Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) remains unanimous No. 1 team as regular season comes to a close
GAINESVILLE — In a high school boys basketball season that has flown by, one team has been atop The Prep Zone Power Poll for the entire season.
And as the regular season wraps up this week and FHSAA district tournaments get going on Monday, Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) continues to be the unanimous number one team in the all-classification regional rankings.
The Tigers (21-2) have wins over No. 3 Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine), No. 4 Ribault (Jacksonville), No. 6 Impact Christian Academy (Jacksonville), No. 7 Ponte Vedra, No. 9 Fleming Island (Orange Park), No. 10 Williston, No. 11 Gainesville, No. 13 University Christian (Jacksonville), and No. 16 Creekside (St. Johns).
Jackson’s only losses were by one point to Fleming Island and six points to Ribault. The Tigers received all 10 first-place votes again this week.
The Villages remain No. 2.
The Buffalo (17-5) have wins over Williston, Impact Christian, St. Mary’s (MI), and Windermere. Among their five losses were setbacks against state-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale), Gibbs (St. Petersburg), and University Christian.
Tocoi Creek stays 3rd. The Toros head into the final week of the regular season at 19-3, with the only losses to Jackson, Creekside, and RV St. Augustine.
Ribault moves up a spot to 4th. The Trojans (16-6) avenged an earlier season loss to Jackson by defeating the Tigers, 57-51, last Friday.
Undefeated Newberry (19-0) rounds out the top five.
The Panthers moved up five spots this week after knocking off two-time defending state champion Williston for the second time this season, beating the Red Devils, 47-45, on a shot at the buzzer last Friday. Newberry also has a win over 14th-ranked Hawthorne.
Impact Christian Academy (Jacksonville) also moved up five spots to start the second five.
The Lions (18-4) have won 11 games in a row and have beaten Creekside, Ponte Vedra, No. 15 Providence (Jacksonville), and RV Columbia (Lake City). Two of the four losses for Impact Christian were against the top two teams in the poll, Jackson and The Villages.
Ponte Vedra is ranked 7th, followed by Oakleaf (Orange Park) at No. 8, Fleming Island and Williston in the top 10.
Other Main Street Daily News area teams in the second ten include Gainesville, just out of the top ten at 11th, and 14th-ranked Hawthorne. The Hornets (13-2) are new to the poll this week.
Columbia is receiving votes.
Hawthorne (13-2), which is ranked 14th, No. 13 University Christian, No. 16 Creekside, and 19th-ranked Lecanto are all new to the rankings.
Falling out from the previous poll are Hilliard, North Marion (Citra), New Smyrna Beach, and Columbia.
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 – 2024-25 BOYS BASKETBALL POLL #4
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current 2024-25 record through 1/27, and total voting points)
1. Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (3A) (10) (21-2) – 200
2. The Villages (3A) (17-5) – 188
3. Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine) (6A) (19-3) – 175
4. Ribault (Jacksonville) (4A) (16-6) – 165
5. Newberry (3A) (19-0) – 151
6. Impact Christian Academy (Jacksonville) (1A) (18-4) – 144
7. Ponte Vedra (5A) (15-8) – 123
8. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (6A) (16-5) – 115
9. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (5A) (17-5) – 105
10. Williston (Rural) (13-9) – 92
11. Gainesville (5A) (17-6) – 87
12. Forest (Ocala) (6A) (18-4) – 81
13. University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (15-8) – 67
14. Hawthorne (Rural) (13-2) – 66
15. Providence (Jacksonville) (2A) (13-10) – 64
16. Creekside (St. Johns) (7A) (14-7) – 63
17. Eustis (4A) (15-7) – 58
18. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (6A) (17-5) – 31
19. Lecanto (5A) (20-2) – 25
20. Atlantic (Port Orange) (4A) (17-5) – 23
Also receiving votes: Hilliard (Rural) (12-4) – 17; North Marion (Citra) (4A) (15-6) – 16; Columbia (Lake City) (5A) (15-9) – 9; Leesburg (5A) (11-7) – 9; Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (6A) (16-5) – 8; New Smyrna Beach (5A) (15-6) – 4; Paxon (Jacksonville) (4A) (12-8) – 4; St. Augustine (5A) (15-5) – 3; Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (15-8) – 2.
