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YAIAA Boys' Basketball Power Rankings: Dec. 24


All right, fresh off Friday night's Division I showdown that turned into an 80-56 sprint for William Penn against South Western, here's our YAIAA Boys' Basketball Power Rankings. Just like the girls' rankings, I expect these to be the final rankings of 2012. We'll be back in January for more, but I couldn't wait to get some out.

Let's talk about them, too. I encourage anyone and everyone to comment below or Tweet @mgoul. I can be swayed.

1. William Penn (5-1): As addressed up top, the Bearcats won their early YAIAA test handily against South Western. Their lone loss came to one of the better teams in the state, Williamsport. Also, with Friday's win against the Mustangs, reserve DaiQuest Casiano became the fifth different player to score at least 20 points in a game.

2. Northeastern (5-1): An excellent start for a group that lost two of its top three players from last season, Elijah Cooper and Chris Nwandu. However, with Khalid Nwandu back and this 5-1 start, the Bobcats look to have something. If you have Jan. 2 free, be sure to check out Northeastern at William Penn that night.

3. South Western (3-3): Even though the Mustangs lost handily at William Penn on Friday night, this team will rebound. It’s easy to forget Parker Bean and Mike Duffy are the only returning starters here. That’s two nice pieces to have, but the Mustangs’ season surely will be defined by how the rest of the squad meshes with those two.

4. Delone Catholic (4-2): It’s tempting to move the Squires past South Western, but the Bearcats can make any YAIAA team look bad. Delone is worthy of the No. 2 spot, and with a point guard like Brett Smith along with sophomore Devon Moore making his presence felt, this team could be in the YAIAA tourney final.

5. Bermudian Springs (5-2): An upstart team last season in Division III, the Eagles have enough back to make another splash. It's difficult to believe a school would need until Dec. 2012 to get its first win against a league rival, such as York Suburban, but that's what the Eagles did last week.

The best of the rest: 6. Dallastown (5-1), 7. Eastern York (6-3), 8. Susquehannock (6-2), 9. Red Lion (4-2), 10. Hanover (4-3).

Well, what do you think? I'm sure there's some Susquehannock fans who might disapprove of the Warriors being slotted a spot below Eastern York. Does Dallastown deserve a top-five ranking? Is Dover (3-4) or York Catholic (2-3) more deserving of the No. 10 slot instead of Hanover?