Slocomb vaults into prep rankings

Slocomb’s upset of ranked Houston County last week raised some eyebrows in the Wiregrass.

It also caught statewide attention.

Sparked by the win and an 8-2 record, the Red Tops moved into the latest Alabama Sports Writers Association state rankings today, checking in at No. 10 in Class 3A.

In addition to beating then Class 2A No. 6-ranked Houston County 70-67 on the road in Columbia, Slocomb beat Providence Christian and Wicksburg in the last week.

The Red Tops’ only losses this year have come to Class 5A Carroll in the season opener and to 3A ranked Abbeville in the Wiregrass Athletic Conference Tournament.

Slocomb was the only Wiregrass team to enter the poll this week. However, all 12 area teams that were ranked last week remained this week.

Six of the teams made a move up, including the Abbeville boys, who jumped three spots in 3A. The Yellow Jackets, 9-2 after three wins for the week, vaulted to No. 3 behind only Madison Academy and Sumter County.

The Abbeville girls also moved up this week. The Lady Yellow Jackets, also 9-2, inched up one spot to No. 9 in 3A girls.

The Eufaula boys (10-0), one of two Wiregrass boys teams still undefeated, moved up one to No. 4 in Class 5A.

Houston County, despite a 1-2 week, moved up a spot to No. 5 in 2A. The Lions (10-2) benefited from previous No. 4 and No. 5 teams Sulligent and Fyffe losing two games each during the week and last week’s No. 7 Mars Hill Bible also losing twice.

Other Wiregrass girls teams moving up, in addition to Abbeville, were Lakeside and Pike Liberal Arts. Both moved up one — Lakeside (5-3) to No. 4 and Pike Liberal Arts (5-2) to No. 5 — in the AISA rankings. The two play each other Friday in Eufaula.
Five Wiregrass teams remained the same as last week, including the Barbour County boys, who stayed No. 1 in Class 2A for the second straight week. The Jaguars are 6-2.

Andalusia (11-0), the Wiregrass’ other unbeaten boys team, stayed No. 2 in Class 4A, while the Ashford girls (13-1), Samson girls (7-3) and Pleasant Home girls (8-2) all stayed No. 4 in their respective classes of 4A, 2A and 1A.

The Providence Christian Lady Eagles (8-0), the lone Wiregrass unbeaten girls team, dropped one spot to No. 8 in Class 1A. They fell behind unbeaten Belgreen (12-0), which jumped from No. 9 to No. 6 with three wins during the week.

There were no changes at the top in either boys or girls rankings in the poll, the last one until after the holiday season.
A trio of girls teams and four boys teams remained undefeated at No. 1.

Among the girls, Class 6A Sparkman, Class 1A McIntosh and AISA Lee-Scott remained No. 1 without a loss while top-ranked boys teams Class 6A Sidney Lanier, Class 5A LeFlore, Class 4A Deshler and Class 1A Talladega County Central are all undefeated.

Other undefeated girls teams in the rankings are Class 6A Clay-Chalkville, Class 5A Carver-Montgomery, Class 2A Woodland and Sulligent, Class 1A Spring Garden, Hazlewood and Providence Christian, and AISA Sparta Academy and Patrician Academy.

Other ranked boys teams without a blemish are Class 5A Butler and Eufaula, Class 4A Andalusia, Class 3A White Plains, Class 2A Fyffe, Class 1A Phillips and AISA Crenshaw Christian, Cornerstone and Shelby Academy.
The next poll will be released on Jan. 8.

— Dennis Victory of the Birmingham News contributed to this story

ASWA Rankings

GIRLS
CLASS 6A
1. Sparkman (12-0)
2. Bob Jones (12-1)
3. Clay-Chalkville (12-0)
4. Blount (9-2)
5. Murphy (9-2)
6. Hoover (6-5)
7. Gadsden City (9-2)
8. Shades Valley (9-3)
9. Austin (11-1)
10. Mountain Brook (6-2)

CLASS 5A
1. Talladega (12-1)
2. LeFlore (11-1)
3. Selma (13-3)
4. Faith Academy (10-1)
5. Brewer (11-1)
6. Athens (11-3)
7. Carver-Montgomery (2-0)
8. Vigor (6-4)
9. Briarwood Christian (10-1)
10. Springville (10-2)

