11th & 12th Grade Boys House Basketball Power Rankings: Week 6

-By: Darius Majd-

1. Mavericks (5-0); LW: 1 – Another 60+ point barrage for the Mavericks in their 67-37 victory over the Rockets. What else is new? There isn’t much else left to say about this team that hasn’t been said before. Despite having two close calls so far this season (60-58 vs. the Nuggets in week 1, and 48-47 vs. the Thunder last week), the consensus around the league is that the Mavericks just might run the table.

2. Lakers (5-0); LW: 2 – The other undefeated team held serve this week, beating the Spurs 36-30. But it wasn’t enough to put the Lakers in the top spot, as they were far from dominant after racing out to a big league, and shot poorly in the second half. Still, the Lakers are an athletic bunch, with an aggressive pace that compensates for their lack of height, and helps them to win loose balls and rebounds. This team passes better than anyone else in the league, and applies incredible defensive pressure for all 40 minutes. It also doesn’t hurt to have great perimeter shooters like senior Chris Carmody, and all-around scoring threats like juniors Bobby Weaver and St. Luke's junior Luke Osherow.

3. Spurs (3-2); LW: 3 – It’s tough to gauge the Spurs thus far because they’ve pounded weaker teams, and been shorthanded when beaten. Their only quality win so far is over the Nuggets (35-29). Since then, the Spurs have looked both awful and awesome, depending on whether star senior Ben Preston is on the floor. Take the loss to the Lakers; for the first 25 minutes, the Spurs were dominated 29-10 (senior guard Graham Maybell was absent for the second straight game, and Preston had only just arrived at this point). With Preston in for the last 15 minutes, the Spurs got as close as 34-30 with 8 seconds left (Preston delivered the highlight of the season during this stretch with a clean one-handed dunk). The Spurs stay at #3 thanks to their record, their win over the Nuggets, and the fact that at full strength they can play with anybody.

4. Nuggets (3-2); LW: 5 – After losing two competitive games against the Mavericks and the Spurs to open the season, the Nuggets have quietly put together a solid three game winning streak. The latest win, 31-30 over the Celtics, was the grittiest of the bunch. This victory in particular isn’t all that impressive given that the Celtics were missing their powerful senior big man Eric Parnon, (pictured above) but a win is a win. What is most impressive about the Nuggets is that they’ve compiled their winning record against mostly the best teams in the league; they played all of the better teams in the league except the Lakers, and beat their weakest opponent by 28 points. Senior Max Reyes continues to make his presence felt on offense and defense, and the team as a whole can shoot and rebound as well as anybody.

5. Thunder (3-2); LW: 4 – The Thunder got back above .500 this week, but oddly enough it seems more like they took a step backwards. After giving the #1 Mavericks their toughest game of the season, and holding them to below 60 points for the first time in a 48-47 loss, the Thunder scraped by the sinking Timberwolves 45-43. This team has been carried by the hype surrounding the league-leading scorer, junior Tony Britton, but ultimately their isn’t a quality win on the schedule thus far. In fact, the tight loss to the Mavericks might be the most telling sign that this team can compete for the title. It will be interesting to see how this team performs down the stretch, when they play the Lakers and Spurs.

6. Celtics (2-3); LW: 6 – Even without Eric Parnon, the Celtics were able to compete with the dynamic Nuggets, falling just short – literally – of the win. Junior Jack Voigt was under tremendous pressure when he was given two free throw shots in the final seconds, with his team down by two. He drained the first, but the second bounced off the rim, and senior Evan Rogers was not able to connect on a 3-pointer at the buzzer after the Celtics recovered the rebound. It was a gutsy effort, and given that the other two losses have come against the two remaining undefeated teams, the Celtics are still on the rise.

7. Suns (2-3); LW: 7 – A 38-28 win over the last place Trailblazers doesn’t indicate much about the caliber of this team, positively or negatively. But it’s still a win, and the Suns have more of them than the teams behind them. This coupled with a head-to-head win over the Timberwolves keeps the Suns once again firmly entrenched at #7 in the rankings. Senior guard Tommy Farren is providing strong leadership for this team, and a nice run in the playoffs is plausible if things fall perfectly into place.

8. Timberwolves (1-4); LW: 8 – The Timberwolves are in a four game slump after posting a big win in week one. But the team has new hope, after a good effort in a 45-43 loss to Tony Britton and the Thunder. In retrospect, a few breaks here and there could have this team sitting at 3-2, with wins over the Thunder and the Suns instead of losses. But that would still leave to blowout losses to the Lakers and the Nuggets. Senior John Foster, once a regular in the Varsity team lineup, needs to put the team on his back if they want to challenge the top-tier teams.

9. Rockets (1-4); LW: 9 – It’s hard to blame the Rockets for giving up 67 points to the Mavericks, considering that seemingly no one knows how to stop that offense. But scoring 37 points on one of the weaker defenses is disappointing, especially since they put up similar point totals against the two best defenses in the league (33 against the Lakers, and 34 against the Spurs). Peter “Swiss” McDonough and the other seniors need to provide leadership to go along with the scoring efforts of juniors Eric Walsh, and Ryan and Bobby Minion.

10. Trailblazers (0-5); LW: 10 – It seems likely that the Trailblazers will go winless during the regular season, but don’t quit on this team yet; plenty of last-place teams have surprised in the postseason. Last year, Graham Hotchkiss (a senior who has now taken his talents to the Varsity level) put his last-place team on his back and put a scare into the top two seeds, bowing out on a high note in the playoffs by going toe-to-toe with the eventual champions. There are some decent shooters on this team, primarily junior Russell Palmer, but the offensive game plan is flawed; there is no penetration, and the Trailblazers settle almost entirely for perimeter shots, which are effectively turnovers when they don’t go in because the team’s rebounding is weak.