February 4, 2010

A pair of No. 1 teams in today’s final Alabama Sports Writers Association girls high school basketball poll finished the regular season undefeated.

Class 5A Faith Academy won 27 straight games while Class 1A J.F. Shields reeled off 23 wins heading into tonight’s area tournament second round of play.

The seven top-ranked teams in the girls poll suffered only 14 losses combined with Class 6A Hoover losing once, but none to in-state competition. The Bucs beat second-ranked Bob Jones early in the season to give the Patriots their only loss of the season. The teams were scheduled to play last Saturday, but the game was canceled due to icy conditions in North Alabama.

Three-time Class 4A defending champion Midfield is ranked fifth, but suffered 12 losses this season with a ridiculously tough schedule. That’s only one loss less than the past three seasons combined, but Midfield lost only twice in class this season with both coming to second-ranked Ramsay.

In the boys poll, Class 6A Homewood and Class 4A Anniston are new No. 1 teams atop the rankings.

Homewood beat previously top-ranked Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa last weekend to take over the top spot while Anniston moved up after previous No. 1 Dora lost to Pleasant Grove. Hillcrest had been No. 1 all season while Anniston is the fourth top-ranked Class 4A team in the past four weeks.

Final Girls Poll

Final Boys Poll