Class B First Rankings : A look at the Top 8

Garrett Eaton December 5, 2024 @ 01:01 PM

Every year in Small School basketball, the race is on to be ranked in the Top 8. A top 8 ranking means you are going to be one of the Top 2 seeds in one of the four Area's. Finishing 9th could mean you are going to the same Area as #1 and #3, or another nightmare scenario like that. A couple football playing schools haven't really gotten into the swing of things.(Mountain View-Gotebo has yet to play a game. Balko/Forgan, Kremlin-Hillsdale, and Wilson (Henryetta) have only played one) Class B coaches still had to come up with their first rankings of the season this week, and here is how things are shaking out thus far.     The Lomega girls claim the top spot in the first rankings of the season. Coming off last year's State Championship, the Lady Raiders look to capture their ninth title under Kevin Lewallen. A ninth ring would break Coach Lewallen's tie with Basketball Hall of Famer Bertha Teague for most girls state championships. Lomega has returners such as Hadley Ott, and also a new arrival in freshman Reagan Snowden. I was able to get a first look at Snowden at Kingfisher Team Camp this summer and I think she will be the best player on the court in a lot of games already.   Right behind Lomega in the rankings are the Hammon Lady Warriors. The champs two seasons ago, they are trying to get another Gold Ball in [player_tooltip player_id='654574' first='Henley' last='West']'s final prep season. The 6-5 post has offers from Minnesota, Butler, Abilene Christian, and Missouri State to name a few. West had 31 points and 17 rebounds in a win over 12th ranked Leedey. I have coached against some of Hammon's early opponents and West makes such a difference because of how teams have to gameplan against her. Teams that typically play man-to-man have to come up with something different, teams that play a 1-2-2 have to bring an extra girl low. Just taking the other team out of their comfort zone makes Hammon so dangerous.   Last year's Runner-Up the Lookeba-Sickles Lady Panthers come in at the #3 spot. After graduating All-Stater Ellie Willard as well as sniper Maddie Barger, the Lady Panthers bring in [player_tooltip player_id='846966' first='Rowyn' last='Fite'], leading scorer on last season's 27-2 Mountain View-Gotebo squad, as well as a nice, very quick, nucleus around her. A 40 point win over a ranked Class A Union City team shows that Lookeba should be right back near the top.   A big and strong Chattanooga team comes in at #4. My team was able to scrimmage them in the pre-season and they are just such a complete team. A lot of size and speed, play really hard with good offensive post players. They don't have as tough of a schedule in my opinion as some Class B powers a little further north, but they have big wins over a good Fort-Cobb team as well as a really good Navajo team.   Arnett only has three games under their belt but have not been challenged much thus far. Harley Shoaf is a quick down-hill point guard with a sweet stroke from behind the arc, while Allie Tune and Landry Bayless are long forwards with shooting range.   Smithville might be the team to beat on the East side of the state, picking up a couple first place votes. A big win over Whitesboro to start the year and a win over #7th ranked Buffalo Valley.   Kiowa returns 4 starters from a State Tournament team. Their two losses are against Class 2A #9 Vanoss and Class A #3 Red Oak. They are a multi-faceted team with size inside and the ability to turn steals into instant-offense. Junior guard Paige Igou has been lighting it up from three while power forward [player_tooltip player_id='751294' first='Ella' last='Roberts'] is a matchup problem with her inside/out game.     Mirroring the 3 mile drive between schools, Pittsburg sits just a few points behind Kiowa for the #9 spot. Whitesboro, incorporating in some very talented move-ins, rounds out the Top 10.

Every year in Small School basketball, the race is on to be ranked in the Top 8. A top 8 ranking means you are going to be one of the Top 2 seeds in one of the four Area's. Finishing 9th could mean you are going to the same Area as #1 and #3, or another nightmare scenario like that. A couple football playing schools haven't really gotten into the swing of things.(Mountain View-Gotebo has yet to play a game. Balko/Forgan, Kremlin-Hillsdale, and Wilson (Henryetta) have only played one) Class B coaches still had to come up with their first rankings of the season this week, and here is how things are shaking out thus far.