CLASS 4A
1. Ramsay (9-2)
2. Midfield (10-4)
3. Lawrence Co. (10-1)
4. Ashford (13-1)
5. DAR (9-1)
6. Plainview (8-2)
7. Deshler (3-2)
8. Anniston (8-2)
9. Alabama Christian (11-2)
10. UMS-Wright (9-2)

CLASS 3A
1. Madison Academy (9-2)
2. Glencoe (9-1)
3. Elkmont (11-2)
4. West Morgan (10-1)
5. Lauderdale Co. (8-2)
6. Danville (9-3)
7. Altamont (7-2)
8. Pisgah (9-2)
9. Abbeville (9-2)
10. Montevallo (8-1)

CLASS 2A
1. Cold Springs (10-1)
2. Ider (8-2)
3. Clements (10-2)
4. Samson (7-3)
5. Section (5-1)
6. Red Bay (8-2)
7. Mobile Christian (12-5)
8. Woodland (7-0)
9. Mars Hill (8-3)
10. Sulligent (4-0)

CLASS 1A
1. McIntosh (7-0)
2. Spring Garden (10-0)
3. Speake (3-1)
4. Pleasant Home (8-2)
5. Hazlewood (4-0)
6. Belgreen (12-0)
7. Hubbertville (7-1)
8. Providence Christian (8-0)
9. Jefferson Christian (14-1)
10. Gaston (5-1)

AISA
1. Lee-Scott (9-0)
2. Glenwood (5-2)
3. Sparta Academy (10-0)
4. Lakeside (5-3)
5. Pike Liberal Arts (5-2)
6. Autauga Academy (10-1)
7. Hooper Academy (8-5)
8. South Choctaw (4-1)
9. Patrician Academy (6-0)
10. Fort Dale Academy (4-2)

BOYS
CLASS 6A
1. Sidney Lanier (8-0)
2. Daphne (10-1)
3. Shades Valley (12-1)
4. Baldwin Co. (10-1)
5. Homewood (10-2)
6. Austin (8-2)
7. Murphy (13-1)
8. Bob Jones (10-4)
9. Pinson Valley (11-1)
10. Gadsden City (10-3)

CLASS 5A
1. LeFlore (11-0)
2. Butler (14-0)
3. Parker (11-1)
4. Eufaula (10-0)
5. Talladega (10-1)
6. Lee-Huntsville (8-3)
7. Russellville (5-1)
8. Woodlawn (11-2)
9. Wilcox Central (6-2)
10. Pleasant Grove (9-1)

CLASS 4A
1. Deshler (5-0)
2. Andalusia (11-0)
3. Dallas Co. (9-1)
4. Calera (9-1)
5. Saks (8-1)
6. Childersburg (9-2)
7. Plainview (6-1)
8. Dora (11-1)
9. Brewbaker Tech (7-2)
10. Central-Coosa (5-3)

CLASS 3A
1. Madison Academy (11-2)
2. Sumter Co. (8-1)
3. Abbeville (9-2)
4. Altamont (7-3)
5. Leeds (8-5)
6. Crossville (8-2)
7. West Morgan (11-1)
8. White Plains (11-0)
9. Vinemont (10-3)
10. Slocomb (8-2)

CLASS 2A
1. Barbour Co. (6-2)
2. Fyffe (8-0)
3. R.C. Hatch (7-4)
4. Pickens Co. (4-1)
5. Houston Co. (10-2)
6. Mars Hill Bible (8-4)
7. Sulligent (2-2)
8. Tanner (6-5)
9. Cherokee (7-3)
10. Cold Springs (7-3)

CLASS 1A
1. Talladega Co. Central (4-0)
2. Phillips (13-0)
3. Asbury (10-2)
4. Meek (11-1)
5. J.F. Shields (5-3)
6. Georgiana (8-1)
7. Hazlewood (4-2)
8. McIntosh (6-2)
9. Decatur Heritage (6-7)
10. Waterloo (7-5)

AISA
1. Warrior Academy (12-1)
2. Tuscaloosa Academy (9-1)
3. Lee-Scott (8-1)
4. Taylor Road Academy (6-1)
5. Crenshaw Christian (9-0)
6. Macon-East (7-1)
7. Cornerstone (5-0)
8. Shelby Academy (6-0)
9. Central Christian (9-5)
10. Morgan Academy (6-3)