It seems that week in and week out, the back end of the PennLive girls’ basketball Class AAA state rankings have been the toughest to figure out.
Blackhawk, Archbishop Wood, Bethlehem Catholic, Scranton Prep, Villa Maria, Hickory and Allentown Central Catholic have all pretty much been taking care of business, and have been glued to those top seven spots.
And yes, we know Wood fell to Class AA No. 1 Neumann-Goretti in a Philly Catholic League clash last week, but the Vikings are still locked into the 2-spot, right behind state champ Blackhawk, which remains at No. 1 for yet another week.
The last three spots in our top 10, particularly this week, have been tougher to peg.
The teams that occupied those spots last week — West Perry, Mercyhurst Prep and Bonner-Prendergast — all suffered losses, and our Class AAA honorable mention list is so deep and talented, that it was time to make a change.
So we’ve bumped up a pair of undefeated teams into the top 10; say hello to North Pocono and West York, who both start the week 14-0.
North Pocono has victories over Class AA No. 3 Holy Redeemer and Class AA No. 7 Dunmore, plus wins over honorable mention picks Honesdale, Wallenpaupack and Holy Cross. That’s a pretty sweet resume as late January approaches.
West York has wins over honorable mention picks Dallastown and Trinity (District 3), and should battle Class AA-ranked Delone Catholic and York Catholic for York/Adams League supremacy next month.
Mercyhurst Prep, which fell to No. 5 Villa Maria last week, slipped to No. 10. Needless to say, Class AAA has a ton of talent, which makes this classification the toughest to rank on a weekly basis.
And this Class AAA note: Sammie Weiss from honorable mention selection McGuffey joined the 2,000-point club last week.
Here is our PennLive Class AAA top 10, plus honorable mention selections, through games of Jan. 18, with home district in parenthesis and overall record …
1. Blackhawk (7) 12-3 — previously: 1
2. Archbishop Wood (12) 11-3 — previously: 2
3. Bethlehem Catholic (11) 14-1 — previously: 3
4. Scranton Prep (2) 13-1 — previously: 4
5. Villa Maria (10) 10-4 — previously: 5
6. Hickory (10) 13-0 — previously: 6
7. Allentown Central Catholic (11) 14-1 — previously: 7
8. North Pocono (2) 14-0 — previously: HM
9. West York (3) 14-0 — previously: HM
10. Mercyhurst Prep (10) 11-3 — previously: 9
HONORABLE MENTION
Ambridge (7) 14-3, Athens (4) 11-2, Beaver Area (7) 9-5, Berks Catholic (3) 13-3, Bonner-Prendergast (12) 10-4, Danville (4) 9-3, Elizabeth-Forward (7) 12-3, Fleetwood (3) 10-4, Ford City (7) 12-2, Forest Hills (6) 10-1, Girard (10) 10-2, Greencastle-Antrim (3) 13-2, Gwynedd Mercy (1) 11-2, Hampton (7) 10-4, Honesdale (2) 13-1, Indiana (7) 13-1, Juniata (6) 13-0, Lancaster Catholic (3) 13-2, Mars (7) 12-2, McGuffey (7) 11-3, Mifflinburg (4) 13-0, Pope John Paul II (1) 10-5, Saucon Valley (11) 11-3, Southern Lehigh (11) 12-2, Trinity (7) 11-3, West Perry (3) 14-2.
