The girls and boys high school basketball regular season is entering its final month.
There have been plenty of holiday hoops tournaments to give area teams an opportunity to get better and improve their resume, especially since postseason positioning is based on rankings.
The rankings help determine seedings for next month’s district and regional tournaments.
Last Tuesday, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) released its first girls and boys basketball rankings of the year.
Surprisingly, the top-ranked girls team in the area is Williston, which had a losing record last season at 11-12.
But this year the Lady Red Devils (10-2) have a new coach in Willie Powers and are currently ranked No. 26 overall in Florida and No. 3 in the Rural classification.
Gainesville High is next in the overall rankings at No. 61 overall and No. 7 in Class 5A.
The Lady Hurricanes (5-6) have a losing record, but they have played a tough schedule, which includes 7A No. 12 Creekside (St. Johns), 3A No. 1 Bolles (Jacksonville), Williston, Rural No. 1 and No. 5 overall Wildwood, and 4A No. 6 Ribault (Jacksonville).
Other area teams who are hoping to make a push this month include 3A No. 14 Bradford (Starke) (8-2), which defeated two-time defending champion Hawthorne, 47-39, in December, and 3A No. 20 Newberry (8-4). Both teams will battle for the 3A-District 3 title and an automatic playoff bid.
Fort White (8-3) and Trenton (9-4) are ranked No. 7 and No. 9 respectively in the Rural classification and will challenge for the District 6 championship and a postseason spot.
Don’t count Hawthorne out. The Lady Hornets (1-1) have only played two games this season, and last year they started 3-3 before reeling off 19 straight wins to win the Class 1A state title.
On the boys side, the highest-ranked area team is Newberry, which is ranked 15th overall in Florida and No. 5 in Class 3A.
The Panthers picked up a couple of big wins at the Florida Get Down Holiday Showcase at Santa Fe College, including a 70-50 win against previously unbeaten Lecanto.
Newberry, which is 10-0 heading into the week, has a huge game at home against two-time defending Class 1A state champion Williston this Friday night.
Williston, which lost at Class 3A No. 3 Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) this past Friday night, is the next highest-ranked team at No. 39 overall.
The Red Devils (10-6) are ranked No. 1 in the Rural classification thanks to a schedule that includes games against nationally ranked St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) and Evans (Orlando), 6A No. 10 Wiregrass Ranch (Wesley Chapel) and The Villages, which is ranked fifth overall in Florida.
Right behind Williston in the Rural classification at No. 2 is Hawthorne.
Despite the loss of C.J. Ingram, last year’s Class 1A Player of the Year who transferred to Montverde Academy, the Hornets are 4-0 following a 55-54 win against Class 6A Mainland (Daytona Beach) at Saturday’s Eastside Shootout.
Williston and Hawthorne are in the same District 7, along with Wildwood, which is ranked fourth in the classification, and will make for one of the most competitive district tournaments in the state the first week of February.
Fort White (4-6), which is ranked 10th in the Rural classification, No. 14 Trenton (7-6), and No. 19 Union County (Lake Butler) (5-2) are currently the top three teams in District 6.
Gainesville High is ranked No. 8 in Class 5A (74th overall).
The Hurricanes (11-5) are playing well as of late and have won four in a row. GHS, which defeated Lakewood (St. Pete) on Saturday at the Eastside Shootout, will travel to unbeaten Hawthorne (4-0) on Tuesday night.
The game will be broadcast on Mainstreet Daily News beginning at 7:15 p.m. (7:30 p.m. tip). It’s one of 10 high school hoops games to be broadcast in January.
The ‘Canes have the inside track to winning the 5A-District 2 title, but Columbia (Lake City) is surging. The Tigers (10-6) have won five in a row and will travel to The Purple Palace on Tuesday, Jan. 21, for a key game.
Buchholz, which won a playoff game for the first time in 15 years and won 18 games last year under first-year head coach Elliot Harris, is still on the outside looking in.
The Bobcats (8-6) picked up a big win against 5A No. 4 Ponte Vedra, 49-42, on Saturday at the Raider Dome Classic at Orange Park High School.
They are currently fourth in District 3 behind Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine), Forest (Ocala), and Bartram Trail (St. Johns) but with upcoming games against Newberry, GHS, Hawthorne, Williston, and 5A No. 3 Fleming Island (Orange Park) they will have a chance to move up in the rankings.
We’ll have audio coverage of their games vs. Columbia (Tuesday, Jan. 14), at Gainesville (Friday, Jan. 24), and at home against Williston (Thursday, Jan. 30).
Buckle up, it should be a run ride in January.