Duval County continues to dominate top five of regional rankings
GAINESVILLE – The Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) girls basketball team is rolling.
The Crusaders, who entered the week with a record of 14-3, are currently ranked seventh overall in the state in the latest FHSAA rankings and 3rd in Class 4A.
Despite suffering its third loss of the season last week, Bishop Kenny is a unanimous No. 1 in The Prep Zone Power Poll. They received all 10 first-place votes.
Two of their three losses are to DME Academy (Daytona Beach) and SLAM (Miami), which are the No. 3 and No. 9 ranked teams overall in Florida by MaxPreps. The other loss was outside the Sunshine State at the Seahawk Classic Hilton Head in South Carolina against Sumter (15-0), the No. 4 overall team in South Carolina.
Last week Bishop Kenny won at No. 3 Bolles (Jacksonville), 46-42, as part of a 2-1 record since the last regional all-classification rankings.
Duval County is dominating the region as Jacksonville schools Providence and Ribault are ranked second and fourth, respectively.
The 2nd-ranked Stallions (17-2), who are ranked 5th in 3A & 18th overall, have played a difficult schedule which includes wins at No. 3 Bolles, 53-50, vs. No. 7 Beachside (St. Johns), 44-41, vs. No. 11 Orange Park, 59-45, vs. No. 13 Ridgeview, 61-55 (OT), at No. 15 Trinity Catholic (Ocala), 63-61 (OT), at No. 16 Hawthorne, 62-27, and at RV Madison County.
Their losses are against Cincinnati Country Day (No. 39 overall team in Ohio) and Wayne County (No. 8 overall team in Tennessee).
Wildwood, which lost to Hawthorne in last year’s 1A state championship game, rounds out the top five.
Class 7A regional finalist Spruce Creek (Port Orange) leads off the second five at No. 6, followed by Beachside (St. Johns), University Christian (Jacksonville), Ponte Vedra, and St. Augustine in the top 10.
Class 3A San Jose Prep (Jacksonville) (3A) (9-6), which was previously ranked 14th, dropped out of the rankings after going 1-2 at the St. James She Got Game Classic in Atlanta, GA, with losses to teams from Alabama, Georgia and Texas, and previous No. 17 Lake Minneola (6A) (10-6) fell out after losing to Deltona & at No. 10 overall Dr. Phillips (Orlando).
Class 7A Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville) (14-1) moved into the rankings and is tied at No. 17. Their only loss this season was at previous No. 20 Mandarin (Jacksonville), which dropped out of the rankings.
Class 5A Leesburg had the highest move, leaping into the rankings at No. 14, while new No. 20 Paxon (Jacksonville) (9-5) entered the rankings following a 5-game winning streak, including victories against No. 38 overall Camden County (GA) & vs. No. 8 University Christian (Jacksonville), 46-34.
Among teams in the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area, defending 1A state champion Hawthorne remained 16th, while P.K. Yonge (Gainesville), which lost at Providence in last year’s 3A-Region 1 Final, dropped one spot to No. 19.
Both teams have been hitting their stride in January and neither the Lady Hornets nor the Lady Blue Wave have yet to lose in 2024.
P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) went 3-0 since the last poll with wins at #15 Trinity Catholic (Ocala), 62-43, vs. RV Eastside, 46-31, and vs. Bradford (Starke).
Newberry, Eastside, Trenton, and Oak Hall are receiving votes.
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 – 2023-24 GIRLS BASKETBALL POLL #3
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, record through 1/14, and total voting points)
1. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (4A) (10) (14-3) – 200
2. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (17-2) – 189
3. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (12-5) – 176
4. Ribault (Jacksonville) (4A) (10-3) – 161
5. Wildwood (1A) (10-3) – 146
6. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (11-6) – 134
7. Beachside (St. Johns) (6A) (14-3) – 120
8. University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (10-3) – 116
9. Ponte Vedra (6A) (12-4) – 111
10. St. Augustine (5A) (14-2) – 98
11. Orange Park (6A) (9-5) – 89
12. St. John’s Country Day (Orange Park) (2A) (13-4) – 86
13. Ridgeview (Orange Park) (5A) (8-5) – 78
14. Leesburg (5A) (14-1) – 59
15. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (9-6) – 42
16. Hawthorne (1A) (7-3) – 41
17T. Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville) (7A) (14-1) – 38
17T. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (5A) (6-10) – 38
19. P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) (3A) (9-4) – 37
20. Paxon (Jacksonville) (4A) (9-5) – 30
Also receiving votes: San Jose Prep (Jacksonville) (3A) (9-6) – 23; Springstead (Spring Hill) (6A) (12-3) – 16; Mandarin (Jacksonville) (7A) (8-4) – 13; Madison County (1A) (10-4) – 12; Dunnellon (4A) (12-2) – 11; Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine) (7A) (13-4) – 9; North Florida Educational Institute (Jacksonville) (2A) (6-5) – 8; Lake Minneola (6A) (10-6) – 6; Trenton (1A) (11-2) – 5; Eastside (Gainesville) (4A) (11-3) – 3; Newberry (1A) (10-3) – 3; DeLand (7A) (11-3) – 1; Oak Hall (Gainesville) (2A) (7-1) – 1.
