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YAIAA boys' basketball power rankings, Feb. 9


The YAIAA boys' basketball tournament gets going tonight. But before we officially kick off the postseason, we might as well squeeze in another edition of our boys' hoops power rankings.

Last week's rankings here. I'll be Spring Grove on Friday for the 6:30 p.m. game between York Suburban and Northeastern. You can get updates from that game by following me on Twitter.

Rankings after the jump...

1. William Penn (1) -- If there's a favorite to be found in this year's tournament, the Bearcats (18-4) are it. Guard Dejian Williams has been filling it up lately; the combo guard has topped 20 points in six of his last seven games, and the only time he didn't accomplish that task was in a 55-point blowout of Spring Grove. But coach Troy Sowers has also been impressed by the improvement in his team's half-court defense. "To win championships in February and March, you need rebounding and half-court defense," William Penn coach Troy Sowers said Thursday. "And those are things I think we’ve improved."

2. York Suburban (3) -- The Trojans have very quietly racked up an 18-3 record, with quality wins over teams like Middletown, West York, Bermudian Springs (twice) and others. Ted Hinnenkamp (21.3 ppg) finished the season as the league's leading scorer, but he's had plenty of help. A tough first-round district tie with the Bulldogs awaits in two weeks, but first comes a tantalizing YAIAA tournament quarterfinal with Northeastern on Friday. Wouldn't be surprised to see a high-scoring affair in that one.

3. South Western (2) -- The Mustangs (19-3) have tailed off a bit toward the end of the season, dropping another game to surging Red Lion last week. But some of that was to be expected; South Western won so many close games at the beginning of the season, that sooner or later that propensity for playing down to the wire had to catch up with them. You'd expect the Mustangs to try to use 6-foot-5 forward Parker Bean as much as possible Friday against Bermudian Springs. The Eagles lack size, and could have a tough time matching up.

4. Dover (4) -- The Eagles (16-6) should have a good bit of momentum to draw on, having sewn up an outright Division II title with a win over Northeastern last week. Should Jerell Figueroa get some player of the year consideration in Divisions I and II? He continues his lights-out shooting, and guards Brandon Smith and Connor Snyder have offered plenty of support. An enticing matchup awaits Friday, when the Eagles play red-hot York Catholic in the YAIAA tournament quarterfinals at Red Lion.

5. York Catholic (NR) -- An obvious inclusion this week, after a pair of take-notice victories last week over Berks Catholic and Bishop McDevitt. The Irish (16-6) have won seven straight, and locked up an outright Division IV title and the No. 1 seed in the Class AA District 3 tournament by beating Delone Catholic on Tuesday. Forwards Michael Sperring and Mark Burnside are both steady scorers, but I was even more impressed by York Catholic's defense in the two games I saw last week.

In the hunt (alphabetical order): Bermudian Springs (18-4), Central York (12-10), Dallastown (13-9), Delone Catholic (15-7), Northeastern (14-7), Red Lion (12-10), West York (11-9)