YAIAA boys' basketball power rankings 1/20
Hard to believe we're more than halfway through the season. The end of the regular season is three weeks away. Scary.
While you begin pondering your postseason picks, here's a fresh batch of power rankings to digest. We'll have the girls' version for you later tonight.
Previous week's rank in parentheses.
1. Eastern York (1) -- The Golden Knights remain unblemished, after Tuesday night's close(r) call against Dallastown. Eastern trailed after three quarters -- the first time that's happened this year -- only to surge back and snag a 71-60 win. Junior Andrew Nicholas (above) is starting to heat up. He's scored 33 and 31 points, respectively, in his last two games.
2. York Suburban (3) -- After last week's loss to Eastern, Trojans coach Tom Triggs said he was more concerned about how his team would respond from its first defeat. All Suburban (14-1) has done is score wins against Delone Catholic, Red Lion and Hanover. If there was any doubt about the Trojans' mettle, those should be put to rest.
3. Red Lion (4) -- The Lions leapfrog William Penn by virtue of their upset of the Bearcats last Wednesday. Red Lion (11-3), like any other team, has faults. It's too reliant on the 3-pointer, which can doom the Lions on off-shooting nights like they had in Friday's loss to York Suburban. But when Red Lion is on (it hit 11 treys against Northeastern on Tuesday), there isn't a more dangerous team in the league.
4. William Penn (3) -- The Bearcats looked lethargic in their loss to Red Lion, but give them major points for bouncing back two nights later with a win over West York. If Tuesday's 81-56 throttling of a good Dover team was any indication, William Penn looks to have righted itself.
5. Central York (8) -- The Panthers had dropped hints about their potential. But Tuesday's win over West York was the we-have-arrived win Central was waiting for under first-year coach Marty Hasenfuss. The Panthers (10-4) play defense with conviction, and that makes them a scary team going forward.
6. Hanover (5) -- The Nighthawks (12-2) are still on schedule to win the Division IV title. But they were never in Tuesday's game against Suburban, and Hanover still has some work to do to show it belongs with some of the area's better teams. Still, pencil them in as a contender for the Class AA district title.
7. West York (5) -- Losses to William Penn and Central York see the Bulldogs drop a few spots. West York (8-4) is comparable to Central in some ways -- both lack a true scorer, and instead rely on defense and all-around effort to win.
8. Dover (8) -- The Eagles got a shot of reality Tuesday when they were trampled by William Penn. A win would have put Dover (11-5) into a tie for first place in Division II with West York. Still, few would have expected the Eagles to be in this position at the beginning of the year.
9. Delone Catholic (9) -- Very quietly, the Squires have built up a 10-4 record, and they were within a basket or two of upsetting Suburban last week. The Squires are hidden in Division III by the likes of Eastern and Suburban, but make no mistake, this is not a fun team to play.
10. Kennard-Dale (NR) -- The Rams (7-7) have a shot to at least match their surprising .500 campaign from last season. Senior guard Matt Romoser has carried most of the scoring load for KD, averaging 15.6 points per game.