#1 Blue Valley Northwest (9-0): Can anyone from Kansas get within 20 of Northwest? So far, the answer is no. It was a disappointing week for the Huskies at the January Jam in Valley Center in terms of competition. Northwest did not play a single team with a winning record and breezed to the tournament title. Now Northwest finally gets a pair of challenges this week, as it goes on the road to Southwest and North.
#2 Shawnee Mission East (10-1): The Lancers piled up another quality win over BV West in the semifinals of the McPherson Invitational, but were upset in the finals by the host school, McPherson. East takes its first loss of the season in a game where it only scored 40 points. There's no let-down this week, as the Lancers go on the road to take on a very quality Rockhurst squad that would be their best win of the season if they can pull it off.
#3 Wichita North (10-1): Bad news for the Redskins as KU commit and their scoring machine Conner Frankamp went down with a concussion in the semifinals. It's undetermined how many games he will miss, but the Redskins showed they are still a capable team by beating a quality Scott City team in overtime without Frankamp for the majority of the game. North can survive without Frankamp, but it certainly isn't the third-best team in 6A without him on the court. We'll await news on his recovery.
#4 Lawrence (8-4): The Lions soar up the rankings because they picked up two quality wins and also because no one else impressed last week. Lawrence knocked off Wichita East in the first round of the Topeka Invitational, then beat Olathe South for the second time in two weeks but lost to undefeated Highland Park in the finals. Lawrence takes a week off, but it has some serious momentum now after the midway point.
#5 Olathe South (8-3): The undefeated start has been dulled after South lost three of its last five games. Lawrence seems to have South's number, beating it twice in the last two weeks. The Falcons responded with a nice 1-point win over KC Washington on a last-second free throw to finish third in the Topeka Invitational.
#6 Olathe East (8-3): The Hawks skidded a bit last week in their tournament, dropping their first two games against KC Center and Liberty North. Neither is a terrible loss, but East had a chance to pick up a quality victory and failed to do so. It had to settle for a blowout win against an overmatched team. The Hawks can redeem themselves by winning on the road at KC Washington this Friday.
#7 Shawnee Mission West (7-4): The Vikings continue to be a solid team this season, picking up a quality victory over a BV North team that is stumbling. But West took advantage and picked up two wins during tournament week, and its loss was against a very good Rockhurst team. The Vikings will have their hands full this Friday with a road challenge at Class 5A's No. 1 SM South.
#8 Blue Valley North (6-5): What's wrong with the Stags? It's hard to say because it's not like North is losing to bad teams. The schedule has been brutal so far this season and North dropped two more in tournament week to an elite Blue Springs South team and a solid SM West team. The schedule only gets harder this week, as North has a crack at the best team in the state at home against Northwest this Friday.
#9 Derby (10-3): The good news is that leading scorer Taylor Schieber returned to the Panthers this weekend in Dodge City. But the Panthers still dropped their first-round game against a quality Scott City team, which left them playing overmatched teams in the final two games. Derby is still looking for a signature win and it won't come this week with only Ark City on the schedule.
#10 Wichita Heights (7-4): After a 1-3 start to the season, the Falcons are rolling and have won 6 of their last 7 games. Heights was devoid of a signature win, but captured one in the 3rd place game at the McPherson Invitational by knocking off a good Blue Valley West team. The Falcons took an excellent McPherson team down to the wire, as well. Heights has another great opportunity to prove itself this Tuesday against Kapaun Mount Carmel.
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