 59
17. St. Joseph Academy (St. Augustine) (2A) (18-5) – 34
18. The Villages (4A) (17-8) – 30
19. Wildwood (1A) (18-6) – 16
20. Mount Dora Christian Academy (Jacksonville) (2A) (19-6) – 11
Also receiving votes: Fleming Island (Orange Park) (6A) (14-10) – 10; Forest (Ocala) (6A) (19-6) – 8; New Smyrna Beach (6A) (21-4) – 6; Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (6A) (15-8) – 3; Lake Minneola (Minneola) (6A) (15-9) – 3; Williston (1A) (18-7) – 3; Lecanto (5A) (21-3) – 2.
