Richland County Boys Basketball Power Poll: Top seven teams all have one loss or fewer
MANSFIELD — Seven teams in Richland County have one or fewer losses.
Three teams are still undefeated.
The Richland County Boys Basketball Power Poll has never been more difficult to hash out. Yet, it keeps on rolling with another edition. Let's see where the teams landed this week.
1. Lexington (6-0)
The Minutemen kept right on rolling last week with three more wins since the last power poll. After rolling over Madison 67-40 on Tuesday night, Lex followed that up with a gritty 51-46 win over New Philadelphia and then beat Division I Marysville 66-57 on Saturday. Brayden Fogle was sensational in the double weekend with 16 points against New Philly and 15 against Marysville to lead the team in scoring both games. Elijah Hudson and Baden Forup had 14 apiece against Marysville, so the scoring is coming from multiple players. Lex has a light week with only one game this week, but it is going to be a tough test with a trip to Mansfield Senior on Friday.
2. Lucas (6-0)
The Cubs make a move up one spot in this week's power poll after going 3-0 over the last week. After beating Galion 74-59 last Tuesday, the Cubs picked up a convincing 55-42 win over Loudonville to remain undefeated in Mid-Buckeye Conference play and then turned in their best performance of the year so far with a 78-36 drubbing of South Central, handing the Trojans the eighth-worst loss in program history. Logan Toms had 18 points in that win while Corbin Toms added 16 as the brothers put on an absolute show. Andrew Smollen and Michael Howards had nine apiece and almost made it four players in double figures. What is most impressive about Lucas is it is doing this without two of its better players in Andrew Fanello and Ty Lehnhart, who both suffered knee injuries before the season. The Cubs have a busy week with two games at the Mount Vernon Nazarene holiday shootout against Fredericktown and Proctorville Fairland before hosting Mansfield Christian on Friday.
3. Crestview (6-0)
The Cougars come in at No. 3 this week and not because they did anything wrong at all. They picked up a hard-fought 52-49 win over Monroeville last week in their only game since the last power poll, but Lucas' 42-point win over South Central was a little better than Crestview's 13-point victory over the Trojans earlier in the year. Still, the Cougars are 6-0 for the first time in 24 years behind Justice Thompson, who scored a game-high 22 points in the win over Monroeville. The Cougs look like a real threat to win a Firelands Conference championship for the first time since 1999-2000 and can take that next step on Friday night at home against New London.
4. Mansfield Christian (6-1)
The Flames are out to their best start since the 2012-13 season thanks to three wins last week over Plymouth (58-46), St. Peter's (73-62) and Loudonville (49-41). Against the Spartans, Amarr Davis put on an absolute show with a career-high 37 points, just two points away from tying the single-game scoring record. The kid is just as good of a basketball player as he is in football, and that is saying something. The Flames have a huge opportunity this week to help their Mid-Buckeye Conference title chances when they travel to Lucas on Friday night. A win there might be enough to send them screaming up next week's power poll.
5. Shelby (5-1)
The Whippets have found their groove. After losing their opener to Madison, Shelby has won five straight, including two last week when they averaged 86.5 points. They beat Willard 80-72 as Casey Lantz had a breakout game with 23 points and Alex Bruskotter continued his pursuit of a triple-double with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Issaiah Ramsey also had a great game with 16 points while Max Hess added 14 to give the Whippets plenty of balance. Then, they nearly scored 100 on Highland in a 93-63 win. Bruskotter had 23 points while Ramsey added 16, Brayden DeVito had 13 and Carson Brubaker had 11. The balance is unbelievable, and the Whippets seem to have learned from their game one mistakes. They host River Valley on Tuesday in a battle for the outright MOAC lead before taking on Linsly at MVNU on Thursday.
6. Mansfield Senior (4-1)
The Tygers have won four straight, including three last week. They beat Mount Vernon 73-57 behind Kyevi Roane's career night of 37 points, the 20th-highest single-game scoring effort in program history. Then, the Tygers beat West Holmes 71-51 as Roane and Jakob Legron scored 14 points apiece and Rashad Reed had 11. Those two wins kept the Tygers undefeated in OCC play. Then, they went to the Lima Senior Coach Q Classic and beat Rossford 56-55 behind Nathaniel Haney's 16 points, Roane's 14 and Reed's 11. The Tygers seem to have put a rough start behind them, and it came at a perfect time with New Philadelphia and Lexington both coming in for key OCC games this week.
7. Ontario (4-1)
It is crazy to think a team with just one loss all year could possibly be the No. 7 team in the power poll, but here we are. The Warriors most definitely deserve a better ranking, but when Richland County has seven teams with one or fewer losses, this is the reality. Ontario is playing just as well as the No. 1 team right now, especially after those two wins last week over Galion (78-55) and Norwalk (75-53). Grady Schroeder had 22 points against Galion while Gage Weaver had 13, Brady Zehe added 11 and Grayson Purvis scored 10 to give the Warriors four in double figures. The Warriors followed that up with a dominating win over Norwalk in which they knocked down 11 3-pointers. Braxton Hall led the way with 20 points while Zehe had 13, Gage Weaver had 12 and Carter Weaver scored 10 for yet another game with four in double figures. The Warriors travel to Pleasant this week for an MOAC game before enjoying a nice holiday break.
8. Madison (3-4)
The Rams went 1-1 since the last power poll, falling 67-40 to Lexington before making an epic comeback in a 70-66 overtime win over Ashland behind Jayden Jeffires, who filled up the scorebook with 39 points, the fifth-most in a single game in program history. It was the perfect response after a lackluster effort against Lexington and being down more than 20 points to the Arrows in the second half. This could be a sign of things to come as they take on Mount Vernon on Wednesday.
9. Clear Fork (2-5)
The Colts picked up their second win of the season with a 64-44 drubbing of Back River last week. They nearly won a third before falling 54-49 to Pleasant, but it seems the Colts have really turned a corner. Grant Spencer scored 19 points against Black River while Kaden Riddle had 11 against the Pirates and 16 against Pleasant. Adam Vanausdle also had 14 against the Spartans as the offense is really starting to come around with multiple contributors. Clear Fork travels to Marion Harding this week looking for its first MOAC win before taking a week off for Christmas.
10. St. Peter's (1-8)
The Spartans stay put at No. 10 despite being the only Richland County team to not earn a victory last week. Still, St. Peter's took a huge halftime lead over Mansfield Christian before the Flames rallied to win. Feree Kent had 22 points while Angelo Gasper had 17, so those two are really starting to play well together and that could lead to a win or two down the road. They head to Central Christian on Thursday for a chance to win a Mid-Buckeye Conference game.
11. Plymouth (1-6)
The Big Red stayed put at No. 11 after going 1-2 since the last power poll. They lost 58-46 to Mansfield Christian before beating winless New London 52-40 and losing 62-46 to Monroeville. Their win over New London guaranteed Richland County will not have a winless team in 2022-23. They will try to pick up win No. 2 on Friday at home against Mapleton.
jfurr@gannett.com
740-244-9934
Twitter: @JakeFurr11
Last Week's Rankings
Lexington
Crestview
Lucas
Mansfield Christian
Shelby
Mansfield Senior
Ontario
Madison
Clear Fork
St. Peter's
Plymouth
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County Boys Basketball Power Poll Lexington Minutemen No. 1
