Same top 10, but a different running order.
Welcome to PennLive’s girls’ basketball Class 3A state rankings. Of the four classifications, this one has given us the most issues, especially this week, when No. 1 Archbishop Wood and No. 2 South Fayette both suffered losses.
Wood dropped a 45-34 decision to St. Anthony’s (New York) on Sunday in the Philadelphia/New York Showcase, as the Vikings lost for the — gulp — fourth time in a row, including three setbacks in the Nike Tournament of Champions the week before Christmas in Phoenix.
South Fayette lost to Class 4A No. 10 Bethel Park in BP’s holiday tourney.
But after putting everything on the table and weighing our options, once again we left Archbishop Wood and South Fayette at 1-2 on our big board.
Yes, there are undefeated teams ranked behind them. Yes, there are certainly teams that are playing better as the calendar flips to 2016. But we still really like the Vikings and the Lions to do plenty of damage in the coming weeks — especially now that they’ll settle back into league play.
So throw out their records, won’t you. Especially Wood’s.
We had to drop Blackhawk, a staple in the Class 3A rankings, a couple of spots after the Cougars lost two games to teams from Ohio in Mt. Lebanon’s holiday event. Villa Maria, which won its bracket in the KSA Events Holiday Classic in Orlando, and unbeaten Hickory got bumped up.
Trinity, Berks Catholic and South Park remained in the 3-4-5 slots, and Gwynedd Mercy — despite a setback in a holiday tourney in Orlando — and Greencastle-Antrim remained at 9-10.
Trinity’s losses are against South Fayette and Class 4A No. 5 Peters Twp.; Berks Catholic lost to Ocean City (New Jersey) in the Wildwood Boardwalk Classic, but the Saints should do plenty of damage in Berks and District 3 in the very near future; and South Park’s lone loss is vs. Peters Twp.
Ah yes, Class 3A. There’s always something going on here. Hang with us.
Here is PennLive’s Class AAA top 10 through Jan. 3, plus honorable mention selections, with home district in parenthesis and overall record …
1. Archbishop Wood (12) 3-5 — previously: 1
2. South Fayette (7) 7-1 — previously: 2
3. Trinity (7) 7-2 — previously: 3
4. Berks Catholic (3) 7-2 — previously: 4
5. South Park (7) 7-1 — previously: 6
6. Villa Maria (10) 10-0 — previously: 7
7. Hickory (10) 8-0 — previously: 8
8. Blackhawk (7) 6-3 – previously: 5
9. Gwynedd Mercy (1) 7-2 — previously: 9
10. Greencastle-Antrim (3) 8-1 — previously: 10
HONORABLE MENTION
Allentown Central Catholic (11) 7-3, Ambridge (7) 8-2, Bethlehem Catholic (11) 8-2, Blue Mountain (11) 9-1, Bonner-Prendergast (12) 6-1, Danville (4) 8-0, Fleetwood (3) 8-0, Forest Hills (6) 9-1, Girard (10) 8-2,Hampton (7) 7-2, Lancaster Catholic (3) 9-1, Merion Mercy (1) 7-2, Nanticoke (2) 7-2, Northern Lebanon (3) 11-0, Southern Lehigh (11) 9-1, Susquehannock (3) 9-2.
