YAIAA girls' basketball power rankings 1/28
The top four teams stay the same in this week's girls power rankings, although there was plenty of shuffling behind that quartet.
Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. West York (1) -- No change here. The Bulldogs (16-0) rolled along with wins over New Oxford and Dover this week. West York has the best scoring offense in the YAIAA (60.4 ppg), but that unit will meet the league's top defense Saturday when West York visits Red Lion.
2. Red Lion (2) -- Speaking of the Lions (16-1), they took care of Dover and Dallastown this week. Sarah Innerst and Gisselle Truiett (pictured above, left) both finished in double figures in Tuesday's win over the Wildcats, and both will need big games if the Lions are to topple West York.
3. York Catholic (3) -- The Irish (14-2) have won six in a row since losing their first meeting with Delone earlier this month. Kady Schrann is averaging 17.4 ppg, but more impressive is her consistency. She hasn't scored fewer than 12 points once this year.
4. Delone Catholic (4) -- The Squires' win over South Western last week was a quality victory. Sierra Moore has been phenomenal all year, but Delone (14-2) will need production from the likes of Chelsea Hoffman and Courtney Riggs (8.7 ppg each) to make a deep run in the postseason.
5. South Western (6) -- One reason for the Mustangs' (11-4) turnaround? They're mentally tougher. Coach Shannon Geiman told me tonight she put together seven, half-hour sessions for her team before the season to review a sports psychology book. That's helped South Western (11-4) win games like their 45-44 overtime win against New Oxford last week.
6. Spring Grove (7) -- The Rockets (13-4) have shown a knack for winning ugly this year, as evidence by last weeks 24-23 win against Central York. That's a skill that could certainly play dividends during the postseason.
7. New Oxford (5) -- Three straight losses threw a kink in what had been a smooth season so far for the Colonials (13-5). To be fair, star senior Julia Antonelli was missing for two of those three contests.
8. Kennard-Dale (9) -- The Rams (9-7) have won four of five, including wins over New Oxford and Dover this week. Junior Devon O'Kane has had 17 or more points in all four of those wins.
9. Dallastown (8) -- The Wildcats (10-7) have had their ups and downs, something that might be expected from a team adjusting a new coach and system. Scoring has been a problem, as evidenced by the fact Dallastown doesn't have a single player averaging double figures in scoring.
10. Eastern York (NR) -- A nice win over Bermudian puts the Golden Knights back onto this list. Eastern (9-9) has the second-best statistical defense in the YAIAA, allowing 33.2 points per game.